10 Greatest sporting chokes of all time (Part-1)

9. Boston Red Sox, 1986 World Series- ‘Buckner failed to grab the cup’

The dreams of the Boston fans were finally shaping into reality. The Red Sox were leading 5-3 in the bottom tenth innings, just one out away from their first World Series title in 68 years.

It was Gary Carter who had the opportunity to seal the game against the crumbling Mets side as he pitched to claim the third strike. Instead, it was Ray Knight from Mets who held his nerves to scrap a single – there went the first chance to win for the Reds!

Next, it was Bob Stanley’s 2-2 pitch to Mookie Wilson which was horribly wide, gifting another single to the Mets to tie things up. Another chance of a victory gone straight out of the window!

Wilson, facing a full count, fouled off a couple of pitches before hitting a slow roller that surprisingly went through the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner. Another run for Mets, Boston was stunned.

Buckner became the butt of all jokes when it came to choking on the biggest stage in baseball. However, when you recall the incident now, Red Sox should have wrapped it up well before that horrendous error from Buckner.