Bob Aspromonte

From The Met Wiki

Bob Aspromonte was a third baseman for the Mets in 1971, his final major league season. He appeared in 104 games and batted .225 during the '71 season.

At the age of 18, Aspromonte got one at bat for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was struck out by the Cardinals' Don Liddle on September 19, 1956. Interestingly, this was the last time that Liddle faced a major league hitter in his four-year career. Bob spent the next three years in the minor leagues before playing 11 major league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Colt .45s/Astros and Atlanta Braves.

As a Met in '71, Aspromonte hit five home runs and drove in 33 runs. All of Bob's homers came in a 15-day stretch in May. He hit his first one on May 4 against the Cubs' Milt Pappas in the Mets' 2-1 win at Shea Stadium. His last two came off the Braves' Mike McQueen in the Mets' 8-6 loss at Atlanta on May 18.

In addition to his home runs, Bob got two game-winning hits in extra innings in the month of May. He hit a triple (his only one of the year) to score Ken Boswell in the 10th for a 6-5 Mets win at Houston on May 2. Aspromonte's 12th inning single off Jim Bunning scored Donn Clendenon for a 5-4 Mets win over the Philles on May 25.

From June to the end of the '71 season, Aspromonte got 38 hits and drove in 11 runs. His final major league hit was a run-scoring single in the 15th inning that gave the Mets a 2-1 win over the Pirates at Shea on September 25. Bob's final RBI came on a sacrifice fly in the Mets' 5-2 loss to the Cardinals on September 28 at Shea, his last major league game.

Notes

• Bob was the last active major leaguer that played for the Brooklyn Dodgers.