Friday, October 22, 2004
Country Slaughter
Of all the dramatic post-season failures that have bedeviled the Red Sox throughout history, my personal favorite is probably Game Seven of the 1946 World Series. Enos Slaughter, playing with a broken elbow since the fifth game, scored the winning run with two outs in the eighth inning on a "mad dash" from first after a bloop single by Harry Walker. Not only does it evoke memories of the amazing Game Seven of the '92 NLCS (probably the greatest thing I've ever witnessed live, in person, ever), it involved a curious figure from baseball history that has always intrigued me.
"Country" Enos Slaughter is one of the greatest names ever bestowed upon a human being. He was born and raised in Roxboro, North Carolina, which is one town over from my parents' and grandparents' hometown, Oxford. He retired to Roxboro and remained there until his death in 2002. Of course he was a regional hero, especially after making it into the Hall of Fame, but as far as I know he never exploited his stature by opening up a car dealership or restaurant or anything like that. I first heard of him when I was a kid, back in the early '80's, through my grandfather, who was apparently friends with Slaughter; I figured anyone who was a friend of Papa's had to be a great guy, especially if he had a lifetime batting average of .300.
It was pretty incredible that my grandfather was friends with a baseball legend, and I had always respected Slaughter due to that connection and his World Series heroics. But then, in 1997, back during the Jackie Robinson tribute season, I learned that Slaughter was apparently the most out-spoken critic of integration and the biggest racist asshole in baseball's history. Supposedly Slaughter tried to organize a player strike against the Dodgers, and later spiked Robinson during a game. Enos always denied the strike effort and being a racist, but whether that's true or not is little consequence, as he's already been irrevocably painted an asshole.
The Boston Globe has a great series of paintings and articles today about the history of the Red Sox. It is, of course, a history of complete and total soul-wrenching failure. The title link above will take you to the Slaughter article, if you're so inclined. The rest of the series is well worth checking out, as well.
And to all you non-baseball fans who come to this site, I apologize for the extreme athletic content of late. In a week or so this will all be over, and we can go back to talking about shitty music that nobody gives a fuck about.
Of all the dramatic post-season failures that have bedeviled the Red Sox throughout history, my personal favorite is probably Game Seven of the 1946 World Series. Enos Slaughter, playing with a broken elbow since the fifth game, scored the winning run with two outs in the eighth inning on a "mad dash" from first after a bloop single by Harry Walker. Not only does it evoke memories of the amazing Game Seven of the '92 NLCS (probably the greatest thing I've ever witnessed live, in person, ever), it involved a curious figure from baseball history that has always intrigued me.
"Country" Enos Slaughter is one of the greatest names ever bestowed upon a human being. He was born and raised in Roxboro, North Carolina, which is one town over from my parents' and grandparents' hometown, Oxford. He retired to Roxboro and remained there until his death in 2002. Of course he was a regional hero, especially after making it into the Hall of Fame, but as far as I know he never exploited his stature by opening up a car dealership or restaurant or anything like that. I first heard of him when I was a kid, back in the early '80's, through my grandfather, who was apparently friends with Slaughter; I figured anyone who was a friend of Papa's had to be a great guy, especially if he had a lifetime batting average of .300.
It was pretty incredible that my grandfather was friends with a baseball legend, and I had always respected Slaughter due to that connection and his World Series heroics. But then, in 1997, back during the Jackie Robinson tribute season, I learned that Slaughter was apparently the most out-spoken critic of integration and the biggest racist asshole in baseball's history. Supposedly Slaughter tried to organize a player strike against the Dodgers, and later spiked Robinson during a game. Enos always denied the strike effort and being a racist, but whether that's true or not is little consequence, as he's already been irrevocably painted an asshole.
The Boston Globe has a great series of paintings and articles today about the history of the Red Sox. It is, of course, a history of complete and total soul-wrenching failure. The title link above will take you to the Slaughter article, if you're so inclined. The rest of the series is well worth checking out, as well.
And to all you non-baseball fans who come to this site, I apologize for the extreme athletic content of late. In a week or so this will all be over, and we can go back to talking about shitty music that nobody gives a fuck about.
