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Didja Ever Notice: What else did he do?

Appropos of nothing, other than that I haven't written one of these in awhile. Part of our continuing series regarding Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Other stories in the series can be found here:
http://metswalkoffs.blogspot.com/search/label/Bill%20Buckner

I just noticed that if you include the World Series in your tally, Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. That is the equivalent of a full major league season.

So how did he fare? Among our discoveries:

* Bill Buckner had 174 hits in 623 at-bats in those "other" 162 games against the Mets, good for a .279 batting average. That's about 10 points below what he normally hit, so the Mets did a good job of keeping him in check.

* Bill Buckner had 8 home runs and 55 RBI in those games against the Mets. He played at least 140 games against 9 other teams. The Mets held him to fewer RBI than any of those teams.

* Of the 8 home runs that Buckner hit against the Mets, 7 gave his team the lead.

* Bill Buckner played in 162 "other" games against the Mets. His teams went 81-80-1(yes, a tie) in those 162 games. Add in Game 6 of the World Series and Buckner's teams went exactly .500 against the Mets.

* In 1982, Bill Buckner had 4 home runs and 18 RBI in 18 games against the Mets. He had more RBI against the Mets that season than any other player in baseball that season and also managed a 12-game hit streak against them.

* Bill Buckner had 19 hits against Craig Swan, his most against any Mets pitcher.

* Bill Buckner, in those 162 "other" games struck out a total of 27 times, which is VERY impressive. Tom Seaver struck him out the most- 4 times. Buckner was 13-for-59 against Seaver (.220 batting average) during Seaver's Mets tenure.

It should also be noted that Buckner led his league in being toughest to strike out in four different seasons, including 1986. That the Mets struck him out 3 times in that series is impressive.

* Bill Buckner had 15 go-ahead hits against the Mets. Amazingly, none came in the 7th inning or later.

* Bill Buckner was the final batter in 12 Mets wins. In 1979, he was the final out on April 5 against Jesse Orosco, in a game in which Orosco was making his major-league debut.

* Bill Buckner had three games against the Mets in which he had 4 hits. Two of them came in losses.

* Bill Buckner made 9 errors against the Mets. None came in games that the Mets won by walk-off.

* Bill Buckner was never, other than in the top of the 10th inning of Game 6 of the World Series, hit by a pitch by any Mets moundsman.

True Metners know... That Bill Buckner played in 9 "other" games that the Mets won by walk-off.
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