Enos Bradsher Slaughter (April 27, 1916 – August 12, 2002), nicknamed "Country", was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB)

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

. He played for 19 seasons on four major league teams from 1938 to 1942 and 1946 to 1959. He is noted primarily for his playing for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and famously scored the winning run in Game 7 of the

1946 World Series The 1946 World Series was played in October 1946 between the St. Louis Cardinals (representing the National League) and the Boston Red Sox (representing the American League). This was the Red Sox's first appearance in a World Series since their c ...

for the Cardinals. A ten-time All-Star, he has been elected to both the

National Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

and St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.

Early life

Slaughter was born in

Roxboro, North Carolina Roxboro is a city and the county seat of Person County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 8,362 at the 2010 census. The city is north of Durham and is a part of the four-county Durham–Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical A ...

, where he earned the nickname "Country". In 1935, scout

Billy Southworth William Harold Southworth (March 9, 1893 – November 15, 1969) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player in and and from to for five big-league teams, Southworth took part in almost 1,200 games, fell j ...

signed him for the

.Russo, p. 36

Career

Minor leagues

The

Martinsville Manufacturers The Martinsville Manufacturers were a Bi-State League baseball team based in Martinsville, Virginia, United States that played from 1934 to 1941. They were affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1936 to 1939 Philadelphia Phillies The P ...

were Slaughter's first professional team, in 1935. When Slaughter was a minor leaguer in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, he went running towards the dugout from his position in the outfield, slowed down near the infield, and began walking the rest of the way. Manager

Eddie Dyer Edwin Hawley Dyer (October 11, 1899 – April 20, 1964) was an American left-handed pitcher, manager and farm system official in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1922–1944 and 1946–1950. In , Dyer's first season at the he ...

told him, "Son, if you're tired, we'll try to get you some help." During the remainder of his major-league career, Slaughter ran everywhere he went on a baseball field. In 1937, he had 245 hits and 147 runs scored for Columbus.

Major leagues

Slaughter batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was renowned for his smooth swing that made him a reliable "contact" hitter. Slaughter had 2,383 hits in his major league career, including 169

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and 1,304 RBI in 2,380 games. Slaughter played 19 seasons with the Cardinals, Yankees,

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

, and

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

. During that period, he was a ten-time All-Star and played in five World Series. His 1,820 games played ranks fifth in Cardinals' history behind

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982), nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely considered one of the great ...

Ozzie Smith Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis Car ...

, and Stan Musial. He presently ranks third in RBI with 1,148; sixth in ABs with 6,775; and seventh in doubles with 366. After debuting with the Cardinals in 1938, Slaughter became an everyday

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for them in 1939. Slaughter served for three years in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a Sergeant who taught physical education. Slaughter helped set up baseball teams in

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of th ...

and

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, and their games inspired the troops while drawing upwards of 20,000 spectators.Russo, p. 38 Immediately upon return from his military service in 1946, Slaughter led the National League with 130 RBI and led the Cardinals to a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

win over the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. 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 Harry William Walker (October 22, 1918 – August 8, 1999) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. Known by the nickname "Harry the Hat", he played as a center fielder in Major League Baseball between 1940 and 1955, ...

's hit in the eighth inning, scoring the winning run after a delayed relay throw by the Red Sox'

Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "The Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He was a shortstop and third baseman during a ...

. The hit was ruled a double, though most observers felt it should have been ruled a single, as only the throw home allowed Walker to advance to second base. This play was named No. 10 on the

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

list of Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments in 1999. Enos and fan cropped

Slaughter was known for his hustle, especially for running hard to first base on walks, a habit later imitated by

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (born April 14, 1941), also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", is an American former professional baseball player and manager. Rose played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a membe ...

and

David Eckstein David Mark Eckstein (; born January 20, 1975) is an American former professional baseball player. He was an infielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ten seasons. He played college baseball for the University of Florida and played professiona ...

. Slaughter was reported at the time as being one of the leaders in racial taunting against the first black major league player,

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

and was accused of conspiring with teammate Terry Moore in an attempt to get the Cardinals to refuse to play Brooklyn with Robinson on the field. Sportswriter

Bob Broeg Robert William Patrick Broeg (March 18, 1918 – October 28, 2005) was an American sportswriter. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he officially covered the St. Louis Cardinals for forty years. He graduated from Cleveland High School ( ...

, who covered the team at that time, refutes this claim and says that NL president

Ford Frick Ford Christopher Frick (December 19, 1894 – April 8, 1978) was an American sportswriter and baseball executive. After working as a teacher and as a sportswriter for the ''New York American'', he served as public relations director of the Natio ...

considered the Cardinals fairer towards Robinson than any of the other teams.Russo, p. 37 Slaughter later injured Robinson during a game by inflicting a seven-inch gash from his shoe spikes on Robinson's leg. Slaughter denied that he had any animosity towards Robinson, claiming that such allegations had been made against him because he was "a Southern boy", and that the injury suffered by Robinson had been typical of Slaughter's rough playing style. None of the contemporary accounts of the spiking suggested that the incident was intentional, although the August 21, 1947 St. Louis Star and Times quoted Dodgers' second-baseman

Eddie Stanky Edward Raymond Stanky (born Stankiewicz (September 3, 1915 – June 6, 1999) was an American professional baseball second baseman, shortstop, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Br ...

as saying, "Slaughter deliberately spiked Robinson. I always had the highest regard for Slaughter. He is one of the keenest competitors I know, and I admire him for it. But that was the first time he spiked someone deliberately. I've lost all my respect for him." With the Yankees, Slaughter did not play as much, but he excelled as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

for the ballclub. He batted fifth and played in left field in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series in which teammate

Don Larsen Don James Larsen (August 7, 1929 – January 1, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher. During a 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched from 1953 to 1967 for seven different teams: the St. Louis Browns / Baltimore O ...

pitched the only perfect game in World Series history, a 2–0 Yankees win. At age 40, he was the oldest player for either team in the game.

Post-MLB career

Slaughter retired from major league baseball in 1959. He was a player-manager for the

Houston Buffs Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in 1960 and for

Raleigh Capitals The Raleigh Capitals was a name used by various minor league baseball teams that were based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Most of these teams played at Devereaux Meadow. There have been minor league baseball teams in the past that played in Raleig ...

of the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

in 1961. Slaughter coached baseball for

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

from 1971 to 1977. He provided aid to causes such as the Duke Children's Classic, the Person County Museum of History, and Piedmont Community College.

Personal life

Slaughter had five wives, each of whom he divorced. He had four daughters: Gaye, Patricia, Rhonda, and Sharon.

Henry Slaughter Henry Thaxton Slaughter (January 9, 1927 – November 13, 2020) was an American Southern gospel pianist and singer-songwriter. He won five Dove Awards, and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Since the 1940s, he worked with such me ...

, his cousin, was a well-known southern gospel musician. Fellow Hall of Famer

Monte Irvin Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin (February 25, 1919 – January 11, 2016) was an American left fielder and right fielder in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who played with the Newark Eagles (1938–1942, 1946–1948), New York Giant ...

was good friends with Slaughter, later voting for the player when he was finally elected to the Hall of Fame. Slaughter also mentored

when he joined the Cardinals.

Death

Slaughter died at age 86 on August 12, 2002. He had battled

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

, and two weeks before his death, he had undergone colon surgery to fix torn stomach ulcers. He was buried at Allensville United Methodist Church in

Person County Person County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 39,097 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat is Roxboro, North Carolina, Roxboro. Person County is inc ...

, North Carolina.

Personal honors

Slaughter was elected to the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

in . His jersey number 9 was retired by the Cardinals on September 6, 1996. The Cardinals dedicated a statue depicting his famous Mad Dash in 1999. Slaughter was a fixture at statue dedications at

Busch Stadium II Busch Memorial Stadium, also known as Busch Stadium II, was a multi-purpose sports facility in St. Louis, Missouri, that operated for 40 years, from 1966 St. Louis Cardinals season, 1966 through 2005 St. Louis Cardinals season, 2005. The stadiu ...

for other Cardinal Hall of Famers during the last years of his life. In 2013, the

Bob Feller Act of Valor Award The Bob Feller Act of Valor Award, created in 2013, is a set of awards originally presented annually to a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, a current Major League Baseball player, and a United States Navy Chief Petty Officer. In 2015 ...

honored Slaughter as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. In January, 2014, the Cardinals announced Slaughter among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

References

External links

*
Enos Slaughter Oral History Interview (1 of 3) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection

Enos Slaughter Oral History Interview (2 of 3) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection

Enos Slaughter Oral History Interview (3 of 3) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Enos 1916 births 2002 deaths Baseball players from North Carolina Columbus Red Birds players Deaths from cancer in North Carolina Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma Duke Blue Devils baseball coaches Houston Buffaloes managers Houston Buffs players Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball players with retired numbers Major League Baseball right fielders Martinsville Manufacturers players Military personnel from North Carolina Milwaukee Braves players National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees National League All-Stars National League RBI champions New York Yankees players People from Roxboro, North Carolina Raleigh Capitals players St. Louis Cardinals players United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces soldiers