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 scored the winning run in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series for the Cardinals. A ten-time All-Star, he has been elected to both the National Baseball Hall of Fame and St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.

Early life
Slaughter was born in Roxboro, North Carolina, where he earned the nickname "Country".[1] In 1935, scout Billy Southworth signed him for the St. Louis Cardinals.[2]

Career
Minor leagues
The Martinsville Manufacturers were Slaughter's first professional team, in 1935.[2] 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.[3] In 1937, he had 245 hits and 147 runs scored for Columbus.[4]

Major leagues

After debuting with the Cardinals in 1938, Slaughter became an everyday outfielder for them in 1939.[2]

Slaughter was known for his hustle, especially for running hard to first base on 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 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 Frick considered the Cardinals fairer towards Robinson than any of the other teams.[9] 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.[10] None of the contemporary accounts of the spiking suggested that the incident was intentional,[7] 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."[11] 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.

With the Yankees, Slaughter did not play as much, but he excelled as a pinch hitter for the ballclub.[7] 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.[12] Slaughter coached baseball for Duke University from 1971 to 1977.[13][7] He provided aid to causes such as the Duke Children's Classic, the Person County Museum of History, and Piedmont Community College.[7]

Personal life
Slaughter had five wives, each of whom he divorced. He had four daughters: Gaye, Patricia, Rhonda, and Sharon.[14] Henry Slaughter, his cousin, was a well-known southern gospel musician. Fellow Hall of Famer Monte Irvin was good friends with Slaughter, later voting for the player when he was finally elected to the Hall of Fame. Slaughter also mentored Lou Brock when he joined the Cardinals.[7]

Death
Slaughter died at age 86 on August 12, 2002.[15] He had battled non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and two weeks before his death, he had undergone colon surgery to fix torn stomach ulcers.[7] He was buried at Allensville United Methodist Church in Person County, North Carolina.[16]