Buckner's Bolero

If Bobby Ojeda hadn't raged at Sullivan and Yawkey
 And hadn't been traded to the Mets for Calvin Schiraldi
 If Oil Can Boyd hadn't been such a nutcase
 And Jim Rice had twice taken an easy extra base
 If the Red Sox had had a better playoff 4th starter
 Instead, Nipper served up a big fat slider to Carter
 What would Seaver have done if not for his bum knee?
 Would he have taken the ball and exacted revenge on his old team?
 If Gooden had pitched like the real Dr. K
 Or Donnie Moore hadn't had that nightmare day
 That stuck with him 'til he couldn't take anymore
 And turned his own kitchen into a killing floor
 And John McNamara, what the hell was he thinking?
 Was it him, not the party boy Mets, doing all the drinking?
 If he'd hit Baylor for Buckner and yanked the first baseman
 For his by-the-book late inning defensive replacement
 That ball would have been snagged if it'd ever been hit
 And Mookie's last name wouldn't now be "86"
 Bob Stanley picked a pretty bad time to uncork a wild pitch
 And I'm sure he's still thinking that you could have blocked it, Rich
 Then the tying run might have not been tallied by Mitch
 If one play killed the Sox, can you please tell me which?
 I guess everything happens for some sort of reason
 And there must be a tragic end to every long season
 If even one man doesn't do one thing he does
 We'd all know Bill Buckner for just what he was
 A pretty tough out for the Dodgers, Red Sox and Cubs
 Ten thousand at bats and close to three thousand hits
 And he stole plenty bases before his legs quit
 As tough to walk as he was to strike out
 But there's only one play that ever gets talked about
 Now some kind of fame lies in being a scapegoat
 And if not that, then you're just an historical footnote
 And your 22 years playing ball might be forgotten
 Maybe Bill Buckner was lucky his luck was so rotten