The American Spectator

Dean| 1.19.10 @ 10:00PM

Perhaps now the Dems will end their belief they are entitled to people's votes.

For years they have treated minorities and the poor as if they (the Dems) were entitled to their votes. They didn't have to actually do anything to help minorities or the poor, they were just entitled to their votes.

They did the same thing in Massachusetts. This is Teddy's seat and any Democrat is therefore entitled to your vote for that seat.

In a state that has a clear Democratic majority, this miscalculation has cost them big time. Now, lets hope the Republicans don't make the same mistake in upcoming races.

Stumpy Pepys| 1.19.10 @ 10:04PM

yes...and the manager (the Prez) and team captain (Gergan) deserve credit as well!

Wlady Pleszczynski| 1.19.10 @ 10:14PM

Buckner didn't choke -- he was playing on bum legs and shouldn't have been out there at that stage late in the game when he could barely move -- the previous game he'd been replaced in the final inning for defensive purposes by Dave Stapleton, if I remember correctly. Moreover, best as I can tell, Buckner never denigrated the idea of showing up at Fenway--which is more that you can say about Martha (a.k.a. Marcia) Coakley. Buckner will always be respected as a great player. Coakley? Salem witch trials, anyone?

Andrew| 1.19.10 @ 10:17PM

Well done, Wlady!

Andrew| 1.19.10 @ 10:16PM

C'mon, Mr. Tabin. Come into the 21st century. Sox fans do NOT curse Buckner's name "to this day." He returned on a recent Opening Day to throw out the ceremonial first pitch and received a standing ovation. A loooong Standing-O. All is forgiven...if anything needed forgiving. It wasn't Buckner who failed to remove him as a 10th inning defensive replacement (McNamara). It wasn't he who gave up consecutive 2-out hits to Carter, McReynolds, and Knight (Schiraldi). It wasn't he who threw the wild pitch/passed ball that allowed the tying run to score (Stanley/Gedman). And even if Buckner HAD fielded the ball cleanly, Mookie Wilson had Bob Stanley beaten to the 1st base bag, and so Ray Knight would STILL have scored the winning run.

If you're going to use a sports analogy, next time get your facts straight, please!

Quin| 1.19.10 @ 10:26PM

I echo the comments of Wlady and others. Buckner was a great guy, a real warrior, and a superb player who didn't choke, but just physically wasn't up to the task on his bum legs. He is a hero, not a bum.

Pasadena Phil| 1.19.10 @ 11:06PM

As a former Bostonian who lived in Boston at the time and watched the game live and was a big Bill Buckner fan, I disagree with those who argue that he didn't choke on that play. He did. It was a routine ground ball that went right through the wickets without anything resembling a bad hop. I could hear every Little League coach yelling "Get that butt down Bill!"

Buckner had a great year and didn't deserve to be the goat of the Series but he DID choke on THAT play.

Andrew| 1.20.10 @ 12:28AM

Phil, it was NOT a routine grounder. Buckner was playing behind the bag for defensive purposes. He had to move to his left on a slow grounder, and he had to field the ball and race to the bag to beat the speedy Mookie Wilson (or flip the ball to Bob Stanley, who was late off the mound and would have been beaten by Wilson to the bag). It was anything BUT routine. He should NOT have been out there. McNamara deserves the blame for that. Schiraldi deserves the blame for not being able to retire Carter, McReynolds, or Knight. Gedman deserves the blame for the passed ball. And Stanley deserves the blame for being slow off the mound. Go back and watch the video (I have). Buckner is not culpable.

Bryan Frymire| 1.19.10 @ 11:31PM

I don't care if Buckner was a double amputee that day. You don't let ground balls get by you. Period. If you can't stop 'em with your glove, you use your chest, your neck, or even your face. I'm sure he's a nice guy but come on. Even weekend softball players would rather take a bad hop in the face than look a fool like he did that day.

Andrew| 1.20.10 @ 12:23AM

Bryan, your post shows that you don't understand what the situation was at that point in time. Let's say Buckner lays out and stops the ball with his body. Mookie is STILL safe at first base, and Knight STILL scores the winning run. And even if Buckner fields that ball cleanly, Mookie was going to beat Stanley to the bag and Knight was running on contact (there were 2 outs) and would've scored the winning run, anyway. The ONLY way the Sox live to the 11th inning is if someone OTHER THAN Buckner is playing 1st base and is able to field the ball and race to the bag to beat Mookie. McNamara deserves all the blame for Buckner being out there. HE is the one who choked, not Billy Buck.

S.L. Toddard| 1.20.10 @ 10:45AM

Damn right. Buckner was a hell of a ballplayer for years and deserved better than he got from us.

Andrew| 1.20.10 @ 12:20AM

Define "choking," Mr. Tabin, if you insist on maintaining the notion that Buckner choked. Here's mine, of the top of my head: "failing to perform an ordinary task when the stakes are high." Buckner didn't choke, because when you take into account his feeble physical condition, fielding that ground ball was NOT an ordinary task...for HIM. You want to know who choked? John McNamara, Cal Schiraldi, Rich Gedman, and Bob Stanley. They ALL failed to execute ordinary tasks, any one of which would have delivered the World Series to the Sox. So while Buckner may have a reputation for choking, it's only with the unenlightened. Those of us who know what REALLY happened that night in New York do NOT hold Buckner accountable for the Sox' loss. The reputation is wholly undeserved. You knowing it exists only serves to indict those who hold it as ignorant. Don't be one of them.

Jocon307| 1.20.10 @ 12:25AM

Well, I am not very knowledgeable about sports either, but I have heard of Buckner. And I'm glad that all is forgiven now, but I heard he had to leave that whole part of the country as he could never get past that error.

I'm glad the Mass curses seem to all be falling by the wayside, Curt Schilling is like the best thing that has happened to Massachusetts since the Pilgrims, and my Dad, of course!

Andrew| 1.20.10 @ 12:34AM

Jocon, did you also hear that he was welcomed back to throw out an Opening Day first pitch and was greeted with a resounding standing ovation? That's part of the narrative that too many people don't know. Bill Buckner was vilified, unfairly, by ignorant Sox fans who needed someone to blame and who laid the blame and the most visible person, not the most culpable people. He's the fifth most responsible person for what happened back in 1986, but more importantly he has been forgiven by Sox fans (even though he doesn't need to have been forgiven). Also, did you know that a few years after the '86 episode, the Sox brought him back (for part of a year, I think) as a player, and he was warmly received? Another inconvenient fact that bitter Sox fans choose to ignore.

Dave B| 1.20.10 @ 1:33AM

Being a Mass voter I can say that Coakley was a pretty bad candidate, Brown was excellent, but she would have still been sitting pretty if Reid didn't pull that crap with Nebraska Senator Nelson. That's when many in Mass started to get pissed off even more than we already were. He put a nail in her coffin when he did the back room deal with the Unions. She didn't stand a chance after that. Obama coming to her "rescue" only infuriated those of us that were livid already and actually hurt her further.

Derek Leaberry| 1.20.10 @ 8:59AM

Bill Buckner was a very fine baseball player, not quite Hall of Fame, but still very good. He had beaten legs and should have had a defensive replacement that late in the game and the Red Sox in the lead. Buckner deserves to be remembered for a solid career, not one bad play. Martha Coakley is not fit to carry Buckner's jock strap.

Bryan Frymire| 1.20.10 @ 6:31PM

So then if a ballplayer is standing on the first base line and the pitch is about to be thrown across the plate he's supposed to be thinking to himself: "Let's see, it's not really vital that I do my job and keep a hit ball from getting by me because even if I blow it, we won't *immediately* lose this game, so it's cool." Or in Bill Buckner's case "Hell, my legs are shot so even if I stop the ball I'm so dang slow that I can't get to first for the tag anyway - so eff it. I'll just let it bounce by me. No harm, no foul."

Your argument is pitiable. So let me be clear. I stand by my previous statement. Each and every word.

I think I understand the situation just fine, thank you.

Bryan Frymire| 1.27.10 @ 7:43PM

Wow. Sure got quiet in here. PWN3D anyone?

350-030| 4.19.10 @ 6:22AM

High quality Cisco, HP, IBM, Oracle and other Certification exmas training materials are provided here at Pass4sure. Pass4sure helps you on your way to your certifications

640-802| 4.19.10 @ 6:22AM

thanks share