Bill Buckner was one of the better players ever to play the game of professional baseball.  In a 22-year career that began with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Buckner collected over 2,700 hits (including 498 doubles), had a career batting average of .289 (batting over .300 in seven seasons with three seasons of 100 RBIs), and won a National League batting title.  Yet he will always be remembered for one terrible moment in the 1986 World Series.

At that time Buckner was playing for the Boston Red Sox, a team then notorious for its failure to win the World Series.  In the ‘86 series against the heavily-favored Mets, the Sox took a 3-2 game lead.  The sixth game went into extra innings.  With two outs and no one on base, New York battled back with three straight singles and tied the game with a wild pitch by Bob Stanley.  Mookie Wilson came to the plate for the Mets with Ray Knight on second base.  On a 3-2 pitch, Wilson hit an easy little grounder up the first base line towards Bill Buckner.  Scoop up the ball, step on first, and the inning would be over.  But Buckner didn't get his glove low enough.  The ball rolled between his legs into right field, allowing Knight to score.  So the Mets tied the series 3-3.  The Mets went on the win the seventh game to become the ‘86 World Series champions.

From that fateful moment on, the name “Bill Buckner” has been forever tied to his “slow roller between the legs” error that lost a crucial game for the Sox.  Since that time, the phrase “pulling a Bill Buckner” has been used as a synonym for making a really bad, obvious mistake.  It is sad that a person can become identified with one mistake even though there is much more to the story.

Thank God that we don’t have to be defined by our mistakes!  The truth is that each and every one of us has “pulled a Bill Buckner” in that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  Our sins cause us to be lost, losing much more than a World Series (Matthew 7:13-14).

But God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16).  Through Jesus, we can be forgiven of our sins and receive the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

God will save from sin and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

For all who have “pulled a Bill Buckner” – and that includes ALL of us – the name to remember and to embrace is Jesus.  For in Jesus, we can be identified by His forgiveness rather than by our failures (see 1 Timothy 1:12-17).

-- David A. Sargent

* Stats about Bill Buckner were gleaned from Wikipedia.com

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

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