Bucky Dent, known by much more colorful names in the greater Boston metropolitan area, remains famous for doing one thing: killing the hopes and dreams of Boston Red Sox fans while simultaneously giving New York Yankees fans yet another great moment.

Dent’s two-out, three-run homer in a 1978 tiebreaker game between the Yankees and the Red Sox put the Yankees ahead for good and left the Red Sox to stew over another missed opportunity. The stewing got even worse in 1986, but finally ended with four titles in the first two decades of the 21st century.

What’s sometimes missed in everything written and said about Dent is that he also had a solid career as shortstop and hitter.

Bucky Dent’s Early Life

Russell Earl “Bucky” Dent was  born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1951. Dent, born to Denise O’Dey and Russell “Shorty” Stanford, actually went home from the hospital and was raised by his mother’s brother, James Earl Dent, and his wife, Sarah. Dent remained in the dark about this until he reached the age of 10.

Dent grew up in Hialeah, Florida, near Miami. He attributes his athletic skill to his half-brother, Jim Beasley, who coached and inspired him throughout his youth. Dent played baseball, basketball, and football at Hialeah High School.

The Chicago White Sox drafted him out of high school in 1970.

Bucky Dent’s Baseball Career

The White Sox sent Dent through the minor league system, playing his way up from 1970 to 1973, when the White Sox decided to bring him up to the majors. Dent made his debut June 1, 1973, against the Milwaukee Brewers. Over the next few years, Dent hit well enough to play every day for the White Sox. batting .274 in 1974 and .264 in ‘1975.

In ‘74, he finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting to Mike Hargrove of the Texas Rangers.

However, the White Sox overall were a mediocre team, and, what’s more, they didn’t want to pay Dent much more than they were already paying. The White Sox traded Dent in April 1977 to the Yankees, who paid Dent $100,000 more than what he made in Chicago.

His agent, Nick Buoniconti, the former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, said at the time, “It’s obvious that the White Sox can’t afford Dent. He is one of the best shortstops in the American League, and he should be paid like one.”

The Yankees and the Moment of Glory

Dent played five full seasons with the Yankees and part of a sixth before the Yankees traded him in August 1982 to the Texas Rangers for Lee Mazzilli. He played well, making the All-Star team in both 1980 and 1981.

He played a solid shortstop for the Yankees, but his offensive numbers were never that big. He hit only 40 home runs his entire career. That’s what makes his big moment even more memorable.

That moment came on Oct. 2, 1978 between the Red Sox and Yankees at Fenway Park in Boston. Both teams finished the regular season at 99-63. With no wildcard playoff teams in those days, a one-game playoff was necessary to determine what team would move on into the postseason.

Red Sox starter Mark Torrez has kept the Yankees in check for six innings, giving up only two hits. The Red Sox had a 2-0 lead, thanks to a Carl Yastrzemski solo home run in the second inning and a single in the sixth inning that drove in Rick Burleson.

With one out in the seventh,  Chris Chambliss and Roy White of the Yankees both singled. After a flyout by Jim Spencer for the second out, Dent stepped to the plate. After a first pitch ball, Dent went down after fouling the second pitch off his foot and cracking his bat.

A trainer came out and treated his foot, delaying the game a few minutes. Dent got a new bat from centerfielder Mickey Rivers, stepped back into the box and sent the third pitch deep into left field over the Green Monster, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead. They never trailed again, winning 5-4.

Dent later said: “I didn’t know it was a home run until the second-base umpire signaled it was a home run. It was an eerie feeling because the ballpark was dead silent.”

The day provided yet another clutch victory for the Yankees, who went on to win the 1978 World Series. The Red Sox had to wait for another season (as it turned out, 26 more seasons).

After the Moment

His clutch home run turned Dent into a huge celebrity. His popularity got him a role in a made-for-TV movie about cheerleaders and a pinup in Playgirl magazine. The Yankees front office said at the time that Dent’s sex appeal led to an increase in Yankees ticket sales among women.

Dent continued to play well in 1980 and 1981, but injuries began to plague his career starting in 1981, when he tore a ligament in his throwing hand. In 1982, the Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers. He played his last season in 1984, ending his career with the Kansas City Royals.

After retirement, Dent went on to become a manager. He managed the Yankees in 1989 and 1990, but was fired by the team’s owner, George Steinbrenner, after the 1990 season – ironically, while he was at Fenway Park, the site of his legendary home run. Tony Kubek, the Yankees’ television analyst at the time, lambasted Steinbrenner for the decision on live television.

Dent also served as a coach for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds. In 1982, he and his friend Larry Hoskin founded the Bucky Dent Baseball School in Delray Beach, Florida, which featured a miniature recreation of Fenway Park. They taught baseball there until 2011. He also hosts a podcast called Deep to Left with Bucky Dent.