Bill Buckner officially is hanging up his cleats.
Brian Murphy of the Idaho Statesman reported Monday that the 64-year-old former Boston Red Sox first baseman is stepping down as the Boise Hawks’ hitting coach.
Buckner spent two seasons with the Single-A club, working with some of the Chicago Cubs’ top prospects, but he decided to step away from the game and spend more time with his family, he told the Statesman.
“Just too much time away,” Buckner said of his decision to retire. “My wife has put up with it for 30-something years.
“It just was the right thing to do,” he added. “I’ve been doing it a long time, and it’s been great.”
Buckner played for the Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, California Angels and Kansas City Royals during his 22-year major league career. He won the 1980 National League batting title, played in the 1991 All-Star Game with the Cubs and appeared in two World Series, in 1974 with the Dodgers and in 1986 with the Red Sox (when he had his infamous fielding error).
Buckner retired in 1990 with a .289 batting average, 2,715 hits and 1,208 RBI in 2,517 career games.
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