lost his starting third base job to Doug Rader. For 1968, he still played in 124 games (with various positions played dominated by 75 appearances at 3B) while batting .225/.285/.264, having 92 hits and 46 RBIs with 57 strikeouts and 35 walks (he also stole his last base in his career on August 5). On June 9, he, along with teammate Rusty Staub and Maury Wills of the Pittsburgh Pirates, decided not to play in a game between the two teams in light of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy three days earlier, with Aspromonte stating that “If we didn’t put a day aside, it would hurt me. ... I’ve never had to take this firm a stand on anything before. It’s got to boil down to one thing: how you feel personally. It’s how I felt. My conscience is clear." Latter years (1968–1971) He was traded to the Atlanta Braves on December 4 for Marty Martinez, where he would play as backup third baseman or utilityman. He played in 82 games while batting .253/.304/.348 with 24 RBIs while striking out 19 times and walking 13 times. In the ninth inning in the last regular season game against Cincinnati, with 47-year-old Hoyt Wilhelm pitching, he threw out the last runner of the game on a tough play from shortstop to win by one as the Braves clinched the 1969 National League West. Aspromonte reached the postseason for the only time in his career with the 1969 National League Championship Series, where he went 0-for-3 as the Braves lost to the New York Mets in a three game sweep. He played 62 games for the Braves in 1970, batting .213/.282/.236 with 13 strikeouts and walks each. On April 21, he garnered the 1,000th hit of his career while batting against Gary Nolan in the second inning on a single in Atlanta. On December 1, he was traded from the Braves to the New York Mets for Ron Herbel. He started 93 games at third base for the 1971 Mets, twice as many as former regular Wayne Garrett. He played 104 games in total while batting .225/.285/.301 with 77 hits and 33 RBIs with 29 walks and 25 strikeouts (just the second time that he would finish with more walks than strikeouts in a season). In his final game, the last Brooklyn Dodger to play in the major leagues went hitless in