The following is a list of the major league baseball players who drove in the most runs in a single game. The players with the most RBIs in one game.
I’m a New York Yankees fan, and the Yankees have two players on this list. One of the players is no surprise to me, since I watched the game in which he got 10 RBIs, but the other Yankees player might surprise some people since his last name is not Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, or Mantle.
Most RBIs in a Major League Baseball Game by a Player
T-1. Mark Whiten (1993) – 12
Mark Whitten holds the major league baseball record for most RBIs in a game with 12. Whiten accomplished the feat while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals in a game vs the Cincinnati Reds on September 7, 1993. In the game, Mark Whiten also tied another major league baseball record by hitting four home runs.
Mark Whiten started out his historic game by hitting a Grand Slam home run in the first inning. After popping out in foul territory to the third baseman in the fourth inning, Whiten hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning. He followed that up with another three-run home run in the seventh, followed by a two-run blast in the ninth. The Cardinals won the game, 15-3.
Known as “Hard Hittin” Mark Whiten during his career, despite holding two pretty big major league baseball records, Whiten was really not a great hitter. He played in the majors for 11 years, and retired with 105 home runs and 423 RBIs in his career.
T-1. Jim Bottomley (1924) – 12
Jim Bottomley of the St. Louis Cardinals set the major league record for RBIs in a game when he drove in 12 runs vs the Brooklyn Robins on September 16, 1924. Bottomley went six for six in the game, including a double and two home runs. The Cardinals routed the Robins in the game, 17-3.
Of the two players who drove in 12 RBIs in a major league baseball game, Jim Bottomley was the much more accomplished hitter. Bottomley was the National League MVP in 1931, drove in 1,422 runs in his career, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 1974.
T-3. Phil Weintraub (1944) – 11
Phil Weintraub of the New York Giants drove in 11 runs in a game vs the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 30, 1944. In the game, Weintraub had two doubles, a triple, and a home run. In a rarity, Weintraub missed hitting for the cycle because he lacked a single. The Giants won the game, 26-8.
How seriously you want to take Phil Weintraub’s 11 RBI game is up to you. It came in 1944, when many of the best players in baseball were not playing due to being in the military for WW II. Weintraub was 36 years old in 1944, and it was his first season in the majors since 1938.
T-3. Tony Lazzeri (1936) – 11
Tony Lazzeri of the New York Yankees drove in 11 runs in a game vs the Philadelphia A’s on May 24, 1936. Lazzeri hit a triple, and three home runs in the game. The Yankees won the game, 25-2.
While he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Tony Lazzeri is not the New York Yankees player most people would guess to have had 11 RBIs in a game. Lazzeri drove in 1,194 runs in his career, which is significantly fewer RBIs than Babe Ruth (2,220), Lou Gehrig (1,992), Joe DiMaggio (1,537), or Mickey Mantle (1,509) had.
T-3. Wilbert Robinson (1892) – 11
Wilbert Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles set the major league record for RBIs in a game when he had 11 vs the St. Louis Browns on June 10, 1892. Robinson set another major league record in that game, as he got seven hits in seven at-bats. The Orioles won the game, 25-4.
Robinson’s record for most hits in a nine-inning game still stands, it has been tied a few times, but his RBI record was broken by Jim Bottomley in 1924. In a great bit of irony, when Bottomley broke Wilbert Robinson’s record for most RBIs in a game, Robinson was there as the opposing manager of the Brooklyn Robins.
T-6. The Following Eight Players Had 10 RBIs in a Game
- Garrett Anderson (Los Angeles Angles) – August 21, 2007
- Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) – April 26, 2005
- Nomar Garciaparra (Boston Red Sox) – May 10, 1999
- Fred Lynn (Boston Red Sox) – June 18, 1975
- Reggie Jackson (Oakland A’s) – July 14, 1969
- Norm Zauchin (Boston Red Sox) – May 17, 1955
- Walker Cooper (Cincinnati Reds) – July 6, 1949
- Rudy York (Boston Red Sox) – July 27, 1946
