A Slice of Boston: Bill Buckner Honored at Fenway
And More Major League Baseball Home Opener Highlights
Red Sox Nation was a great place to be on Tuesday, April 8, as the 2007 World Series Champions celebrated past, present, and future excellence at Fenway Park with this year’s Home Opener, the 108th in team history. The Sox won the game against the Detroit Tigers, of course, managing a commanding final score of 5–0.
One of the day’s biggest stories, however, was reserved for a member of the team 22 years ago. On October 25, 1986, the Boston Red Sox led the New York Mets three games to two when the teams met for the sixth game of the best-of-7 championship.
Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson hit a ground ball to first base in the bottom of the 10th with the Mets just having tied the score, and Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner failed to stop it. Instead, the ball rolled right through his legs, an error that many directly attributed to the Mets’ eventual World Series win after the following required seventh game. Sports being sports, the backlash from both fans and the media was immediate, intense, and relentless.
Tuesday, Boston and Buckner seemed to finally overcome that painful incident when the retired player was feted as a champion as he threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the game. The accompanying warm reception and lengthy standing ovation was a nice symbol of why Boston is a great place to live and visit.
Take a look at select local coverage of Tuesday’s Home Opener festivities after the jump.
NOTE: If you require closed captions, you can enable that feature on the video players by clicking the CC symbol in the top right-hand corner.
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