"Little roller up along first ... "

25 years ago -- technically today, now that it's after midnight.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/36158/25-years-later-buckner-has-moved-on

 

I'm sure most of you have seen this by now, but still ...

 

wow, 25 years since Calvin Schiraldi blew the World Series

 

One of my favorite childhood memories.

 

25 years since a guy became hated in Boston for making an error in a game Boston wasn't winning.

 

What's always pissed me off about that deal is that Buckner has always taken the brunt of the abuse, and the guy who should have taken it – John MacNamara – has gotten off largely scott-free. Buckner should have been safely on the bench by then. If ever a situation cried out for a defensive substitution, that was it.

 

Man, I think of the days when I would watch every second of every game. The 1985 Series is one of my best sports memories as a kid and the 1986 series is particularly memorable as well because I was so wrapped up in it and I wasn't a fan of either team.

 

I think McNamara has gotten plenty of grief over the years for not pulling Buckner for Stapleton, which he did, I believe, in every other game the Sox won that postseason. In fact, you could say Buckner got forgiven for the error (not that he needed to be forgiven, but you know what I mean) when the Sox had him throw out the first pitch at the 2008 opener while McNamara remains in Boston purgatory along with Grady Little,

I'm pretty sure the whole world thought of Buckner/Stapleton when Francona subbed Mientkiewicz for Millar at the end of the ALCS and World Series in 2004.

 

What I can't get over is just how good Scully's call is of it. It's as good as any live TV call I've ever seen. Anyone can do a home run, but with all the moving parts, he handled them all wonderfully and let the play breath afterward.

 

Yeah, I guess you just don't hear as much about MacNamara as you do Buckner.

 

He's great period, but he was especially so in that game and in that last half-inning, recounting how the Mets had screwed up the two-on, nobody-out situation and managed not to score in the bottom of the ninth. And then the build-up as the Mets rallied in the 10th. What I always love when I see that last half-inning replayed is the sound of disbelief in his voice when Stanley throws the wild pitch and he realizes the Mets are tying the game. Listen to the way he says "here comes Mitchell to score the tying run, and Ray Knight is at second base."

 

The only reason Buckner was forgiven is because the Red Sox won two World Series the last few years.