William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from 1969 through 1990, most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston Red Sox.

Beginning his career as an outfielder with the Dodgers, Buckner helped the team to the 1974 pennant with a .314 batting average, but a serious ankle injury the next year led to his trade to the Cubs before the 1977 season.

Feuds with team management over a loss of playing time resulted in him being traded to the Red Sox in the middle of the 1984 season.

After spending his last few seasons with the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Red Sox, Buckner became the 21st player in major league history to play in four decades.

[4] At age 18, Buckner made his professional debut playing with the Ogden Dodgers of the Rookie Pioneer league in 1968, hitting .344 with 4 home runs and 44 RBI in 64 games.

[8] Buckner was called up to the Dodgers late in the season at age 19, popping up to second base as a pinch hitter for Jim Brewer in the 9th inning of a 4–3 road loss to the San Francisco Giants on September 21 in his only appearance.

He hit .335 with 3 home runs and 74 RBI, playing alongside Garvey, Valentine, Davey Lopes, Tom Paciorek, Bill Russell, Charlie Hough, and Doyle Alexander, among others.

Buckner earned a starting job with the Dodgers in 1971 as their opening-day right fielder, and hit his first career home run off Don Wilson of the Houston Astros on April 6, providing the only scoring in a 2–0 road win.

However, when Steve Garvey emerged as a Gold Glove first baseman and the National League's Most Valuable Player the following season, Buckner was shifted to left field permanently.

[13] Following the 1976 season, Buckner was traded with Iván DeJesús and Jeff Albert to the Chicago Cubs for Rick Monday and Mike Garman.

He had suffered a staph infection in his ankle in 1976, so the Cubs shifted him to first base, the playing position where he remained for the final 14 years of his career.

On May 17, 1979, in a famous slugfest at Wrigley Field in which the Cubs lost 23–22 to the Philadelphia Phillies, with three homers by Dave Kingman and two by Mike Schmidt, Buckner went 4–for–7 with a grand slam off Tug McGraw and a career-high seven RBI.

[14] But when manager Herman Franks resigned late in the season, he made negative comments about several players, including calling Buckner "nuts".

Buckner finally shaved between games of a doubleheader on May 24, because he found out he was going to be traded the next day to the Boston Red Sox;[19] the Cubs went on to win their division, reaching the postseason for the first time in 39 years.

Buckner appeared in all 162 games for the Red Sox in 1985, and batted .299 with 16 home runs while posting career highs with 110 RBI, 201 hits, and 46 doubles.

[citation needed] On June 5, 1986, Buckner picked up his 1,000th career RBI on a ground out in a 7–5 road loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Dave Stapleton, the Red Sox first baseman before the acquisition of Buckner, began seeing more playing time as a late-inning defensive replacement in September and October.

Meanwhile, Buckner became the first major league player to wear Nike high-top baseball cleats professionally to relieve pressure on his ankles.

He went three for six in the final two games as the Red Sox came back from the brink of elimination to defeat the California Angels and win the American League pennant.

[20] With two outs and no one on base, New York struck back with three straight singles off Calvin Schiraldi, and tied the game on a wild pitch by Bob Stanley.

As a result, the ball rolled to the left side of his glove,[21] through his legs, and into shallow right field, allowing Ray Knight to score the winning run from second base.

[23] Buckner began receiving death threats and was heckled and booed by some of his own home fans, often with the false belief or implication that his play alone could have instantly won the series for the Red Sox.

[24] Meanwhile, he was the focal point of derision from the fans of opposing teams on the road—especially when he faced the Mets in spring training of 1987—and during his first regular-season at bat at Yankee Stadium.

[13] At 38 years old, Buckner was released by the Angels on May 9, 1988, just before a road trip that would have brought him to the east coast to face the Yankees and Red Sox.

[13] Buckner returned to the Red Sox in 1990 as a free agent and received a standing ovation from the crowd during player introductions at the home opener on April 9.

Despite being one of the slowest runners in baseball, the 40-year-old Buckner circled the bases in the fourth inning when Angels outfielder Claudell Washington crashed into Fenway's three-foot high right-field wall and somersaulted into the front row of seats.

[citation needed] On April 8, 2008, Buckner threw out the first pitch to former teammate Dwight Evans at the Red Sox home opener as they unfurled their 2007 World Series championship banner.

[46][47] Buckner made a cameo appearance at the beginning of the sports parody film The Comebacks and was featured in an episode of the HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[53] Buckner and Mookie Wilson appeared in an MLB Network commercial for the 2016 postseason, "Catching Up", marking the 30th anniversary of the 1986 World Series and their roles in it.

In the book, John Hodgman describes a (fictional) radio personality and recounts the premonition she had regarding Buckner's infamous error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.