Recalling Bill Buckner: E3 on Alan Greenspan

Maybe Bill Buckner was beginning to enjoy a little peace and quiet selling cars in Idaho. Red Sox Nation had forgiven him. The Baseball Reliquary had inducted him into the Shrine of the Eternals. A new generation of baseball fans doesn't even know his name.

But no.

Out of the blue today, on Capitol Hill of all places, Buckner became a metaphor for the worldwide financial crisis.

Testifying before Congress, Alan Greenspan was compared by Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) to Buckner. In fairness to Greenspan, the former Fed chairman wasn't the only one charged with an error. Yarmuth also mentioned former Treasury Secretary John Snow and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.

Greenspan, a lifelong New York Yankees fan, no doubt knew that he was being insulted.

-- Randy Harvey

Photo: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan at a Thursday hearing in Washington, D.C. Credit: Lawrence Jackson / Associated Press