Jerry Buchek

From The Met Wiki

Jerry Buchek was an infielder for the Mets in 1967 and 1968. He got 132 hits in 197 games played in his two seasons in New York. Jerry hit 15 homers and drove in 52 runs as a member of the Mets.

Buchek was acquired by the Mets from the St. Louis Cardinals for Danny Napoleon and Ed Bressoud on April 1, 1967. In his second game with the team on April 13, Jerry hit a two-run homer off Pittsburgh's Woodie Fryman that led to a 3-2 Mets win in Tom Seaver's major league debut at Shea Stadium. On May 14, he had three hits (including a home run) off Bob Gibson in the Mets' 3-1 win over the Cardinals at St. Louis. Jerry homered for the only run of the game in a 1-0 Mets win over the Braves on May 26 at Shea. He also hit two homers in the Mets' 5-4 victory over the Cubs in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field on September 2.

Three times during the '67 season, Buchek got a game-winning hit for the Mets on the game's final pitch. All of these games were against the Houston Astros. On May 5, he homered off Houston's Claude Raymond in the ninth inning for a 3-2 Mets win at Shea. Against Tom Dukes, his second three-run homer of the game gave the Mets an 8-5 victory over the Astros in 10 innings in the nightcap of a doubleheader on September 22. Just one day later, Jerry singled off Larry Sherry in the bottom of the ninth to score Bud Harrelson for a 1-0 Mets win over the Houston team.

In 1968, Buchek played 73 games, getting 35 hits in a utility role with the Mets. His only homer of the season was a three-run blast off the Giants' Mike McCormick in the Mets' 7-3 win at Shea on June 14. Jerry's last major league game was the Mets' 3-1 win over the Phillies on September 28.