Enos Slaughter
Enos Slaughter may not be a household name, but he was a very good player who spent 19 years in Major League Baseball, even after taking a 3-year break in the middle of his prime to serve our country during World War II.
He joined the Saint Louis Cardinals in 1938 at age 22, and gradually worked his way into being a star, a level he reached in 1942, when he led the league in hits, triples, and total bases, which earned him the #2 spot in the MVP voting. He also won his first World Series ring that season, in what would be the second-best season of his career.
Unfortunately, his peak coincided with World War II, and he left for 3 years to serve in the Army Air Corps. When he came back in 1946, he led the league with 130 RBI's and came in #3 in the MVP voting in his best overall season, then bookended his war service with another World Series title, this one ending on the play pictured above. On that play, Slaughter scored from first base on a double in the bottom of the 8th inning of Game 7, running through a stop sign at third base in the process, in a play that was dubbed the Mad Dash and was named one of the 10 Greatest Moments in baseball history by The Sporting News in 1999.
Slaughter remained a solid player for the Cardinals for another 7 years, making the All-Star team each season and earning MVP votes in most. He was surprised in 1954 to be traded to the Yankees, where he spent another 5 seasons, though he was not the same player as he was before the trade.
He probably wouldn't have made this list without his World Series performance in 1956, when he was 40 years old, and hit .350 with 4 RBI and 4 walks while leading all players with 6 runs scored, earning his third championship ring in the process. He would get one more in 1958, though he went hitless in that season's Series.
Slaughter was a very good player who had borderline Hall of Fame numbers and played great when it mattered most. He was on the Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years, getting a little closer to the minimum required each year, before being removed for reaching the maximum number of seasons. This may have been partly because of rumors that he tried to organize a boycott against Jackie Robinson in 1947, though he denies it ever happened. He was eventually elected in 1985 by the Veterans Committee, an honor I feel he deserved, just as he earned his spot on this list.
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