The error that Bill Buckner is unable to live down occured in the 10th inning of Game 6 in the 1986 World Series, which pitted Buckner's
Boston Red Sox against the
New York Mets. It did not cost the Red Sox the
World Series, as the game was already tied. If he makes the play, they might've lost anyway. See
Orange Julius's
1986 World Series - Game 6 writeup for more
misconceptions debunked about the play.
This one play sadly overshadows a rather solid career. Buckner wasn't a Hall of Fame caliber player, but he was solid, hitting .289 (hitting better than .300 7 times) in a long 22 season career (1969-1990). Buckner was an All-Star in 1981, and won the National League batting title the year earlier, hitting .324 with the Chicago Cubs.
In fact, Buckner ended up with 2715 hits, not too far from 3000, which is a virtual automatic ticket to the Hall of Fame.
Yet, all of that is forgotten, and all that anyone remembers is "The Error".