COUNTRY'S TIME :

"Country" Slaughter hit .300 in 19-year career (Associated Press, August 12, 2002)

Enos "Country'' Slaughter, the hustling Hall of Famer who made a "Mad Dash'' home to win the 1946 World Series and then tangled with Jackie Robinson the next year, died Monday at age 86. [...]

Slaughter is best remembered for his "Mad Dash'' from first base that scored the winning run for the Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 1946 Series.

With the score tied at 3-3, Slaughter opened the bottom of the eighth inning with a single. Two outs later, he was still on first base. With Harry Walker at bat, Slaughter took off for second on what he said later was nothing more than an attempted steal.

Walker hit the ball over short and into center field. With Slaughter steaming around second base, Leon Culberson fielded the ball. Third base coach Mike Gonzalez tried to stop Slaughter as Culberson relayed the ball to Johnny Pesky. Slaughter ran right past Gonzalez.

Pesky held the ball for an instant and then hurried his throw to catcher Roy Partee. Slaughter slid past the tag for the deciding run.

"On that particular play, he outran that ball the last 10 yards,'' Musial said. "He just outran it. It was an exciting play and won the Series for us.''

Sadly for Slaughter he was one of the many Southern whites in baseball at the time Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier (Harry Walker's brother, for instance, was "Dixie" Walker) and was identified with the resistance, particularly after he spiked Robinson, whether intentionally or not. That kept him out of the Hall of Fame for twenty years.
Posted by Orrin Judd at August 13, 2002 7:37 AM