5 of the most spooky, surreal and scary World Series moments ever

2. Bill Buckner becomes a long-running goat

Bill Buckner had a solid major league career, with 2,715 hits and over 1,200 RBI over 22 seasons for five teams. But it’s Game 6 of the 1986 World Series that will stand out in infamy.

The Red Sox only had a 68-year World Series drought that fall, and even the scoreboard at Shea Stadium briefly flashed “Congratulations Boston Red Sox, 1986 World Champions” as they were on the verge of closing out Game 6 in the 10th inning. And as New York Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson hit a seemingly harmless ground ball toward first base, it seemed sure Boston would go home with a World Series title.

Buckner was 36 years old during the 1986 World Series, and pretty broken down at that point in his career. He wasn’t a great defensive first baseman to start with, and he had to go a long way to make the play on Wilson’s grounder. In a dream world where he makes the play, he probably would not have won a foot race with Wilson to the bag and Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley didn’t seem likely to have helped by getting over to cover. But Red Sox fans made Buckner public enemy No. 1, and to his credit he owned his mistake after the game.

The Red Sox were deflated heading into Game 7, and lost that deciding game to the Mets. The “Curse of the Bambino” had an easy symbol in Buckner, for 18 more years.