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Copyright © 2002
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Enos Slaughter
Nickname(s): Country
1916-2002

OF 1938-42, 46-59 Cardinals, Yankees, Athletics, Braves

Enos Slaughter's Teammates

  • All-Star in 1941-42, 46-53
  • Led League in rbi 46
  • Hall Of Fame in 85

GamesAverageHRRBI
Career 2380.3001691304
World Series 27.29138

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RELATED LINKS
» 1946: Slaughter’s Race for the Roses
» 1956: October's Revenge

Book Excerpts
» The Perfect Yankee by Don Larsen with Mark Shaw

Greatest Teams
» 1942 Cardinals

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» The Game Lost Many Lives In 2002 by Bruce Markusen

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Slaughter was a lefthanded batter who hit .300 or better ten times, a superb outfielder with a deadly accurate throwing arm, and the quintessential hustler. While playing for the Columbus, Georgia, Redbirds (Sally League) in 1936, Slaughter was rebuked for not hustling by manager Eddie Dyer, and he vowed never again to walk while on a ball field.

Slaughter had an unusually swift rise through the vast Cardinal farm system. When he arrived in St. Louis in 1938, he was making $400 a month, but when he learned the Cubs had offered $100,000 for him, he persuaded the Cardinals to give him a $200 raise. He led the NL with 52 doubles in 1939 and with 188 hits in 1942, and led in triples in 1942 and 1949. He captured the league RBI title with 130 in 1946. He had extra-base power to all fields, and his level swing made him a fine contact hitter and a good man in the clutch; he spoiled three no-hitters. In 1947 he knocked in ten runs in a doubleheader.

Slaughter was the leader of and top hitter (.318) on the 1942 World Championship Cardinals. In the deciding game of the 1946 Series, he made his electrifying mad dash home from first on Harry Walker's hit, scoring the winning run as Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky hesitated making the relay throw.

Slaughter, who was a North Carolina tobacco farmer, and fellow Southerner Terry Moore tried to persuade their Cardinal teammates to go on strike in May 1947 to protest Jackie Robinson's admittance to the National League. Though his strike plans were thwarted, Slaughter expressed his attitude that August. Robinson was playing first base for the Dodgers when 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 split the 1955 season between New York and Kansas City, leading the AL with 16 pinch hits. He was with the Yankees for their 1956, '57, and '58 pennants. He had 48 pinch at-bats in each of his last two seasons, leading the AL in 1958. In 1985 he was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. (EW)


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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
» July 19, 1942: The Brooklyn lead of eight games is cut as the Cards win three of 4. The larger blow, however, is a concussion suffered by Pete Reiser after crashing into an OF wall at Sportsman's Park chasing an Enos Slaughter 11th-inning fly. Reiser drops the ball upon impact, and Slaughter scores an inside-the-park HR for a 7-6 Cards' win. Hitting .379 at the time, Reiser will see his average fall to .310 after the injury. His 20 stolen bases will still lead the NL.

» October 1, 1942: Behind 3–0, the Yankees tie it up in the top of the 8th, but rookie Stan Musial singles in Enos Slaughter in the bottom of the inning to forge a 4–3 Cardinal victory.

» May 15, 1946: Fireworks occur as Brooklyn starter Les Webber brushes back Enos Slaughter in the first inning, but the Cardinal outfielder retaliates by bunting up the 1B line and flattening Webber as he tries to field the bunt. Slaughter then silences the fans with two catches in the first inning and a throw to double off Furillo. The Cards move into first place by edging the Dodgers, 1–0, behind Howie Pollet.

» October 3, 1946: The St. Louis Cardinals wallop the Brooklyn Dodgers 8–4 at Ebbets Field to win the National League playoffs 2-0 and advance to the World Series. Erv Dusak and Enos Slaughter lead the attack, while winning pitcher Murry Dickson adds a triple. Dickson allows just two hits till the last inning, before the Dodgers score three runs off him. Harry Brecheen strikes out two batters with the bases full to end it. Joe Hatten is the loser.

» October 10, 1946: Enos Slaughter, Whitney Kurowski, and Joe Garagiola each have four hits, and Al Brazle pitches a 12–3 complete game win. The Cards tie a World Series record by racking up 20 hits.

» October 15, 1946: Enos Slaughter sprints all the way from 1B and slides into home with the winning run in the 8th inning on Harry Walker's double, as the Cardinals edge the Boston Red Sox 4–3, giving St. Louis the World Series four games to 3. Harry Brecheen wins three games for the Cardinals, including Games six and 7, the only pitcher ever to win those. Billed as the duel between the two best hitters in baseball, the Series sees Stan Musial go 6-for-27 and Ted Williams 5-for-25. With the Series held in two small ballparks and the broadcast fees now aimed at a player pension fund, the Cardinal share of $3,748 and the Red Sox portion of $2,140 is the smallest Series payoff since 1918.

» May 20, 1948: Stan Musial and the Cards continue slugging the Dodgers, winning 13–4, as The Man has four hits, including a home run and two doubles. Musial is 11-for-15 in the series. Enos Slaughter chips in three hits as Howie Pollet wins over Joe Hatten.

» June 6, 1948: Erv Dusak, Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter, and Nippy Jones homer in the sixth inning as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Phillies 11-1.

» May 7, 1950: The Cards humble the Braves 15–0 behind Howie Pollet's 4-hitter. Enos Slaughter had a triple and three singles to drive in four runs.

» July 30, 1950: The Cards stop the Giants, 6–3, to end New York's win streak of nine games. Gerry Staley wins his 10th on a 7-hitter and is back by Enos Slaughter's single, double, and triple. Red Schoendienst's wide toss to 3rd in the 9th ends his streak of 57 games without an error. He had handled 323 chances without an error.

» June 28, 1951: The Cubs Frank Hiller faces just 27 batters in pitching a one-hitter over the Cards, winning 8–0. Enos Slaughter has a fifth-inning single but is erased on a DP. Randy Jackson poles his seventh homer in the seventh and the Cubs pull off a double steal in the ninth when they add four runs. Jack Cusick swipes home, with Hiller stealing third.

» September 15, 1951: The Cardinals take 11 walks, a record tying five by Solly Hemus, and beat the Braves 10–1. Boston's starter Dave Cole walks the first three batters he faces, then hits Enos Slaughter to force in Hemus.

» September 14, 1952: Enos Slaughter of the Cardinals walks twice in the 5th inning. Teammate Stan Musial chips in with a HR and a double in the inning, as St. Louis scores 11 runs against Dave Koslo. The Giants pitcher loses the game 14-4, his first loss to St. Louis after 13 straight victories since June 11, 1950.

» July 14, 1953: The NL wins its fourth All-Star Game in a row, 5-1 in Cincinnati's Crosley Field behind the stellar pitching of Robin Roberts and Warren Spahn. Cardinal OF Enos Slaughter gets two hits, scores twice, and robs Harvey Kuenn of an extra-base blow.

» April 11, 1954: To make room for promising rookie OF Wally Moon, the Cardinals trade long-time great Enos Slaughter to the Yankees. In what turns out to be a good deal for both teams, the Cardinals get CF Bill Virdon, P Mel Wright, and OF Emil Tellinger in return. Virdon will become the National League Rookie of the Year in 1955, following Moon, and Slaughter will help the Yankees to win 103 games.

» May 11, 1955: The A's continue to wheel and deal as they purchase OF Harry Simpson from the Indians and P Ray Herbert from the Tigers. They give cash and P John "Sonny" Dixon to the Yankees in exchange for RF Enos Slaughter and P Johnny Sain.

» May 29, 1955: Larry Doby of the Indians hits the first ML home run over the outer wall in Kansas City, an estimated 500-foot clout in the 6th. The Indians win 4–2 behind Herb Score, who is replaced in the 9th after singles by C Wilmer Shantz and pinch-hitter Enos Slaughter. Wilmer's brother Bobby Shantz is the loser.

» September 11, 1955: RF Enos Slaughter of the A's plays in his 2,000th ML game, getting a pinch single in a 4-3 victory over the Orioles.

» May 28, 1956: White Sox SS Luis Aparicio hits his first ML home run, off Kansas City's Tom Lasorda, to open the Sox scoring in the 5th. With the score tied 4–4 in the 9th, reliever Billy Pierce walks Hector Lopez, and Enos Slaughter then wins the game with a home run.

» August 25, 1956: To make room for Enos Slaughter, the Yankees give Phil "the Scooter" Rizzuto his unconditional release. Through the instigation of Ballantine Beer, Rizzuto will be in the announcing booth next year, replacing Jim Woods.

» August 26, 1956: The Yankees announce the purchase of OF Enos Slaughter from Kansas City.

» October 6, 1956: The Yanks regroup at home and defeat Brooklyn 5-3 in Game 3, with Whitey Ford going the distance and Enos Slaughter hitting a 3-run HR.

» October 9, 1956: The Dodgers bounce back. Clem Labine comes out of the bullpen to pitch a 1-0 victory in 10 innings. Enos Slaughter misjudges Jackie Robinson's fly ball, and Jim Gilliam scores from 2B.

» July 19, 1959: Before 57,000 at the Stadium, the Yankees sweep a pair from the visiting White Sox, winning the nitecap 6–4 on Mickey Mantle's homer off Turk Lown. In game 1, Yankee veteran Enos Slaughter belts a pair of homers: at age 43, he is the oldest player this century to accomplish the feat. Carlton Fisk, a few months older, will top Slaughter in 1991.

» March 6, 1985: Enos Slaughter and Arky Vaughan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.

» July 28, 1985: Lou Brock, Enos Slaughter, Arky Vaughan, and Hoyt Wilhelm are inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony in Cooperstown, New York.