From Day One, Buckner was a stand-up guy

LOS ANGELES — Though they didn’t spend too much time together, Rick Sutcliffe remembers the impact Bill Buckner had both on baseball and the former Cy Young winner’s pitching career.

Buckner, the longtime infielder best known for his error against the Mets in the 1986 World Series, died on Monday at 69.

Sutcliffe and Buckner spent spring training of 1975 and ’76 together with the Dodgers. The right-handed pitcher’s fondest memory of Buckner involves heartfelt kindness and a pair of tennis shoes.

Buckner was one of the first teammates to reach out to Sutcliffe when he joined the team. Both Buckner and Sutcliffe were drafted by the Dodgers — the former in ’68 and the latter in ’74. Sutcliffe debuted for the Dodgers when he was called up on Sept. 29, ’76.

“He was one of the guys that reached out and I’ll never forget what he offered me,” Sutcliffe said on Monday. “He asked me what size shoe I wore because I didn’t have any tennis shoes to run in. And he went to another player and he got me the size that I had and gave me a pair of tennis shoes to go running.”

That was just the kind of guy Buckner was, Sutcliffe said. The first baseman was quiet, but he paid attention and he cared about his teammates.

Sutcliffe made just one start for the Dodgers while Buckner was in his lineup. The righty remembered how Buckner flew under the radar in that win for Los Angeles.

“We won that game 1-0,” Sutcliffe said. “Billy Buckner scored the only run. (Steve) Garvey drove him in. I don’t think people remember what a great player he was. He hit third that night. It wasn’t Garvey, it wasn’t (Ron) Cey, it wasn’t any of those other guys. It was Billy Buckner that hit third. He was that type of player. He was a borderline Hall of Famer for a long, long time.”

Buckner was a 22-year MLB veteran with the Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, and Royals, but will forever be linked to the Red Sox and Mets because of an error he made in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

With the Red Sox on the verge of winning the Series for the first time since 1918, Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch, scoring the tying run and moving another runner to second. Mookie Wilson hit a soft, bouncing grounder to first. It was a routine play, but the ball rolled through Buckner’s legs. The winning run scored on the play. A few nights later, the Mets would go on to win Game 7.

Despite his great career, Buckner would forever be known for the error.

“You just think about the hustle of Pete Rose, the bat control of Tony Gwynn, who never struck out,” Sutcliffe said of Buckner. “He was just a competitor. You knew that he had some problems with his feet. What he had to do to get prepared to play as much as he did, I saw it first person with Andre Dawson. Andre Dawson with the knees on the Astroturf, all the things he had to do postgame, pregame to go out there. Billy Buckner had to do a lot of the same things. But that’s the man that he was.”

In ’77, Buckner was traded from the Dodgers to the Cubs for Rick Monday, a two-time All-Star center fielder who remembered Buckner for his competitiveness.

“He loved to win,” Monday said. “Sad, I got the text this morning. I knew he had been struggling a lot. But it was too early.”

Sutcliffe said spring training with the Dodgers helped players become a family. After Buckner moved on to play for the Cubs, Red Sox, Angels, and Royals, Sutcliffe wasn’t sure if he faced the first baseman in an at-bat.

“I don’t know if I ever faced him or not,” Sutcliffe said. “If I did, I’m sure it didn’t go well.”