DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Hall of Famer Enos "Country" Slaughter died Monday morning at Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C. He was 86.
No cause of death was immediately revealed, but Slaughter had been in intensive care and listed in critical condition after undergoing surgery on his colon on July 26 and to repair a perforated stomach ulcer.
Slaughter, a 10-time All-Star in his playing days, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in June and had undergone chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
He was best known for his "Mad Dash" in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series, when he scored from first base on Harry Walker's eighth-inning single to beat the Red Sox and give St. Louis the championship.
In some ways, that one play actually overshadowed a magnificent career.
Slaughter broke into the major leagues with St. Louis in 1938. As a rookie, he hit .276 with eight home runs and 58 RBIs. The next season, he hit .320 and led the National League with 52 doubles.
Slaughter finished second in the National League's Most Valuable Player voting in 1942, when he hit .318 and led the league in hits (188) and triples (17), and helped lead the Cardinals to a World Series championship over the Yankees.
His career biography includes:
? Major League debut: April 19, 1938 | Stats
? Played 19 seasons with the Cardinals (1938-42, 1946-53), Yankees (1954-55, 1956-59) Athletics (1956) and Braves (1959)
? Elected to Hall Fame by Veterans Committee in 1985
? Had his No. 9 retired by the Cardinals in 1998
? On all-time Cardinals lists, is second in RBIs (1,148), third in total bases (3,342), triples (135) and walks (839), fourth in games (1,820), hits (2,064) and runs (1,071) and fifth in doubles (366)
? Led the NL with 39 doubles in 1939
? 10-time All-Star (1941-42, 1946-53)
? Didn't play from 1943-45 because of military service
? In 1942, finished second in MVP voting and led the NL in hits (188), total bases (292), triples (17) and extra-base hits (61)
? In 1946, led the NL with 130 RBIs
? In 1949, led the NL in triples (13)
? In 1950 and 1952, had more than 100 RBIs while hitting fewer than 15 homers -- the only player in Major League history to accomplish the feat twice
? Hit .300 or better in 10 seasons
? Finished in the top eight in MVP voting six times
? Played in five World Series and had a career .291 postseason average.
Slaughter missed three seasons while serving in the military during World War II, and when he returned to St. Louis in 1946, he had what was arguably the best season of his career. He batted .300 with 28 homers and led the NL with 130 RBIs, and hit .320 in the World Series.
On his "Mad Dash" to win Game 7, 4-3, Slaughter said, "It was a routine play as a far as I was concerned."
"The Cardinals are very saddened by Enos' passing," said St. Louis Cardinals Chairman Frederick O. Hanser. "He was a great ballplayer, a great friend to the organization, and one of the most popular players ever to wear the Cardinals uniform. Enos was a treasure and he'll be sorely missed."
Slaughter had two more seasons with 100 or more RBIs -- 1950 (101) and 1952 (101). He hit less than 15 home runs in each of those seasons and is the only player in Major League history to twice drive in more than 100 runs while hitting fewer than 15 homers.
On April 11, 1954, he was traded to the Yankees for outfielder Bill Virdon, pitcher Mel Wright and minor league outfielder Emil Tellinger. When Slaughter learned he had been traded away from the Cardinals, he broke down in front of his locker and sobbed.
Slaughter played parts of six seasons with the Yankees from 1954-59. He spent part of 1955 and '56 with the Kansas City Athletics and retired after playing 11 games with the Milwaukee Braves in 1959. He was used mostly as a reserve and as a pinch-hitter after being traded from St. Louis, playing in more than 100 games only twice, in 1955 and '56, both of which were split between the Yankees and A's.
Slaughter finished his career with a .300 average and despite playing only 13 seasons with St. Louis and missing three of his prime years to serve in the military, his name appears throughout the Cardinals' record book.
He is second on the all-time Cardinals lists is in RBI (1,148), third in total bases (3,342) and triples (135), and walks (839) and fourth in hits (2,064) and runs (1,071).
Slaughter was voted into Baseball's Hall of Hame in 1985 by the Veterans Committee, an honor he always felt was long overdue. Some believed he was denied access for many years because he was believed to have tried to organize a strike by Cardinals players when Jackie Robinson broke into the majors in 1947.
It was a charge he and his teammates denied vehemently. In the book, "The Spirit of St. Louis," Cardinals shortstop Marty Marion said, "I never heard of such a stupid thing in my life. There was never any meeting that we talked of striking."
The Cardinals retired Slaughter's No. 9 and also dedicated a bronze statue in his honor outside of Busch Stadium.
