Enos Slaughter

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Enos Slaughter (left) with Jose Santiago, a fan

Enos Bradsher Slaughter (April 27, 1916 - August 12, 2002) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Country", he batted over .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.

Enos Slaughter
is a member of
the Baseball
Hall of Fame

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 22 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 1,751 games played ranks third in Cardinals history behind Lou Brock and Stan Musial.

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 seventh game of that series, Slaughter made a famous "Mad Dash" for home from first base on Harry Walker's base hit in the eighth inning of game seven with two outs and the game tied 3-3. 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. He 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.

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. During retirement he established the first Korean restaurant in Webster Groves often busing tables himself.

After battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Slaughter died at age 86 in 2002.