Mets great Mookie Wilson and Bill Buckner are friends, in case you didn’t know

In 2014, Mookie Wilson described his relationship with Bill Buckner as being “the best of friends.”

So no, this is not breaking news by any means, but always intriguing to hear, especially as the Mets are about to commemorate the 1986 World Series Champions from May 27-29.

Both Wilson and Buckner contributed to this championship win three decades ago. It’s a moment that Mets fans will never forget. It was the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 6. Wilson hit a grounder towards first. Instead of the easy out it should have been, the ball rolled through Buckner’s legs, allowing Ray Knight to score.

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This doesn’t sound like the start of a beautiful relationship, does it? Here’s the irony of it all – since this, the two have actually become good friends. Yes it’s been quite a long time, but one still can’t help to be a bit surprised about this friendship. Wilson himself acknowledged this, and elaborated on it:

"“That is a strange relationship, but we are very close,” Wilson said. “We have become very good friends. We talk about a lot of things when we’re together, and we’re together quite often. And when we’re not together, I will call him, or he will call me, and we update each other on what our families are doing and how things are going with our kids. It has really developed into one of the unique relationships. You would think that we were teammates, but we’re not. We just have become very good friends. We have a lot more in common than we would have thought. And it all happened with a ground ball.”"

There you have it. The unlikeliest of friendships is possible. Of course it helps when money’s also involved, as both have participated in joint signings. The foundation of this friendship does seem much more genuine that one may have thought though.