Bill Buckner, who played for 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, has died at the age of 69.

In a statement to ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, Buckner’s wife, Jody, said her husband had been diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia.

“Bill Buckner passed away early the morning of May 27th surrounded by his family,” the statement read. “Bill fought with courage and grit as he did all things in life. Our hearts are broken but we are at peace knowing he is in the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’

A native of Vallejo, Calif., Buckner broke into the majors in 1969 with the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he spent eight seasons.

His career took off after a trade to the Chicago Cubs in 1977. Buckner won the National League batting title in 1980, hitting .324, was an All-Star in 1981 and improbably broke the 100-RBI mark in 1982, despite hitting only 15 home runs.

In May of 1984, Buckner was traded to the Boston Red Sox for a package that included Dennis Eckersley.

Buckner would go down in baseball lore while wearing a Red Sox uniform, thanks to an untimely error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets.

With the Red Sox up 3-2 in the series and on the precipice of their first title since 1918, the Red Sox led Game 6 by a score of 5-3 in the 10th inning. With two outs in the inning, back-to-back singles from Gary Carter and Kevin Mitchell off of Calvin Schiraldi brought Ray Knight to the plate. Knight would single to knock in Carter from second and bring Mitchell to third.

Knight would represent Schiraldi’s final batter with Red Sox manager John McNamara bringing in Bob Stanley to face Mookie Wilson. On a 2-2 count, a breaking ball from Stanley got away from catcher Wes Gardner, allowing Mitchell to score and tie the game and Knight to move into scoring position. In the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Wilson hit a ground ball to Buckner at first, who had shifted over towards the foul line. Concerned with Wilson’s speed, Buckner lost focus of the ball and it rolled between his legs into right field. Knight would score from second to win the game, 6-5, and even the series at 3-3.

The Red Sox would go on to blow a 3-0 lead in Game 7 and fall 8-5 as the Mets won the World Series with many citing “The Curse of the Bambino” as the reason for Buckner’s error and the team’s collapse.

In 2012, the now infamous “Buckner Ball” sold at auction for more than $400,000.

Buckner would be released by the Red Sox midway through the 1987 series and spend the next three seasons with the California Angels and Kansas City Royals.

He would return to the Red Sox in 1990 for his final season at the age of 40. He was welcomed back to Fenway on the opening day of the season with a standing ovation.

Buckner hit the final home run of his career on April 25 of that season – it also marked the only inside-the-park homer of his career.

Buckner threw out the first pitch at Fenway on opening day of 2008 as the team raised its championship banner for their 2007 World Series title, where Buckner was again warmly received.

Buckner is survived by his wife and three children.