Editing Enos Slaughter (section)

==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 after what some reported at the time as a delayed relay throw by the Red Sox' [[Johnny Pesky]], although the narrative on that play has been placed into serious doubt by numerous baseball historians.<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.