in 1967, buchek started 92 games at second base (along with 14 games at third base and five at shortstop), and set personal bests in games played (124), hits (97), home runs (14) and runs batted in (41). among mets fans he was known for starting an improbable comeback victory against the atlanta braves on july 9, 1967. down 4–3 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and nobody on base, buchek, batting .230, was sent in to pinch hit for bud harrelson, who already had four hits, including a double, that game. buchek hit a home run to tie the game, and the mets went on to score another run to win 5–4. but in , he fell to third on the mets' second base depth chart, behind both ken boswell and phil linz, and batted only .182. during that off-season, buchek was traded twice, first back to the cardinals and then to the philadelphia phillies. he spent 1969 with the phillies' triple-a eugene farm club, where he batted .246 in 127 games, then he retired from baseball at age 27.