6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

John Anderson BRO b. 1873, played 1894-1899, d. 1949-07-23

Bill Buckner LAN,CAL b. 1949, played 1969-1976, 1987-1988, All-Star: 1981. He came up to the Show the same year as Steve Garvey, who originally and catastrophically played third base; after making a mind-blowing 28 errors, the Dodgers moved Garvey to first in 1973. Buckner, who had split time between first and the outfield, became a full-time outfielder, a role he filled for the Dodgers through 1976. A teriffic contact hitter, he led the league in strikeouts per at bat four years of his career.

In January, 1977, he was traded to the Cubs for Rick Monday. In Chicago, Buckner returned to first base, where he won a batting title in 1980, and would have placed second in 1978, save for a groin injury inflamed in a June 18 game that sapped him of the needed at-bats to qualify. In midseason 1984, with Leon Durham ready to replace him, the Cubs moved him to Boston for Dennis Eckersley, setting the stage for his catastrophic, infamous 1986 World Series Game 6 performance.

With the Red Sox leading 5-3 entering the bottom of the 10th and a World Series title one out away, Gary Carter singled to left. Two more singles by Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight brought the score to 5-4, convincing Boston manager John McNamara to haul in reliever Calvin Schiraldi and replace him with closer Bob Stanley. Getting Mookie Wilson to a 2-2 count, Stanley uncorked a wild pitch that scored Mitchell from third. With the score now tied, Wilson tapped a routine grounder to Buckner — which scooted under Buckner's glove, into right field, and history. Ray Knight scored from second, winning the game. The Mets went on to win 8-5 in Game 7, as once again, Schiraldi collapsed, giving up the go-ahead runs starting with a leadoff homer to Knight, while only making a single out.

But as with the Angels' failure in that year's ALCS, there were plenty of questions, and opportunities where others could have forestalled the events of the bottom of the 10th. Roger Clemens left the game in the sixth; McNamara claimed Clemens pulled himself out with a blister on his pitching hand, but Clemens later vehemently denied it. Might a later exit have prevented some of Schiraldi's problems in the 10th? Buckner had been hitting .143 in the World Series to that point; mightn't McNamara have pulled him in the eighth, and given an at-bat to Don Baylor instead? That would have opened the door to defensive replacement Dave Stapleton at first, and possibly have provided an insurance run, as the Red Sox had the bases loaded with two out. And then there was Stanley's wild pitch: according to some accounts, catcher Rich Gedman made no effort to smother it. What if he had? Finally, Mookie Wilson and Buckner later both agreed that even if he had fielded the ball cleanly, Stanley was late coming off the mound and wouldn't have beaten Wilson to the bag anyway.

Buckner, a gentleman about the matter, professed not to be concerned about it, even after losing the World Series; he had an excellent regular season regardless. The Red Sox traded Buckner to the Angels in midseason 1987 after they blew up much of the 1986 team in the offseason. Buckner continued to hit well for the Angels that year as a fixed DH, but he collapsed in 1988 when relegated to a pinch-hitting role. Released by the Angels, he signed with the Royals, where he stayed for a year and a half, before returning to Boston for his swan song.

Charlie Hargreaves BRO b. 1896, played 1923-1928, d. 1979-05-09

Ken Hill ANA b. 1965, played 1997-2000, All-Star: 1994

Deacon Van Buren BRO b. 1870, played 1904, d. 1957-06-29