On this date in baseball history, the Milwaukee Braves announced that they would be releasing two very well known ballplayers. OF Enos Slaughter and 1B Mickey Vernon, both at the twilight of their careers, were given their outright release, freeing them to sign where ever they wished. Slaughter was coming off a season where he hit just .171 for the Yankees and Braves and Vernon hit just .220 with 14 RBI in 74 games for the Braves in 1959. Perhaps Slaughter was looking for one more World Series appearance with the team that had won the NL Pennant in both 1957 and 1958. Vernon was hoping to get to his first World Series in his 20 year big league career. The Los Angeles Dodgers managed to win the Pennant in 1959 by just 2 games over the Braves, ending their season.
Slaughter announced fairly soon after this release that he was retiring, putting an end to a great career. Vernon was also finished playing as he took the job as the first base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Vernon was signed to a playing contract when the rosters expanded in September, going 1-9 as a PH. Of course, the Pirates ended up winning the NL Pennant in 1960 and eventually the World Series. After 20 seasons in the big leagues, Mickey Vernon finally was part of a World Series Championship team though he was not on the active WS roster.
Slaughter was inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1985 by the Veterans Committee. For his career, he was a .300 hitter, finishing with a .834 OPS, 169 HR, 1304 RBI, 2383 career hits and 413 2Bs. He did win 4 World Series Championships (2 with the Cardinals, 2 with the Yankees). Slaughter was a 10 time All Star and had a lot of support throughout the Veterans Committee. I agree that Slaughter was a very good player but I think he was a borderline Hall of Fame player at best.
Vernon finished his career with a .286 average, .787 OPS, 172 HR, 1311 RBI, 2495 hits and 490 2Bs. He was a 7 time AS and if you credit his WS with the 1960 Pirates, which he really did not play for, he has 1 World Series Championship. Numbers wise, Vernon finished with pretty similar stats to that of Slaughter. You can say Slaughter was more of a winning player but Vernon was known to have played for some of the worst teams in Washington. Switch Slaughter and Vernon as far as where they played and whose to say Vernon would not have won in St Louis and Slaughter not have won in Washington.
My comparison is not to make the case that Slaughter was not a HOF player. I actually think he belongs in. Specifically because of the time he missed during his service in World War I. But so did Vernon. Slaughter missed all of 1943-1945 while Vernon missed 1944 and 1945. Though they were very similar players, Vernon isn't looked at in the same light because he played on such bad teams. Looking at the numbers, I feel it is difficult to put one in and leave out the other. Add Mickey Vernon to the list of players I believe belong in Baseball's Hall of Fame.
Slaughter announced fairly soon after this release that he was retiring, putting an end to a great career. Vernon was also finished playing as he took the job as the first base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Vernon was signed to a playing contract when the rosters expanded in September, going 1-9 as a PH. Of course, the Pirates ended up winning the NL Pennant in 1960 and eventually the World Series. After 20 seasons in the big leagues, Mickey Vernon finally was part of a World Series Championship team though he was not on the active WS roster.
Slaughter was inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1985 by the Veterans Committee. For his career, he was a .300 hitter, finishing with a .834 OPS, 169 HR, 1304 RBI, 2383 career hits and 413 2Bs. He did win 4 World Series Championships (2 with the Cardinals, 2 with the Yankees). Slaughter was a 10 time All Star and had a lot of support throughout the Veterans Committee. I agree that Slaughter was a very good player but I think he was a borderline Hall of Fame player at best.
Vernon finished his career with a .286 average, .787 OPS, 172 HR, 1311 RBI, 2495 hits and 490 2Bs. He was a 7 time AS and if you credit his WS with the 1960 Pirates, which he really did not play for, he has 1 World Series Championship. Numbers wise, Vernon finished with pretty similar stats to that of Slaughter. You can say Slaughter was more of a winning player but Vernon was known to have played for some of the worst teams in Washington. Switch Slaughter and Vernon as far as where they played and whose to say Vernon would not have won in St Louis and Slaughter not have won in Washington.
My comparison is not to make the case that Slaughter was not a HOF player. I actually think he belongs in. Specifically because of the time he missed during his service in World War I. But so did Vernon. Slaughter missed all of 1943-1945 while Vernon missed 1944 and 1945. Though they were very similar players, Vernon isn't looked at in the same light because he played on such bad teams. Looking at the numbers, I feel it is difficult to put one in and leave out the other. Add Mickey Vernon to the list of players I believe belong in Baseball's Hall of Fame.
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