Slaughter, Vaughan enter Hall with Class of 1985

Enos Slaughter and Arky Vaughan were teammates for two of their combined 19 All-Star appearances. On March 6, 1985, their careers were once again reunited, this time on baseball’s biggest stage when they were elected to the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 1985.

Before even reaching the big leagues, Slaughter learned a lesson that would propel him to become a role model to players for years to come. In 1936, Slaughter’s minor league and eventual manager with the Cardinals, Eddie Dyer, chewed him out for walking on the baseball field.

Learning from this incident led him to the reputation of being one of baseball’s best hustlers. He set an example to thousands of players by running down to first base on walks and always hustling whenever on the diamond.

“I learned early on to never walk while I was on the baseball field. I ran everywhere I went,” said Slaughter.

Slaughter’s hustle helped him earn his second of four World Series rings, as his “Mad Dash” during the 1946 classic linked him to one of baseball’s greatest moments. Playing with a broken elbow suffered earlier in the series, Slaughter was on first base with the game tied in the eighth inning of Game 7 with the Red Sox. Running with the pitch, he scored what was eventually the winning run from first base on what looked to be just a single. The hit was ruled a double however, as Cardinals Harry Walker advanced because of the throw to home.

The clutch contact hitter batted over .300 10 times in his career, finishing right at .300 while amassing 2,383 hits during his 19 seasons with the Cards, Yankees, A’s, and Braves.

After the retirement of Honus Wagner in 1917, Bucs fans probably never thought they would see another shortstop of his caliber.

Little did they know that 15 years later they would be treated to something very close.

Joseph Floyd Vaughan, who received his nickname “Arky” from classmates after moving to California from his home state of Arkansas, began his career in Pittsburgh on April 17, 1932. He would spend the next 10 seasons with the Pirates – hitting over .300 in each before being traded to the Dodgers in 1941.