The reason the world remembers Bill Buckner? That’s not how Bobby Valentine remembers Bill Buckner.
“As I clear my head and hold back the tears I know I will always remember Billy Buck as a great hitter and a better friend,” Valentine tweeted Monday. “He deserved better. Thank god for his family. I ll miss u Buck!”
Perhaps inadvertently, the former Mets and Red Sox manager broke the news that Buckner, the longtime baseball great who became a villain to Red Sox fans upon his 1986 World Series error, had died. A few hours later, Buckner’s wife, Jody, confirmed the news, revealing Buckner had suffered from Lewy body dementia. He was 69.
Valentine and Buckner were part of the same draft class — 1968 — and picked a round apart by the Dodgers. They then rose throughout the ranks, playing together until Valentine was traded before the 1973 season.
Valentine and Buckner had long been great friends, and when Bobby V was named Boston’s manager in 2012, he considered bringing Buckner aboard as hitting coach, an unthinkable possibility decades earlier for a player sadly synonymous with Red Sox failure, after watching the ball go through his legs in the World Series against the Mets.
“I respect his every opinion, in baseball and worldly matters,” Valentine told reporters then.
While everyone will remember the gaffe, Buckner had a 22-year major league career, and his 2,715 lifetime hits are 66th all time.
