View source for Enos Slaughter

{{Short description|American baseball player (1916–2002)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Enos Slaughter
|image=Enos Slaughter 1948.jpeg
|caption=Slaughter with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1948
|position=[[Right fielder]]
|bats=Left
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date|1916|4|27}}
|birth_place=[[Roxboro, North Carolina]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2002|8|12|1916|4|27}}
|death_place=[[Durham, North Carolina]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 19
|debutyear=1938
|debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 29
|finalyear=1959
|finalteam=Milwaukee Braves
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.300
|stat2label=[[Hit (baseball)|Hit]]s
|stat2value=2,383
|stat3label=[[Home run]]s
|stat3value=169
|stat4label=[[Runs batted in]]
|stat4value=1,304
|teams=
* [[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{Baseball year|1938}}–{{Baseball year|1942}}, {{Baseball year|1946}}–{{Baseball year|1953}})
* [[New York Yankees]] ({{Baseball year|1954}}–{{Baseball year|1955}})
* [[Kansas City Athletics]] ({{Baseball year|1955}}–{{Baseball year|1956}})
* [[New York Yankees]] ({{Baseball year|1956}}–{{Baseball year|1959}})
* [[Milwaukee Braves (1953–65)|Milwaukee Braves]] ({{Baseball year|1959}})
|highlights=
* 10× [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1941 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1941]], [[1942 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1942]], [[1946 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1946]]–[[1953 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1953]])
* 4× [[World Series champion]] ({{wsy|1942}}, {{wsy|1946}}, {{wsy|1956}}, {{wsy|1958}})
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders|NL RBI leader]] (1946)
* [[St. Louis Cardinals#Retired numbers|St. Louis Cardinals No. 9]] retired
* [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame]] 
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate= [[1985 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1985]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
}}
'''Enos Bradsher Slaughter''' (April 27, 1916 – August 12, 2002), nicknamed "'''Country'''", was an American [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) [[right fielder]]. 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]] and famously [[Slaughter's Mad Dash|scored the winning run in Game 7]] of the [[1946 World Series]] for the Cardinals. A ten-time [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]], he has been elected to both the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]] and [[St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum|St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame]].

==Early life==
Slaughter was born in [[Roxboro, North Carolina]], where he earned the nickname "Country".<ref name="baseballhall.org">{{cite web|url=http://baseballhall.org/hof/slaughter-enos|title=Enos Slaughter|website=Baseball.org|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref> In 1935, scout [[Billy Southworth]] signed him for the [[St. Louis Cardinals]].<ref name="Russo 36">Russo, p. 36</ref>

==Career==
===Minor leagues===
The [[Martinsville Manufacturers]] were Slaughter's first professional team, in 1935.<ref name="Russo 36"/> When Slaughter was a minor leaguer in [[Columbus, Georgia]], 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]] 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/07/sports/sports-of-the-times-country-s-life-complete-now.html|title=SPORTS OF THE TIMES; Country's Life Complete Now|first=Dave|last=Anderson|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 March 1985|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref> In 1937, he had 245 hits and 147 runs scored for Columbus.<ref>{{cite book | editor = Cardinals' Media Relations | year = 2001 | title = St. Louis Cardinals 2001 Media Guide | publisher = Hadler Printing Company | pages = D-20}}</ref>

===Major leagues===
[[File:Enos Slaughter Cardinals.jpg|thumb|left|Slaughter with the Cardinals]]
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 [[hit (baseball)|hits]] in his major league career, including 169 [[home run]]s, and 1,304 [[run batted in|RBI]] in 2,380 games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/slaugen01.shtml|title=Enos Slaughter Stats |website=Baseball-Reference.com|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref>  Slaughter played 19 seasons with the [[St. Louis Cardinals]], [[New York Yankees]], [[Kansas City Athletics]], and [[Milwaukee Braves (1953–65)|Milwaukee Braves]]. 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]], [[Ozzie Smith]], [[Lou Brock]], 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]] for them in 1939.<ref name="Russo 36"/>

Slaughter served for three years in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a sergeant who taught physical education.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/slaughter-enos|title=Enos Slaughter}}</ref> Slaughter helped set up baseball teams in [[Tinian]] and [[Saipan]], and their games inspired the troops while drawing upwards of 20,000 spectators.<ref name="Russo 38">Russo, p. 38</ref> Immediately upon return from his military service in 1946, Slaughter led the National League with 130 RBI and led the Cardinals to a [[1946 World Series|World Series]] win over the [[Boston Red Sox]]. In the decisive seventh game of that series, Slaughter, running with the pitch, made a famous "[[Slaughter's Mad Dash|Mad Dash]]" for home from first base on [[Harry Walker]]'s hit in the eighth inning, scoring the winning run that beat the throw of [[Johnny Pesky]] from the outfield.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tht.fangraphs.com/the-man-behind-peskys-pole/ | title=The Man Behind Pesky's Pole | date=October 22, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://baseballguru.com/jholway/analysisjholway31.html | title=The Baseball Guru - SLAUGHTER, PESKY, AND THE POWER OF MYTH by John B. Holway }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/pesky-the-man-the-myth-the-truth-d3c24bd5f81c | title=Pesky: The Man, the Myth, the Truth | date=January 25, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/johnny-pesky/ | title=Johnny Pesky – Society for American Baseball Research }}</ref> Walker's hit was ruled a double, although some observers felt it should have been ruled a single, with the throw home allowing Walker to advance to second base. This play was named No. 10 on the [[Sporting News]] list of Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |title=Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments by The Sporting News |url=https://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/likodak.shtml |website=baseball-almanac.com |access-date=20 April 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Enos and fan cropped.jpg|thumb|180px|right|Slaughter in 1996 during his number 9 retirement ceremony]]
Slaughter was known for his hustle, especially for running hard to first base on [[base on balls|walks]], a habit later imitated by [[Pete Rose]] and [[David Eckstein]].
 
Slaughter was reported at the time as being one of the leaders in racial taunting against the first black major league player, [[Jackie Robinson]], and was accused of conspiring with teammate [[Terry Moore (baseball)|Terry Moore]] in an attempt to get the Cardinals to refuse to play Brooklyn with Robinson on the field. Sportswriter [[Bob Broeg]], who covered the team at that time, refutes this claim and says that NL president [[Ford C. Frick]] considered the Cardinals fairer towards Robinson than any of the other teams.<ref name="Russo 37">Russo, p. 37</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fd6550d9|title=Enos Slaughter - Society for American Baseball Research|website=Sabr.org|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref> None of the contemporary accounts of the spiking suggested that the incident was intentional,<ref name="Russo 38"/> although the August 21, 1947 edition of [[St. Louis Star and Times]] quoted Dodgers' second-baseman [[Eddie Stanky]] 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."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17683909/1947-august-slaughter-robinson/ | title=1947 August Slaughter Robinson | newspaper=The St. Louis Star and Times | date=21 August 1947 | page=29 }}</ref> In the Ken Burns ''Baseball'' documentary, it was claimed that Slaughter, despite easily being out, ran and jumped at Robinson, cutting his thigh open. Most other accounts state that the cut was on Robinson's calf, and it was non-intentional, that Slaughter's spike caught Robinson while he was trying to beat the throw to first and Robinson was just not able to pull his leg away in time.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

With the Yankees, Slaughter did not play as much, but he excelled as a [[pinch hitter]] for the ballclub.<ref name="Russo 38"/> He batted fifth and played in left field in Game 5 of the [[1956 World Series]] in which teammate [[Don Larsen]] 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]] of the [[Texas League]] in 1960 and for [[Raleigh Capitals]] of the [[Carolina League]] in 1961.<ref>{{cite book|author=Holaday, Chris|date=2006|title=Professional Baseball in North Carolina: An Illustrated City-by-city History, 1901-1996|location=Jefferson, N.C.|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786425532}}</ref> Slaughter coached baseball for [[Duke University]] from 1971 to 1977.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ncpedia.org/biography/slaughter|title=Slaughter, Enos "Country" - NCpedia|website=Ncpedia.org|access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="Russo 38"/> He provided aid to causes such as the Duke Children's Classic, the Person County Museum of History, and Piedmont Community College.<ref name="Russo 38"/>

==Personal life==
Slaughter had five wives, each of whom he divorced. He had four daughters: Gaye, Patricia, Rhonda, and Sharon.<ref>Russo, p. 39</ref> [[Henry Slaughter]], his cousin, was a well-known southern gospel musician.  Slaughter also mentored [[Lou Brock]] when he joined the Cardinals.<ref name="Russo 38"/>

==Death==
Slaughter died at age 86 on August 12, 2002.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/13/sports/enos-slaughter-86-whose-sprint-won-46-series-dies.html ''The New York Times'']</ref> He had battled [[non-Hodgkin lymphoma]], and two weeks before his death, he had undergone colon surgery to fix torn stomach ulcers.<ref name="Russo 38"/> He was buried at Allensville United Methodist Church in [[Person County]], North Carolina.<ref>[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fd6550d9 Society for American Baseball Research]</ref>

==Personal honors==
{{MLBBioRet
|Image  = CardsRetired9.PNG
|Name   = Enos Slaughter
|Number = 9
|Team   = St. Louis Cardinals
|Year   = 1996
|}}
Slaughter was elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in {{Baseball year|1985}}.<ref name="baseballhall.org"/>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/history/retired_numbers.jsp|title=Cardinals Retired Numbers|website=St. Louis Cardinals|access-date=1 August 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135923/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/history/retired_numbers.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref> Slaughter was a fixture at statue dedications at [[Busch Stadium II]] for other Cardinal Hall of Famers during the last years of his life.

In 2013, the [[Bob Feller Act of Valor Award]] 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://actofvaloraward.org/hof-players/|title=WWII HOF Players – Act of Valor Award|access-date=2021-08-11|archive-date=2021-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008204152/https://actofvaloraward.org/hof-players/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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 St. Louis Cardinals season|2014]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Cardinals Press Release |url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |title=Cardinals establish Hall of Fame & detail induction process |website=Stlouis.cardinals|date=January 18, 2014 |access-date=January 29, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140126165854/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140118&content_id=66822534&vkey=pr_stl&c_id=stl |archive-date=January 26, 2014 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career doubles leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

*{{cite book|last=Russo|first=Frank|title=The Cooperstown Chronicles: Baseball's Colorful Characters, Unusual Lives, and Strange Demises|location=New York|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=978-1-4422-3639-4}}

==External links==
*{{bbhof|slaughter-enos}}
*{{Baseballstats|br=s/slaugen01|brm=slaugh001eno}}
*{{Find a Grave}}
*[https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/enos-slaughter-oral-history-interview-1987-april-07-0 Enos Slaughter Oral History Interview (1 of 3) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709122224/https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/enos-slaughter-oral-history-interview-1987-april-07-0 |date=2019-07-09 }}
*[https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/enos-slaughter-oral-history-interview-1987-april-07-3 Enos Slaughter Oral History Interview (2 of 3) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709122255/https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/enos-slaughter-oral-history-interview-1987-april-07-3 |date=2019-07-09 }}
*[https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/enos-slaughter-oral-history-interview-1987-april-07-6 Enos Slaughter Oral History Interview (3 of 3) - National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709122244/https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/enos-slaughter-oral-history-interview-1987-april-07-6 |date=2019-07-09 }}

{{1985 Baseball HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals HOF}}
{{New York Yankees HOF}}
{{1942 St. Louis Cardinals}}
{{1946 St. Louis Cardinals}}
{{1956 New York Yankees}}
{{1958 New York Yankees}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals retired numbers}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame}}
{{NL RBI champions}}
{{Duke Blue Devils baseball coach navbox}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Enos}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Baseball players from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Columbus Red Birds players]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Deaths from lymphoma in the United States]]
[[Category:Duke Blue Devils baseball coaches]]
[[Category:Houston Buffaloes managers]]
[[Category:Houston Buffs players]]
[[Category:Kansas City Athletics players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players with retired numbers]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball right fielders]]
[[Category:Martinsville Manufacturers players]]
[[Category:Military personnel from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Braves players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:National League RBI champions]]
[[Category:New York Yankees players]]
[[Category:People from Roxboro, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Raleigh Capitals players]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals players]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers]]
[[Category:Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma]]