MLB All-Star player Bill Buckner dies at 69

(Image credit: Brian Snyder-Pool/Getty Images)

last updated 28 May 2019

Bill Buckner, the Major League Baseball All-Star who recorded 2,715 hits over 22 seasons, died Monday after battling Lewy body dementia. He was 69.

Buckner started with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1969, and went on to play with the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, and Kansas City Royals. In 1981, Buckner was named an All-Star, and he was in the Top 25 in Most Valuable Player voting five times.

In the 1986 World Series, Buckner famously made an error that cost the Red Sox Game 6: A ground ball hit to him at first base went through his legs, and the New York Mets went on to win the game and ultimately the series. In a statement, the Red Sox said that his teammates "long argued that Buckner was unfairly maligned, and before the 2008 home opener, in an emotional pregame ceremony, Red Sox fans accorded Buckner a long and heartfelt ovation when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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