Harry Arthur Lavagetto: The Dodgers Cookie

Harry ” Cookie” Lavagetto was the son of Italian immigrants Luigi and Adelaide Lavagetto. Luigi came to the United States in 1901. Adelaide arrived in 1906. Harry was the youngest of four sons born on December 1, 1912, in Oakland, California. He was christened, Enrico Attillo Lavagetto. He would have his name changed twice. After his confirmation in the Catholic church, Attillo was changed to Arturo.

In school, a teacher told him that Enrico was either Henry or Harry. From then on, he was known as Harry Arturo Lavagetto. It was during these early days in school that he met Mary Poggi. They would eventually marry in 1945. It was a long courtship. ” Our family used to go mushroom hunting in the hills above Oakland.” he would later recall.

Playing major league baseball was a lifetime dream for young Harry. Shortly after graduation from Oakland Technical High, he tried out for the San Francisco Seals of the PCL. Since they were right across the bay, the idea of playing so close to home was very appealing. He flopped during the tryout, and he felt his dream was over. Plus, ol dad was pressuring him to find gainful employment.

Shortly after the tryout, he heard about a game being put together between some big leaguers who were about to leave for spring training and a semi-pro All-Star team. The proceeds of the game would be used for an insurance fund for the hospital expenses of semi-pro players who were injured. He was picked to play for the semi-pro team.

He was slated to enter the game in the 5th inning with all of the other subs. When he entered the game, his team was down by two runs, with the bases loaded and two outs. On the mound was one Al “Pudgy” Gould. Gould had played two seasons with the Indians and had a long career in the PCL. Harry hit a Gould pitch high off of the wall and cleared the bases. That was enough to secure the win for the semi-pro team. After the game, he received nine offers to play professional baseball.

He would later say that it was the greatest moment of his life. His whole future was changed on that one batted ball. “I would never have realized my dream if not for that one hit.” He would later say. He signed with Cookie DeVincenzi, owner of the Oakland Oaks of the PCL. He became “Cookies Boy”, and later just Cookie.

Cookie played in 152 games for the Oaks in 33. He hit .312 and played mostly second base. A Pirates scout, Bill Hinchman, signed him, and he spent the next 3 years in Pittsburgh. He played second and third base. But he was more of a reserve there. His combined average over three seasons was .249. On December 4, 1936, the Pirates traded Cookie and pitcher, Ralph Birkofer to the Dodgers for pitcher, Ed Brandt.

Cookie played 100 games for Brooklyn in 37, at second base. He hit .282 with 70 RBIs. But for most of the rest of his career, he was a third baseman. In 1938 he hit .273 and drove in 79 runs, and he made the All-Star team. In 1939, he had his best year, .3000/10/87, and made the All-Star team again.

Cookie was known as a sort of oddball character. He would wear his cap at a weird angle, he walked funny, and he looked like he always needed a shave. He enjoyed making his teammates laugh. He would leave his shirttail out, and have one sock up and the other down. He was very well-liked by his teammates.

Cookie would also make the All-Star team in 40-41. He was the NL’s starting third baseman in the 1940 contest. With the nation at war, Cookie applied for enlistment in the United States Navy. He was sworn in as an Aviation Machinist Mate first class on February 17th, 1942, in San Francisco and was assigned to the Naval Air Station in Alameda.

Cookie and teammate Dolph Camilli had taken flying lessons in 1938 and received their pilots’ licenses. When Dodger president, Larry McPhail, heard about it, he fined them both 500 dollars for conduct detrimental to the team. When he wasn’t attending to his naval duties, Cookie played baseball for the Navy, He played on a team in Livermore that won 60 of its 70 games. Not long after he was married, he was transferred to Hawaii. He coached a Navy team there that included Stan Musial.

In 1946 with the war over, Cookie mustered out of the Navy and returned to the Dodgers. He was 33 and he had missed four seasons. His skills had eroded. He only played in 88 games in 46 and 41 games in 47. 1947 would be his last year in the bigs as a player, and Cookie went out with a flourish. The Dodgers, led by ROY Jackie Robinson, and the beginnings of the Boys of Summer, won the pennant and faced the Yankees in the World Series.

October 3, 1947, Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York. The Yankees were up two games to one in the series. Yankee pitcher, Bill Bevins, had not allowed a hit as the game went into the bottom of the 9th inning. He had, however, walked eight batters. Leading off the 9th, Bruce Edwards flew out. Furillo worked Bevins for the 9th walk. Jorgensen fouled out. Shotton sent Al Gionfriddo in to run for Furillo, and he stole second. Pitching carefully to Pete Reiser, Bevins decided to put him on with the count 3-1. Eddie Miksis then ran for Reiser, who was nursing some leg problems, and then sent Lavagetto up to pinch hit for Eddie Stanky.

Cookie had always been a very good clutch hitter, so this was the perfect opportunity. Bevin’s second pitch was high and outside, and Lavagetto smashed the ball over RF Tommy Henrich’s head; Gionfriddo scored, and Henrich threw home, but it arrived after the speedy Miksis slid home. Bevins lost a no-hitter and the game on that one pitch. His teammates mobbed Cookie, and the series was tied. Bevins caught up with Cookie later and told him, we were told to pitch you high and outside. Cookie replied, “That’s where I like ’em!”

The hit was Cookies last in the majors. The Dodgers released him in May of 48. He went back to Oakland and played for the Oaks for three years for Charlie Dressen and Casey Stengel. When Dressen got the Dodger job in 1951, he took Cookie with him as a coach. When Dressen was not given the long-term deal he wanted after 1953, Cookie sent O’Malley a telegram saying he was resigning. His loyalty to Dressen was that strong.

In 55, Dressen was hired to manage the Senators. He took Cookie with him. After two really bad years, he was fired. DC offered the job to Cookie, but he turned them down. Only after Dressen begged him to take the job did he accept. He always had just considered himself a coach. And it took him a while to become accustomed to the job. He did not like not having a roommate on the road. He did not like making out lineups or in-game decision-making.

But he finally figured out he could do the job. It took a while, but the team finally did improve some. After three straight 8th-place finishes under Cookie, they finished 5th in 1960. After the 1960 season, Senator owner, Clark Griffith, moved the team to Minneapolis and changed their name to the Twins. So, Cookie was the last manager of the Senators and the first manager of the Twins.

It did not last long; 59 games into their first season in Minnesota, Cookie was fired. Differences in opinions of players’ talent were cited as one of the reasons by Griffith. ” He wanted to get rid of every player I wanted to keep.” He would coach until 1967 for the Mets and Giants. He moved closer to home because of a false diagnosis that he had cancer and a subsequent operation. He passed away in his home in Orinda, California, on August 10, 1990. He was survived by his wife and two boys, Ernest and Michael, who became a Catholic Preist.

Cookie was a good, not a great, player. A product of his times. Many of his era came out of the great depression, survived a war, and led interesting lives. But Cookie, for one magical moment in 1947. was at the top of the world.

Sunday’s Spring Training Game by Mark Timmons

As I wrote a couple of days ago, Spring Training does not mean much… or it can mean everything! However, if you pay attention, you can glean some really good information. Here’s what I saw:

• Hunter Feduccia’s stock really skyrocketed as he hit a 3-run opposite-field HR and a 2-run double. Hunter has no future with the Dodgers. While I’m at it, Ryan Ward and Drew Avans have no future as well. All three raised their trade value yesterday.
• Diego Cartaya is young, and you can be sure that he would like to impress everyone with his hitting, but he took two walks when he did not get a good pitch to hit. That’s discipline and that is what makes a player great. Diego will likely start the season at AA, but he will move to AAA quickly.
• Ditto for Andy Pages!
• Jonny DeLuca showed promise, and he will likely start at OKC this season.
• Shelby Miller’s 40.50 ERA doesn’t begin to show how bad he was yesterday. It’s disappointing, but it is early.
• Adam Kolarek is back and showed promise!
• Trayce Thompson does not run – he glides!
• The San Diego Clowns are next…