York Yankees. He then joined the United States Navy during World War II and missed the next four seasons from 1942 to 1945. After the war ended, Lavagetto rejoined the Dodgers and spent the 1946 and 1947 seasons with them as a part-time player. The Dodgers won the 1947 NL pennant and again faced the Yankees in the World Series. In game four, played on October 3 at Ebbets Field, Yankees pitcher Bill Bevens had a no-hitter with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and was ahead 2–1. No one had ever pitched a no-hitter in a World Series before. However, two runners were on base from Bevens' ninth and tenth walks of the game. Lavagetto was then summoned by Dodgers manager Burt Shotton to pinch-hit for Eddie Stanky. With no balls and one strike, Lavagetto cracked an opposite-field double off the right field wall to break up the no-hitter and score the two Dodger runners (pinch runners Al Gionfriddo and Eddie Miksis) to win the game for Brooklyn, 3–2. Lavagetto was the first player to end a World Series game with a hit when his team was one out away from losing the game; the only other players to ever accomplish that feat were Kirk Gibson in 1988 and Brett Phillips in 2020. Lavagetto's game-winning double tied the series at two games apiece. It ended up being Lavagetto's only hit of the series and his last as a major league player. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers in seven games. In May 1948, the Dodgers released Lavagetto. He finished his MLB career with a .269 batting average, 945 hits, 183 doubles, 37 triples, 40 home runs, 487 runs scored, and 486 RBI in 1,043 games played. In the 2001 book The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, writer Bill James ranked Lavagetto as the 92nd greatest third baseman in baseball history. Major league coach Lavagetto returned to Oakland and finished his playing career with the Oaks (1948–1950), where he was a mentor to a young Billy Martin. When Oakland manager Chuck Dressen was named the field leader of the Dodgers in 1951, Lavagetto accompanied him and returned to Brooklyn as one of his coaches. He was an aide to Dressen with Brooklyn (1951–1953) and the Pacific Coast League Oaks (1954), and followed him a third time as a member of the coaching staff when Dressen became manager