With his mad dash from first base, Enos Slaughter raced home with the winning run of the 1946 World Series and into baseball history.
“Enos Slaughter’s great gallop from first to score on a blow to left center will rate with Paul Revere’s ride in the history of our country, and the picture of the stocky, feather-footed outfielder rounding third as Coach Mike Gonzalez waved him on, almost frantically, long will be cherished by the thrill-limp fans who saw it,” the Associated Press wrote in the next day’s newspapers.[1]
Played on October 15, 1946, Game 7 of that year’s World Series was the culmination of a campaign that saw the Cardinals and Dodgers tie for the National League pennant. In the ensuing best-of-three playoff series (the first in major league history), the Cardinals defeated the Dodgers 4-2 and 8-4, earning the right to meet the 104-win Red Sox in the World Series.
The two league champions traded wins through the first six games of the series, and Slaughter, who hit .300 with 18 homers and 130 RBIs in his first season since missing three years due to his service in World War II, entered Game 7 with a .318 average through the first six games. He very nearly didn’t make it to Game 7.
After Boston’s Joe Dobson hit him with a pitch on the right elbow in Game 5, Slaughter was in significant pain. On the train ride back to St. Louis, the team doctor told the right fielder that the injury would keep him out of the lineup for the remainder of the World Series. Slaughter overruled the doctor’s advice.
“I ain’t gonna do it,” he declared. “The fellers need me. No matter what you say, I’m playin’.”[2]
On the heels of the Cardinals’ 4-1 victory in Game 6, the Cardinals sent Murry Dickson to the mound to match up against Boston’s Dave Ferriss. The 29-year-old Dickson had gone 15-6 during the regular season, posting a 2.88 ERA after missing the previous two seasons due to the war. Whereas Dickson stood just 5-foot-10 and 157 pounds, the Mississippi native Ferriss was 6-foot-2 and 208 pounds and was coming off a 25-6 season with a 3.25.
Dickson received a rough greeting in the first inning as Wally Moses and Johnny Pesky each singled. Before Dickson could record an out, Red Sox center fielder Dom DiMaggio lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that gave Boston a 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals tied the game an inning later. Whitey Kurowski, who hit the game-winning homer that clinched St. Louis’s 1942 World Series championship, hit a leadoff double and scored when Harry Walker lined out to left field.
From there, Dickson and Ferriss maintained control behind exceptional defensive play. In the top of the fifth, Boston’s Pinky Higgins drove the ball into the left-field gap, but Cardinals center fielder Terry Moore made what the St. Louis Globe-Democrat called “one of the greatest catches ever made in World Series play,”[3] a running, backhanded grab just shy of the concrete wall. The grab was made all the more impressive by the fact that Moore was only able to play because the team trainer had numbed his left knee with what the St. Louis Star and Times called “a special ‘dope’ ointment.” Just six days later, Moore underwent surgery to remove cartilage from his knee.[4]
The Sportsman’s Park crowd hadn’t stopped cheering for Moore’s glovework when Hal Wagner hit a pop fly down the third-base line and Kurowski made a sparkling play of his own.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Cardinals’ bats got into the action. Walker, who hit just .237 in his first year back from the war, led off with a single and Marty Marion laid down a bunt to advance him to second. Dickson helped his own cause with an RBI double to left and Red Schoendienst added an RBI single to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.
Dickson, who had allowed just three hits through the first seven innings, finally appeared to tire in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Rip Russell singled to lead off the inning. Another pinch-hitter, George Metkovich, followed with a double. With Harry Brecheen available in the bullpen, Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer suddenly had a decision to make.
“The toughest first guess I’ve had in my entire life,” he said.[5]
Nonetheless, he chose to bring Brecheen into the game, a decision that dismayed Dickson.
“Dickson … gave the impression of being on the verge of tears when Eddie Dyer told him he had better have help,” the Associated Press reported. “You could see the gritty little guy pleading to be allowed to remain out there.”[6]
At first, it appeared that Brecheen might escape unscathed, as he struck out Moses and got Pesky to fly out to right. With two outs, however, DiMaggio doubled to right to tie the game. Even as he evened the score, DiMaggio pulled up at second base with a leg injury. He was replaced by Leon Culberson.
One batter later, Cardinals catcher Joe Garagiola left the game with an injury of his own when Ted Williams hit a foul tip that broke the rookie’s finger. When Garagiola entered the Cardinals’ clubhouse, he was accompanied by pitcher Johnny Beazley, who guided Garagiola to the trainer’s room, then stopped to shake Dickson’s hand.
“What for?” Dickson said. “I didn’t do any good.”
“You did all right,” Beazley answered. “Sure, you did all right.”[7]
Nonetheless, Dickson quickly changed his clothes and left the stadium before the game ended.[8]
With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Slaughter led off with a single to center field. Kurowski tried to sacrifice him to second, but instead bunted a pop-up to the pitcher. Del Rice flied out to left for the second out, bringing Walker to the plate with two outs and Slaughter still on first.
Sid Keener of the St. Louis Star and Times described the scene:
(Walker) flashed the hit-and-run to Slaughter, Enos was moving, and Harry lined a terrific drive out to left center where it was fielded by Leon Culberson, replacement for DiMaggio. Culberson threw to Pesky in shallow center, and, what next? Slaughter turned second base, approaching third base at full speed, and was hell-bent for home!
Walker, also going at full power, moved for second, and Pesky taking the throw-in, hesitated about what was going on – whether to try for Walker, and, where was Slaughter? Where was Enos? He passed third, en route to the plate as Pesky emerged from his slumber to become the “Goat of the Series.” He finally threw to the plate, but a looping toss with no oomph behind it, and there was Slaughter sliding home ahead of the relay.[9]
In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, J. Roy Stockton wrote that the Cardinals fans who had packed Sportsman’s Park initially reacted with “a roar of anger as Gonzalez waved Slaughter toward the plate. Enos was going to be a dead duck.”[10]
Whereas Keener believed that Pesky suffered a moment of indecision between throwing home or to second base, Stockton attributed Pesky’s delay on the relay throw to surprise that Slaughter was even attempting to score:
“In that moment of surprise Pesky hesitated,” Stockton wrote. “He had dropped his arms and was moving in to take charge of a situation he thought would include a Slaughter on third base. And before he could readjust himself, before he could cock his arm, Slaughter had the advantage.
“In his surprise, Pesky didn’t put enough on his throw, the ball sagged on its way to the plate, and the hard-running Slaughter, sliding the last 20 feet, skidded over the plate with the run that made the Redbirds champions once more. That’s Cardinal baseball whether you like it or not, and apparently the fans like it.”[11]
More than half a century later, a Society for American Baseball Research article on the play offered even more possibilities that contributed to Slaughter’s success in reaching home, including Culberson not being shaded enough to left field, Pesky’s eyes struggling to adjust to the shadows surrounding home plate, and a lack of communication from Pesky’s infield teammates.[12]
Regardless of the cause, the Red Sox suddenly found themselves entering the top of the ninth with their season on the line. With Brecheen still in the game, Rudy York and Bobby Doerr each singled to lead off the inning.
“A base hit, and they’d tie it!” Keener dramatically wrote in the Star and Times. “A long one, and they’d ruin everything – Brecheen, the Cardinals, the National League, our entire municipality.”[13]
Once again, however, the St. Louis defense came through. Higgins laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Kurowski pounced on it and threw out Doerr at second base. Brecheen got Roy Partee to pop up to Stan Musial at first base for the second out.
Down to their final at-bat, the Red Sox called on pinch-hitter Tom McBride. McBride hit a ground ball to Schoendienst at second base, and for a moment the 23-year-old bobbled the ball before finally gathering it against his body and throwing the ball to Marion at second for the force-out and the championship.
“It was a screwy, curving ball,” Schoendienst said. “It hit me here on the right wrist. I thought it got away, but it rolled up my forearm. Then I clamped my arm over it, up here under the shoulder, in time to grab the ball and make the play.”[14]
Brecheen’s win was his third of the series, making him the first lefthander in major league history to accomplish the feat. For each of the Cardinals, the win meant extra World Series bonuses, as the winners received $3,736 per play and the defeated Red Sox received $2,094 apiece.[15] Total receipts for the series were $1,052,900.[16]
In a dressing room crowded with newspapermen, photographers, and well-wishers, the Cardinals passed around celebratory beer.[17]
The mood was far more glum in the visitor’s clubhouse, where Pesky threw his glove against a locker, muttering angrily to himself.[18] According to a Boston Globe account of the scene, the shortstop wasn’t the only one who blamed him for the loss.
“I’m the goat. It’s my fault. I’m to blame.” Everyone in the room could hear Johnny Pesky, who stood small, drawn, forlorn before his locker. Nobody paid any attention to him.
“I had the ball in my hand. I hesitated and gave Slaughter six steps. When I saw him, I couldn’t have thrown him out with a .22,” insisted the Red Sox shortstop. Nobody paid any attention to him.
“I couldn’t hear anybody. There was too much yelling. It looked like an ordinary single. I thought he’d hold up at third so late in the game.”
Somebody finally said, “Sit down, Johnny.”
And someone else added, “Yeah, give us a rest.”[19]
Meanwhile, Williams, who hit .342 with 38 homers and 123 RBIs on his way to AL MVP honors, wasn’t immune from criticism in the wake of Boston’s disappointing loss. Williams went just 5-for-25 (.200) with one RBI in the World Series. All five of his hits were singles.
“The flop of the series was Ted Williams,” wrote Robert L. Burnes in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. “When you add it all up, you come back to the same conclusion that the Red Sox were beaten because the man around whom the entire team revolved all year, outfielder Williams, was a flop.[20]
“I must have been physically tired,” Williams said. “I wanted to hit. Their pitchers didn’t fool me, but I just was hitting the ball off-center. You never saw me hit so many pop flies. I can’t explain it, but I know that if you see me at Sarasota at all next spring, you won’t see me early.”[21]
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[1] Whiteney Martin (Associated Press), “Slaughter Run Like Paul Revere’s Ride,” Boston Globe, October 16, 1946.
[2] Joseph Wancho, “Enos Slaughter,” Society for American Baseball Research, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/enos-slaughter/.
[3] Martin J. Haley, “Brilliant Defense Highlight of Cards’ Victory,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1946.
[4] W. Vernon Tietjen, “Step Right Up, Folks, And Pick Your Series Hero – Cardinals Have Them By The Dozens,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 16, 1946.
[5] Sid C. Keener, “‘We Out-Gamed ‘Em,’ Shout Cards After Winning World Series,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 16, 1946.
[6] Whiteney Martin (Associated Press), “Slaughter Run Like Paul Revere’s Ride,” Boston Globe, October 16, 1946.
[7] “Cards Cut Up Like Happy Kids After Kayo of Bosox,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1946.
[8] “Cards Cut Up Like Happy Kids After Kayo of Bosox,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1946.
[9] Sid C. Keener, “‘We Out-Gamed ‘Em,’ Shout Cards After Winning World Series,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 16, 1946.
[10] J. Roy Stockton, “Sixth World Title Another Chapter in Legend of Cardinal Daring,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1946.
[11] J. Roy Stockton, “Sixth World Title Another Chapter in Legend of Cardinal Daring,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1946.
[12] Joseph Wancho, “Enos Slaughter,” Society for American Baseball Research, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/enos-slaughter/.
[13] Sid C. Keener, “‘We Out-Gamed ‘Em,’ Shout Cards After Winning World Series,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 16, 1946.
[14] W. Vernon Tietjen, “Step Right Up, Folks, And Pick Your Series Hero – Cardinals Have Them By The Dozens,” St. Louis Star and Times, October 16, 1946.
[15] Selwyn Pepper, “Cards Win World Championship – Fans Wildly Delirious As Home Team Takes Final Series Contest,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 15, 1946.
[16] Martin J. Haley, “Brilliant Defense Highlight of Cards’ Victory,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1946.
[17] “Cards Cut Up Like Happy Kids After Kayo of Bosox,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1946.
[18] Charles Einstein, “Williams, Downhearted, Sums Up Series: ‘There’s Nothing To Say,’” St. Louis Star and Times, October 16, 1946.
[19] Harod Kaese, “Why Did Sox Lose? Series Inexperience, Soft Pennant Race and Williams’ Slump,” Boston Globe, October 16, 1946.
[20] Robert L. Burnes, “The Bench Warmer,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 16, 1946.
[21] Harod Kaese, “Why Did Sox Lose? Series Inexperience, Soft Pennant Race and Williams’ Slump,” Boston Globe, October 16, 1946.