Enos 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.
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.
In 1946 he batted .391 and led the Cardinals to a World Series win over the Boston Red Sox when Slaughter made a famous "mad dash" for home from first base on Harry Walker's double in the eighth inning of game seven with two outs and the game tied 3-3.
In 1947, the Cardinals gained notoriety by attempting to boycott games against the Brooklyn Dodgers to protest the Dodgers' signing of a black player, Jackie Robinson. Slaughter was the alleged ringleader of this boycott. National League president Ford Frick threatened to ban any players who boycotted any games, and the boycott never happened. The Cardinals did not sign a black regular until Curt Flood in 1958.
He was known his hustle, especially for running hard to first base on walks, a habit copied later by Pete Rose.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985; many observers believed that his perceived antagonism toward Robinson had prevented his earlier selection.
After battling non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Slaughter died at age 86.
