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| Enos Slaughter |
Enos Slaughter (sitting) with a fan |
| Right
Fielder |
Born:
April 27, 1916(1916-04-27)
Roxboro, North
Carolina |
Died:
August 12, 2002 (aged 86)
Durham, North
Carolina |
| Batted:
Left |
Threw:
Right |
|
MLB debut |
| April 19, 1938 for
the St. Louis Cardinals |
|
Last MLB appearance |
| September 29, 1959 for
the Milwaukee
Braves |
|
Career statistics |
| Batting average |
.300 |
| Hits |
2,383 |
| Runs batted
in |
1,304 |
|
Teams |
|
|
|
Career highlights and awards |
- 10× All-Star selection (1941, 1942, 1946, 1947,
1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953)
- 4× World
Series champion (1942, 1946, 1956, 1958)
- St.
Louis Cardinals #9 retired
|
| Member of the National |
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
| Induction |
1985 |
| Election Method |
Veterans Committee |
Enos Bradsher Slaughter (April 27, 1916 -
August 12, 2002) was an American right fielder in Major
League Baseball. Nicknamed "Country", he batted .300 for
19 seasons, the first 13 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Born in Roxboro, North Carolina, he
joined the Cardinals in 1938 before being traded to the New York
Yankees in 1954.
Batting left-handed and throwing right, he was renowned for a
smooth, flat swing that made him a reliable "contact" hitter.
Slaughter had 2,383 hits in his career, including 169 home runs, and 1,304 RBIs in 2,380
games. Slaughter played 19 seasons with the Cardinals, Yankees, Kansas City
Athletics, and Milwaukee Braves. During that period, he
was a 10-time All-Star and played in five World Series. His 1,820
games played ranks fourth in Cardinals' history behind Ozzie Smith, Lou Brock, and Stan Musial. He
presently ranks second in RBIs with 1,148; fifth in ABs with 6,775;
and sixth in doubles with 366. His career accomplishments are
especially impressive considering that he missed 3 seasons
beginning in 1943 (when he was 27) to serve in the military during
World War II.
Immediately upon his return from the service in 1946, he led the
National League with 130 RBI and led the Cardinals to a World
Series win over the Boston Red Sox. In the decisive seventh
game of that series, Slaughter, running with the pitch, made a
famous "Mad Dash" for home from first base
on Harry Walker's
single in the eighth inning, scoring the winning run after a
delayed relay throw by the Red Sox' Johnny Pesky. This play was
named #10 on the Sporting News list of Baseball's 25
Greatest Moments in 2001.
He was known for his hustle, especially for running hard to
first base on walks, a habit copied later by Pete Rose.
When Slaughter was a minor leaguer in Columbus,
Georgia he came running towards the dugout from his post in the
outfield. He slowed down near the infield and began walking the
rest of the way. Manager Eddie Dyer told him, "Son, if you're tired,
we'll try to get you some help." For the rest of his career,
Slaughter ran everywhere he went on a baseball field.
Sportswriters alleged that in May 1947, Slaughter and Terry
Moore, both Southerners, tried to persuade their Cardinal
teammates to go on strike to protest Jackie Robinson's admittance to the National
League. The supposed strike plans never came to fruition, and
some baseball historians now question the story's veracity. In an
incident three months after the strike controversy, with Robinson
playing first base for the Dodgers, Slaughter hit an infield ground
ball and was thrown out by several steps. With Robinson stretched
out to make the catch, Slaughter spiked him in the leg. Slaughter
denied any malicious intent on the play, and some baseball
historians agree that the incident was merely a result of
Slaugter's old-school baseball mentality. The incident came on the
heels of several high profile brawls between the Cardinals and
Dodgers during the pennant races of the 1940s, with Dodger manager
and former Cardinal Leo Durocher often at their center.
Slaughter himself said, "I asked no odds and I give none. A guy got
in my way, I run over him."
Other commentators, however, attached racist motives to
Slaughter's actions. After his retirement, sportswriters delayed
Slaughter's entrance to the Hall of Fame
over the questionable racial incidents that he was linked to. In
later years, Slaughter was asked if he would have an objection to
managing black players, and responded that as long as they produced
and played hard he would have no problem doing so. Some baseball
historians and many contemporaries believe that it was not
perceived racism on the part of Slaughter that made him
controversial, but rather that it was his relentless
give-no-quarter philosophy in the era of coddled free agents that
caused the modern baseball establishment to shun him. Aside from
the racial accusations swirling around the Robinson incident,
Slaughter was known for his generally intense, often violent style
of play. The Sporting News quoted one Dodger
contemporary as calling Slaughter "the dirtiest player in the
league," a charge Slaughter himself did not refute.
Slaughter was elected to the Baseball Hall of
Fame in 1985; his jersey number nine was
retired by the Cardinals in 1996, and the team dedicated a statue
depicting his famous Mad Dash in 1999. Slaughter was a fixture at
statue dedications at Busch Stadium II
for other Cardinal Hall of Famers during the last years of his
life.
After battling non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma, Slaughter died at age 86 in 2002.
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