Slaughter’s ‘Mad Dash’ lifts Cardinals to World Series title
Enos Slaughter’s Hall of Fame plaque puts it succinctly:
Hard-nosed, hustling performer who played the game with intensity and determination.
On Oct. 15, 1946, Slaughter embodied those words with one of the most iconic moments in baseball history. In Game 7 of the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox were tied at 3 in the eighth inning. On a hit-and-run play, Slaughter scored from first on a double into the left-center field gap – a daring move that surprised many, including Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky.
“I’m the goat,” Pesky said. “I never expected he’d try to score... I know I could have nailed him if I had suspected he would try for the plate.”
But Slaughter wasn’t known for playing it safe on the bases.
“I always wanted an extra base,” he told The New York Times. “If I hit it back up through the middle, I left the plate not wanting to stop at first. I wanted two. If I hit it down the right-field line, I didn’t want two bases. I wanted three.”
Slaughter led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single. The next two Cardinals were retired before left fielder Harry Walker stepped to the plate. With the count at two-and-one, Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer called for a hit-and-run.
As Slaughter took off toward second, Walker flared a base hit into left-center. The ball was retrieved by center fielder Leon Culberson and thrown to Pesky at short. St. Louis third base coach Mike González signaled for Slaughter to stop.
But he didn’t.
Slaughter blitzed through the stop sign and barreled toward the plate. Known for his relentless hustle and aggressive base running, he said he’d already made up his mind mid-play.
“I knew I was going to score when the ball was hit,” Slaughter told The New York Times. “The coach at third base was trying to stop me but, shoot, I was goin’ home. I never thought about nothin’ else.”
The kicker? Slaughter didn’t have blazing speed – he just ran hard. Always.
“I learned early on to never walk while I was on the ball field,” Slaughter said. “I ran everywhere I went.”
As he rounded third, Pesky hesitated before making the throw home. By then, it was too late. Slaughter scored in what became known as the “Mad Dash.”
A statue depicting Slaughter’s iconic slide across home plate now stands outside Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
The Cardinals held on to their 4-3 lead to win both Game 7 and the World Series, forever etching the moment into baseball history. Slaughter hit .320 (8-for-25) in the series, with five runs, two RBI, four walks and one stolen base.
Slaughter was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
“He will do anything to beat you,” Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel told The New York Times.
Noah Douglas was the 2025 communications intern in the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship Program for Leadership Development
