Veteran first baseman Bill Buckner, whose career spanned four decades and who collected over 2,700 hits in the major leagues, has died at the age of 69.

Buckner's death was confirmed to ESPN reporter Jeremy Schaap by his wife, who said her husband died after battling the disease of Lewy Body Dementia.

"Bill fought with courage and grit as he did all things in life," Jody Buckner said.

Buckner played for five different MLB teams, including eight seasons each with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, in a career that spanned 22 years from 1969 through 1990.

However, he will be remembered most as a member of the Boston Red Sox for the ground ball that went between his legs in the 10th inning of Game 6 against the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series. The error allowed the winning run to score in a devastating 6-5 loss. The Mets would go on to win Game 7 and extend the Red Sox's infamous title drought dating back to 1918.

Because of that one play, Buckner became Public Enemy No. 1 in Boston, even though the Mets had tied the game on a wild pitch a moment earlier.

Although it had a profound impact on him for the rest of his life, Buckner didn't let it define him.

“At some point you have to realize that it’s just a game, even if people don’t understand that one person doesn’t lose the World Series,” he said in 2016. “I had to live with the fact that I was getting blamed for something that really didn’t happen. It was just how the stars lined up, with Boston and New York, and Boston (nearly) 100 years from winning. You have to get the point where it doesn’t mean that much.”

It took another 18 years, but the Red Sox did win that elusive World Series title -- and Boston fans gradually made their peace with Buckner.

After another World Series victory in 2007, Buckner threw out the first pitch for the 2008 season at Fenway Park and was greeted with a four-minute ovation.

"There's not too many people that can do what he did today and face thousands of people that booed him, threatened his life," Red Sox player Kevin Youkilis said that day.

"I tip my cap. I just wanted to shake his hand. Because that's a true man in life."

In contrast to that one mistake, Buckner was known throughout his professional career as an outstanding left-handed contact hitter. He never struck out more than 39 times in any MLB season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only one player in the expansion era with at least 10,000 plate appearances struck out less frequently than Buckner did: Tony Gwynn.

In 1980 with the Cubs, Buckner won the National League batting title with a .324 average and finished 14th in the NL MVP voting.

He was named to his only All-Star team the following year in 1981, when he hit .311 with a league-leading 35 doubles and finished 10th in the MVP race.

In addition to five seasons with the Red Sox, Buckner also played two seasons with the Kansas City Royals and two with the California Angels.

He finished his career with 2,715 hits and a lifetime batting average of .289.