Buckner Rox!

Short post tonight, because I have a cold and really just want to go to bed. In case you missed the news, Bill Buckner was named the new manager of the Brockton Rox of the independent CanAm League. In case you aren't familiar with the metropolitan Boston area, Brockton is roughly 25 miles southeast of Fenway Park.

Listen, I hold no grudge against Bill Buckner. The ground ball through his legs in game 6 of the 1986 World Series was simply the last in a series of horrific events that led to one of the epic collapses in baseball history. Calvin Schiraldi, Bob Stanley, Rich Gedman and manager John McNamara all bear as much, if not more, responsibility for what happened.

If you were in my apartment watching the game with me that night, you would have heard me say, "I'm surprised McNamara didn't put Stapleton in." at the start of the bottom of the 10th. Dave Stapleton was the gimpy legged Buckner's regular late inning defensive replacement in 1986. Johnny Mac would have saved Buckner a lifetime of angst if he had just stuck to the script.

Back to the point - Bill Buckner certainly deserves the chance to manage if that's what he wants to do. And I think most real Red Sox fans will welcome him warmly and treat him fairly when he shows up at Campanelli Stadium. But there will inevitably be a few leather-lung idiots who have indulged in a few beers and start screaming stuff at Buckner. I guess I just don't see why he would want to put up with that. I'm sure he would hear it anywhere, but why subject yourself to it right in the heart of Red Sox Nation?

I hope I'm wrong, and I hope Buckner has a great summer managing the Rox. I will certainly venture down to Brockton a couple of times to see the Rox and applaud Buckner.