The Cookie Game

In celebration of National Cookie Day, the Libraries would like to remember a different kind of Cookie. . . 

Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto (December 1, 1912 — August 10, 1990) was a third baseman, manager and coach in both the National and American Major Leagues. He is most widely known as the pinch hitter whose double ruined Bill Bevens' no-hitter in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series and gave his Brooklyn Dodgers a breathtaking victory over the New York Yankees, a game known as The Cookie Game.

Born in Oakland, California, Cookie Lavagetto made his major league debut as a utility infielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1934, then was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in December 1936. In Brooklyn he switched from second base to third base after the 1937 season and was an all-star for four years beginning 1938. His best season was in 1939, when he batted .300 with 87 RBIs.

Cookie enlisted in the Navy during World War II and was part of a ship repair unit in California and Hawaii, as well as playing ball and coaching for Navy baseball teams while in the service from 1942 to 1945. He returned to the Dodgers for two more years, until age and injuries ended his playing days in 1950 with the minor league Oakland Oaks. A right-handed batter and thrower, Lavagetto batted .269 in 1,043 games.

He was a coach with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1951 to 1954, the Oaks in 1954 and the Washington Senators in 1955. Lavagetto got his first managing job with the Senators in 1957 and remained there when the franchise moved to Minnesota and became the Twins in 1961. He returned to coaching with the New York Mets in 1962 and 1963, then coached his hometown San Francisco Giants from 1964 to 1967.  Harry “Cookie” Lavagetto passed away at his home in Orinda, California on August 10, 1990. He was 77 years old. 

If you'd like to keep up with baseball during the cold months before spring training, checking out any of the interesting titles pictured above from the collection of the National Museum of American History Library.—Chris Cottrill and Jim Roan, photographs by Lu Rossignol

Smithsonian baseball: inside the world's finest private collections / / by Stephen Wong; photographs by Susan Einstein.

Sweet spot: 125 years of baseball and the Louisville slugger / / David Magee and Philip Shirley; [foreword by Ken Griffey, Jr.].

We played the game: 65 players remember baseball's greatest era, 1947-1964 / / edited by Danny Peary; introduction by Lawrence S. Ritter.