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For the Major League Baseball Pitcher that currently plays for the Kansas City Royals , see Billy Buckner . William Joseph "Bill" Buckner (born December 14 , 1949 in Vallejo , California , United States ) is a former Major League Baseball player for the Los Angeles Dodgers , Chicago Cubs , Boston Red Sox , California Angels and Kansas City Royals . Although his playing career lasted over twenty years and he accumulated over 2700 career hits, he is best known for the costly error he committed in the 1986 World Series . CAREER on June 11 , 1981 ]] Buckner was the second player chosen by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1968 June Draft (after his friend Bobby Valentine was selected first). Before entering MLB, Buckner briefly attended the University Of Southern California , where he never played sports; he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Buckner played his first major league game in 1969 with the Los Angeles Dodgers (at the age of 19) and his last game in 1990 (at the age of 40) with the Boston Red Sox . He won the National League batting title in 1980 with the Chicago Cubs . He was an All-Star in 1981 . Buckner was the first major league player to wear Nike High-top baseball cleats professionally, preceding by a number of years the waves of major leaguers wearing high-tops starting in 1989 , and wore a pair in game six of the 1986 World Series. For his entire career, "Billy Buck" was known as one of the more consistent s. He led the league four times in most at bats per strike out ( 1980 , 1982 , 1985 , 1986 ), and four times placed second in the category ( 1979 , 1981 , 1983 , 1987 ). As a player he was a speedy Baserunner who twice finished in the top-ten in the league in Stolen Base s. He twice led the league in Doubles . His hard-running style, however, led to problems with ankle injuries, which would haunt him throughout his career. Originally promoted to the majors as an outfielder, he moved to first base when he joined the Cubs to take pressure off his ankles. At that position, he played 1,555 regular season games and made only 128 errors in 13,901 chances. Despite his ankle problems, he managed to post respectable stolen-base numbers in 1981 (15) and 1982 (12) with the Cubs and 1985 (18) with the Red Sox. Prior to the fateful night in 1986 when he became forever entrenched in baseball lore, Buckner was best remembered as the outfielder for the Dodgers on April 8 , 1974 , who dove over the outfield fence at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium , almost falling into the Atlanta Braves bullpen, going after what became Henry Aaron 's 715th Home Run . Milo Hamilton , who did the radio play-by-play for the Atlanta Braves at the time, noted it was Buckner that went after the ball in vain. 1986 World Series On October 25 , 1986 , the Boston Red Sox faced the New York Mets in game 6 of the World Series . Boston led the best-of-7 series 3 games to 2, and had a two-run lead with two outs in the bottom of the tenth Inning . New York came back to tie the game with three straight singles off Calvin Schiraldi and a wild pitch by pitcher Bob Stanley . Mookie Wilson fouled off several pitches before hitting a ground ball to Buckner at first base. The ball bounced on the dirt and rolled under Buckner's glove, through his legs, and into right field, allowing Ray Knight to score the winning run from second base, forcing a seventh game, which the Mets won two nights later. Buckner's error capped off a very poor overall Game 6 performance for the first baseman; he went 0-for-5 with runners on in all five at-bats in that game. Buckner has denied any lingering bitterness over his error, pointing out that he was a key member of the team that year. He hit 8 home runs that September, with 22 RBIs and a .340 average, missing only three games. He drove in over 100 runs for the season. In game 5 of the Championship Series when the Red Sox faced elimination, he singled to start their ninth inning rally capped off by Dave Henderson's Famous Home Run . . No. 46 is reliever Bob Stanley ; No. 1 is batter/runner Mookie Wilson .]] RETIREMENT AND LEGACY After Buckner retired from professional baseball he moved his family to . He also owns Bill Buckner Motors in Emmett, Idaho . The "Buckner Ball" was later auctioned for $93,000. The high bidder was Charlie Sheen . The ball is now in the collection of songwriter Seth Swirsky , who refers to it as the "Mookie Ball." Buckner also played a supporting role in another of baseball's milestones, as the Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder seen climbing the fence in an attempt to catch Hank Aaron 's 715th home run on April 8 , 1974 . According to some Red Sox players, following their victory in the 2004 World Series , Bill Buckner was one of the first persons called by members of the team. On June 27 , 2006 , the Red Sox had a reunion of the 1986 players during the game at Fenway Park . Although Buckner could not attend, fans cheered and applauded when his name was shown on the center-field video board. REFERENCES IN POPULAR CULTURE
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QUOTES "''Bill Buckner was more than just a great player. He was a champion warrior.''" - Ray Knight REFERENCES ^ ESPN.com The Buckner play 20 years later - http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2615471 EXTERNAL LINKS
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