Former Red Sox Bill Buckner throws ceremonial first pitch during Red Sox opening day.
After Boston received its 2007 World Series rings during the pregame festivities, former Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner threw the ceremonial first pitch to former teammate Dwight Evans on Tuesday.
Most remembered for allowing Mookie Wilson's grounder to pass through his legs, leading to Ray Knight scoring the winning run for the Mets in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, a sellout crowd welcomed Buckner back to Fenway Park with a long and rousing standing ovation.
The misplay capped a three-run Mets rally and pushed the series to a seventh game in which the Sox once again surrendered a 3-0 lead.
Marty Barrett made the last out for the Sox with Buckner on deck, as the Mets won the World Series. Buckner played part of the 1987 season before being released on July 23 of that year.
Buckner made a return to the Red Sox in 1990, and he played in 22 games before retiring from baseball. Buckner makes his first visit to Boston since Sept. 1997, when he was at Fenway as a hitting coach with the White Sox.
Buckner walked out to the closing-credits theme from the movie "Glory," which was composed by James Horner. The movie is based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War -- one of the first formal units of the U.S. Army to be made up entirely of African-American soldiers.
Buckner amassed 2,715 hits and 1,208 RBIs over a 21-year career in which he wore a uniform for five different Major League teams. He won the National League batting title with the Cubs in 1980 with an average of .324, and he was named to the NL All-Star Team in '81.
Buckner recorded only 453 strikeouts in 2,517 games, and he had one of the best at-bats-per-strikeout rates in the history of the game. In 1986, he drove in 102 RBIs during the regular season to help the Red Sox win the AL pennant.
Mike Petraglia is a contributor to MLB.com.
Source: Red Sox News Release
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