Defined by an error

Bill Buckner always knew a single mistake would be the first line of his obituary. He was right.

Bill Buckner.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)

This is the editor’s letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.

Imagine having your life defined by the worst five seconds you ever experienced. Such was the fate of baseball player Bill Buckner, who died last week. Over 22 seasons, Buckner was a superb hitter, banging out 2,715 hits and winning a batting title. But in the sixth game of the 1986 World Series, when the 36-year-old ­Buckner — hobbled by bum ankles and knees — was playing first base for the Boston Red Sox, a weak ground ball off the bat of the New York Mets' Mookie Wilson dribbled through Buckner's legs, completing a stunning Mets comeback victory. The ­deflated Sox went on to lose Game 7. Frustrated Sox fans — who hadn't won a Series in 68 years — made Buckner the scapegoat for years afterward. So relentless were the taunting reminders of that muffed grounder that Buckner eventually moved from New ­England to Idaho to find some peace. His family, he said, "didn't like to see how people were treating me."

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William Falk

William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.