RetroSimba

(Updated April 6, 2026)

Joe Garagiola of the Cardinals was the first rookie to produce four hits and three RBI in a World Series game.

Garagiola was 4-for-5 with three RBI in the Cardinals’ 12-3 Game 4 win against the Red Sox in the 1946 World Series.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, before Garagiola, the only other rookie with four hits and at least two RBI in a World Series game was third baseman Freddie Lindstrom of the Giants. Lindstrom was 4-for-5 with two RBI in Game 5 of the 1924 World Series against Walter Johnson of the Senators. Boxscore

Garagiola, best known as a broadcaster and humorist, was a 20-year-old rookie catcher for the Cardinals in 1946. He joined the Cardinals in May after completing service with the Army in the Philippines. He hit .237 in 74 regular-season games for a St. Louis team that won the National League pennant.

In Game 4 of the World Series at Boston, Garagiola had three singles and a double. Boxscore

His RBI-single to center in the third scored Stan Musial. He singled again in the fifth. In the seventh, Garagiola drove a double to left, scoring Enos Slaughter. In the ninth, Slaughter scored again on a Garagiola single to right.

The 1946 World Series, won by the Cardinals in seven games, was Garagiola’s only World Series appearance. He hit .316 (6-for-19) in five games, and did almost all of his damage at Fenway Park. Garagiola hit .417 at Boston in that Series (5-for-12) and .143 (1-for-7) at St. Louis.

In its recap of the 1946 World Series, The Sporting News wrote that St. Louis native Garagiola “was extremely popular with fellow players who frequently were his guests at spaghetti dinners cooked by Mom.”

The report concluded that “Joe is destined to become one of the game’s catching greats, in the opinion of (manager Eddie) Dyer and others.”