October 18, 2006

A HEAPIN' HELPIN' OF BAD JUJU (via Glenn Dryfoos):

Photo reveals double curse in '86 (Paul Lukas, 10/18/06, ESPN)

If you want to imbue a discussion with an air of gravitas, you start by identifying the main character by his full name: George Herman Ruth. Dwight David Eisenhower. Homer Jay Simpson.

So consider the case of one William Joseph Buckner, who almost two decades ago (the precise anniversary is Wednesday, Oct. 25) bent over to field a grounder hit by Mookie Wilson. We all know what happened after that -- you've seen the video a few jillion times, you've read about the scapegoating, and the subsequent reaction to the scapegoating. After 20 years of scrutiny under the electron microscope of modern media, the Buckner play has been dissected so thoroughly that you pretty well know everything about it.

Well, almost everything.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 18, 2006 7:10 PM
Comments

A great little story - the Red Sox really had no chance.

But what gets me is that most fans think Boston was ahead at the time. The game was already gone (a blown 2-run lead) when Mookie's dribbler rolled through. The tying run had already scored. It wasn't like Buckner's error led to three unearned runs. Small consolation, but.........

Is there any way to find out if Buckner was wearing Buffalo Bills underwear?

Posted by: jim hamlen at October 18, 2006 11:10 PM

My reaction when I saw that play on TV: "I can do that!"

In high school I was very good at missing catches.

Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at October 19, 2006 12:04 AM

Chicago papers used to run articles around playoff time noting how many ex-Cubs each team had. They predicted whichever team had the most ex-Cubs would lose. If my memory serves correctly, the correlation held fairly true for a number of years. Don't recall seeing any articles the last few years but I don't read the sports page much anymore. Suffice it to say the ex-Cub curse is/was a well-known phenomenon in the Windy City.

PS - Only Leon Durham has any idea of how Billy Buck must have felt. I think Buckner has coped much better though.

Posted by: Rick T at October 19, 2006 5:05 AM

I think the ex-Cub factor was a Royko invention

Posted by: jdkelly at October 19, 2006 1:07 PM
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