Talking Points: The Buckner Ball

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The Bill Buckner ball is back in play.

The prized souvenir from the 1986 World Series will go on eBay this month with a $1 million price tag, put up for auction by the Grammy-nominated songwriter who once bought it from actor Charlie Sheen.

Seth Swirsky owns the ball, along with a bevy of bats, gloves and other mementos tied to the likes of Shoeless Joe Jackson, Johnny Vander Meer and Eddie Gaedel. He celebrates the game’s lore, and has written three books based on his letters to and from ballplayers.

“I love my collection. I don’t think I’ve ever sold anything from it,” Swirsky told The Associated Press from his home in Los Angeles. “But that ball, it’s time to pass it along, to let someone else enjoy it.”

Swirsky plans to begin the online auction on Oct. 15, and it won’t last long. He intends to close the bidding late on the night of Oct. 25 — at the exact minute of the 25th anniversary of Buckner’s famous error.

Swirsky said he decided to part with a favorite piece while driving around last week, a day after watching Boston collapse on the final night of the regular season.

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So the NBA officially canceled its entire preseason schedule because of the ongoing labor dispute.

Are you heartbroken? No?

Join the club.

If recent labor disputes in pro sports have shown us, no one gets upset about lost preseason games.

And even the threat of the first two weeks of the regular season being lost doesn’t really concern us.

Maybe it’s because the season is so long. From start to finish, the regular season lasts almost six months. Add the postseason, and you’re talking about an eight-month ordeal.

So the idea of an abbreviated NBA season is not so bad.

Plus there are enough distractions right now, like the NFL, college football, baseball playoffs

Get back to us in December.

By then, we might start thinking about missing the NBA.