NEW YORK -- Bill Buckner sounded perfectly content to be back at Shea Stadium.

Sitting in a field box behind home plate as a guest of New York manager Bobby Valentine, Buckner said he was getting a nice greeting from Mets fans Friday night.

"They're good,'' he said. "Some of them look at me like, 'You're not really him, are you?'''

In a major league career that spanned 1969-90 and included 2,715 hits, Buckner's most infamous moment came at Shea.

In Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, the first baseman misplayed Mookie Wilson's two-out grounder in the bottom of the 10th inning and Ray Knight raced home to cap a three-run rally and give the Mets a 6-5 win over Boston.

The Red Sox, who had been within one strike of winning their first title since 1918, then instead lost the Series in Game 7.

"A lot of memories,'' Buckner said.

Buckner, who played with Valentine on the Los Angeles Dodgers and remained friends with his former teammate, saw plenty of familiar faces as the Mets beat Cincinnati 3-2. Wilson is a coach for New York and Knight coaches for the Reds.

Earlier in the day, Buckner and Wilson did a card show together, the Mets said.

This visit was believed to be Buckner's first trip to Shea since the Red Sox played the Mets in a charity exhibition game on May 7, 1987.

Before that game, Buckner walked up to Wilson before the game and kidded, "Mookie, what you do say you hit me some grounders?'' In pregame introductions, Buckner drew a standing ovation.