Red Sox News

BOSTON (WBZ) ― WBZ's Jon Keller and Dan Roche went head-to-head on the hot button issue of Red Sox fans forgiving former player Bill Buckner for his infamous error that contributed to the team's loss in the 1986 World Series.

While Roche thinks Keller and other stubborn Sox fans should get over it and move on, Keller says Roche just doesn't get it.

"I thought the honoring of Bill Buckner at Fenway Park was touching and well-deserved. And the personal invective he endured over the years was ludicrous," Keller said. "He should have been forgiven as a man for his mistake that very night. There's no argument there. I'm troubled though by the notion that we as fans should somehow minimize and forget the error ever occurred because we won a couple titles now. I disagree. I think heartache is a key part of being a life-long Red Sox fan. This is exhibit A, don't you agree?"

"I think Red Sox fans have moved on," Roche responded. "I think you should move on as well, Mr. Keller, simply because of the fact that they did win two World Series Championships. They're over the Bill Buckner thing, and they let him know that yesterday when he came to Fenway Park. In the press conference afterwards – the man cannot get over this. He's been abused by fans. He's been abused by the media. Give the guy a break. Get over it, Mr. Keller. Move on and stay within your political realm."

"Did you notice the tears in Buckner's eyes as he walked on the field to the mound?" WBZ's Jack Williams asked Keller.

"Do you have any sympathy?" Roche added.

"Yes, I do as I just said, open up those ear canals and listen a bit more closely. This notion of moving on, I think, is fascinating. In what way should we move on? Should we not look back on Manager John McNamara's fateful decision to leave Buckner, gimpy knees and all, in at first base to honor him for being such a key part of the team when all along that season he'd been bringing in Dave Stapleton as a replacement. Should we honor that kind of bone-headed management?"

"No, and let me correct you on that. Dave Stapleton was set to come in the game and Bill Buckner asked to stay out on the field so he could be there when they won the World Series. But again it is a game, one game. It was Stanley, it was Gedman, it was everyone else. It was Calvin Shiraldi. It wasn't just Buckner. Why did this guy have to go through this? He did not commit a crime. He did not do anything wrong. The guy has had to live with this for 21 years. He had to move out of his house in Andover to Idaho."

"What is this nap time at kindergarten where the kids are supposed to lay down and be quiet? I'm sorry I'm too old for juice and graham crackers," Keller said. "I'm a diehard, life-long Red Sox fan."

"Not one that's got any sympathy," Roche said.

"I do have sympathy on a human level," Keller said. "As a fan, I want the players to get their gloves down on routine ground (balls), and I want the managers to --"

"And show the error time and time again," Roche said.

"I didn't show the error time and time again," Keller said.

"That's what has happened to the poor man," Roche said.

"That's not my doing or my problem," Keller said.

"I just think that it's time for everyone to move on," Roche said. "When you get on an airplane you do not show crashes to the people who are getting on. You show safety procedures. Why do we have to see this play over and over again? If you're trying to teach kids how to play sports, how to do things right – let the man live his life and let's all move on."

"I didn't know we were living in Russia," Keller said.

Watch Keller and Roche's Debate Part 2

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