Editing Hoyt Wilhelm (section)

===Later career===
Wilhelm pitched 44 games for the [[1969 California Angels season|1969 California Angels]] and had a 2.47 ERA, ten saves, and a 5–7 record. On September 8, 1969, Wilhelm and [[Bob Priddy (baseball)|Bob Priddy]] were traded to the [[Atlanta Braves]] for [[Clint Compton]] and [[Mickey Rivers]]. He finished the 1969 season by pitching in eight games for the Braves, earning four saves and recording a 0.73 ERA over {{fract|12|1|3}}&nbsp;innings pitched. Wilhelm then spent most of the 1970 season with the Braves, pitching in 50 games for the team and earning ten saves.<ref name=br/>

On September 21, 1970, Wilhelm was selected off waivers by the [[Chicago Cubs]], for whom he appeared in three games.<ref name=br/> He was traded back to the Braves for [[Hal Breeden]] on November 30, 1970.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/01/archives/center-fielders-are-exchanged-berry-joins-conigliaro-and-johnson-in.html "Center Fielders Are Exchanged," ''The New York Times'', Tuesday, December 1, 1970.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918053559/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/01/archives/center-fielders-are-exchanged-berry-joins-conigliaro-and-johnson-in.html |date=September 18, 2021 }} Retrieved March 10, 2020</ref> As the Cubs had acquired Wilhelm late in the season to bolster their playoff contention, the trade back to the Braves was a source of controversy. [[Commissioner of Baseball|Commissioner]] [[Bowie Kuhn]] investigated the transaction,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GpkgAAAAIBAJ&pg=2525,4102598|title=The Old Man of the Majors Hoyt Wilhelm Causes Debate|first=Dick|last=Couch|agency=[[Associated Press]]|newspaper=[[Lewiston Evening Journal]]|date=December 3, 1970|access-date=November 12, 2011|archive-date=November 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106103919/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GpkgAAAAIBAJ&pg=2525%2C4102598|url-status=live}}</ref> and in December ruled that he did not find evidence of impropriety associated with the transactions that sent Wilhelm to the Cubs and quickly back to the Braves.<ref name=Dispatch>{{cite news|title=Baseball sessions not too fruitful|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19701205&id=qk4qAAAAIBAJ&pg=6802,2951672|access-date=January 20, 2015|work=[[The Dispatch (Lexington)|The Lexington Dispatch]]|date=December 5, 1970|archive-date=November 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106103828/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19701205&id=qk4qAAAAIBAJ&pg=6802%2C2951672|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wilhelm was released by the Braves on June 29, 1971, having pitched in three games for that year's Braves. He signed with the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] on July 10, 1971, and appeared in nine games for the Dodgers, giving up two earned runs in {{fract|17|2|3}} innings.<ref name=br/> He also pitched in eight games that season for the team's Class AAA minor league affiliate, the [[Spokane Indians]]. Wilhelm started six of those games and registered a 3.89 ERA.<ref name=BRMinors>{{cite web|title=Hoyt Wilhelm Minor League Statistics and History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wilhel002jam|website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=January 18, 2015|archive-date=January 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119061453/http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wilhel002jam|url-status=live}}</ref>

Wilhelm pitched in 16 games for the Dodgers in 1972, registering a 4.62 ERA over 25 innings. The Dodgers released him on July 21, 1972. He never appeared in another game.<ref name=br/>

At the time of his retirement, Wilhelm had pitched in a then major league record 1,070 games.<ref name=obituary/> He is recognized as the first pitcher to have [[save (baseball)|saved]] 200 games in his career, and the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. Wilhelm is one of the oldest players to have pitched in the major leagues; his final appearance was 16 days short of his 50th birthday.

Wilhelm retired with the lowest career [[earned run average]] of any major league hurler after 1927 ([[Walter Johnson]]) who had pitched more than 2,000&nbsp;innings.