Bucky Dent
November 15, 2006
Here is the tragic figure of Bucky Dent, the mildly promising albeit light-hitting young Chicago White Sox shortstop who after being named to the Topps all-rookie team in 1975 was killed in a horrific wood chipper accident. Though some are of the opinion that this accident is a myth, and that Bucky Dent actually went on to play for several more years in the American League, at times even excelling as a power-hitter in key late season moments (a preposterous claim given his slight frame and complete lack of power-hitting skills), I offer as primary countering evidence the fact that this is the only Bucky Dent card in my entire collection, and if he had indeed played beyond this year the only way to explain his absence from my collection would be to say that I assiduously removed and destroyed any later Bucky Dent cards, as if for some reason the very sight of them caused me revulsion. But why on earth would I or anyone waste time doing something like that? Clearly, the stronger Bucky Dent theory is the one in which, tragically, Bucky Dent was thoroughly minced or possibly even pureed by a wood chipper before he was ever able to make any significant impact on major league baseball history or on the innocence of, say, a 10-year-old Red Sox fan in East Randolph, Vermont, on October 2, 1978.
Cardboard Gods 
1. 3 comments from old CG site:
MIL said…
I oftened wondered what happened to him.
10:00 AM
Anonymous said…
you really should be talking to someone….
12:38 PM
Ian said…
Reading along, thoroughly amused, and then I read “… or possibly even pureed” and start laughing so hard I fear ribs will break.
Nice ‘un.
6:28 PM
2. Ah, yes…the Hamilton Beach wood chipper with the puree setting. Tragic. I heard you can purchase one in limited edition, signed by an M. Augustine Torrez.
It is strange. I’ve always loved that card. (Sorry Josh) As a Yankees fan, Bucky Dent was one of my favorite players. Pre-Internet, as a 10-year old I would daily calculate Bucky’s batting average (as low as it might have been). Some days, in IL, the local paper in Champaign, IL would exclude a box score for a particular game. I remember calling the paper, more than once, saying you did not print the box score for a certain game, and that means I cannot calculate Bucky’s accurate batting average. They seemed puzzeled.
Out of nowhere, about two months ago, my little neice and nephew (3 and 6), cute as can be, started calling me Uncle Bucky . . . I don’t have a clue why or where that came from . . . I don’t have bucky teeth. It was because of Bucky Dent, that I felt . . . hey no problem . . . It brings me back to my childhood, and I’ve always loved Bucky Dent.
My friend Eric and I were recently playing with the idea of assembling a team of the best MLB players ON THE DAY OF THEIR DEATH. This club would be led by Hall of Famer Robert Clemente. A no brainer. Thurmon Munson would most certainly catch and hit in the middle of the line-up (perhaps right behind Clemente to provide protection). Ray Chapman might be in the dugout. I see a place for Lyman Bostock (Topps 1978 #655). Darryl Kile might be the ace of the staff. Not on the team, Lou Gehrig (too sick), Bob Feller (at 92, a bit passed his glorious prime), and BUCKY DENT, who, despite rumors of a horrendous wood chipper accident, is alive and well and living in Savannah, Georgia.
Yeah, it’s a good thing that Brave Sir Bucky met with such a tragic end. Also in this universe, Lyman Bostock and his 3400 career hits has been been enshrined in Cooperstown for a good many years.
Bostock went into Cooperstown the same year as Fidrych, if memory serves.