DEL ENNIS used this bat when his Phillies came to St. Louis for a series with the Cardinals in May of 1955.  In the first game of this series he had three hits and parked a solo homer off of the scoreboard at Busch Stadium in a 5-3 loss to the Redbirds.

ENNIS earned a berth on the 1955 all-star team and finished an outstanding year with a .296 average, 29 home runs and was third in the National League with 120 RBIs.

DEL ENNIS

ALL-STAR: 1946, 1951 and 1955

Sporting News Rookie of the Year award in 1946

Crankcase oil powered Ennis' 'Booming Bat' of the '50s

Named to the Phillies' Centennial team in 1983 during the team's 100th anniversary celebration.

MAJOR LEAGUE ALL-STAR

DEL ENNIS surpassed 30 home runs twice, and knocked in more than 100 runs seven times.

DEL ENNIS WEB LINKS

>BASEBALL-REFERENCE.COM

>BASEBALL-LIBRARY.COM

>BASEBALL-ALMANAC.COM

Del Ennis began his Major League baseball career on April 28, 1946 with the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 21. The 6'0" 195 pound power hitter played for 14 seasons with the Phillies, Cardinals, Reds and White Sox — and ended his big league playing career in 1959.

The Philadelphia Irishman won the original Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award in 1946 when he hit a career-high .313, and was among the National League top five in batting, home runs, slugging percentage and total bases.

Ennis twice hit over .300, surpassed 30 home runs twice, and knocked in more than 100 runs seven times, peaking with a National League-leading 126 RBIs for the pennant-winning 1950 Phillies' "Whiz Kids."

He had three homers in one game (July 23, 1955) and was a no-hit spoiler three times in his career. In the Phillies' 100th anniversary year, 1983, Ennis was chosen for their Centennial team.

Ennis, in the off-season before the 1950 season, took all two dozen of his 42-ounce bats and gave them to a friend who owned a local garage. His bats were placed in a vat of used crankcase oil and soaked over the winter.

DEL ENNIS POSTED a National League-leading 126 RBIs for the pennant-winning 1950 "Whiz Kids" Phillies.

This apparently sealed the grain of the bats and made them as hard as iron. It also added 3-4ounces to the weight of each bat, which didn't appear to slow down the powerfully muscled Ennis' swing. It was evident in spring training that Ennis had an edge, with the ball exploding off of the specially treated bats. He kept his lumber under lock and key all year and lead the "Whiz Kids" to the 1950 National League Pennant with 31 HRs, 126 RBIs and a .311 average.

He played 11 seasons with the Phillies, two with the Cardinals, and split his last season in the Major Leagues between the Reds and White Sox. He posted a very respectable .284 lifetime average, had 2,063 hits, 288 HRs and 1,284 RBIs. Prior to Mike Schmidt, he held most of the Phils' power records and was a three-time all-star.

DEL ENNIS: Did you know...

...Ennis was the highest paid Philly ever to that point when signed for $30,000 in Feb. of 1950.

...Ennis was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies in Nov. 1956 to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bobby Morgan and Rip Repulski.

...Ennis was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals in Oct. 1958 with Eddie Kasko and Bob Mabe to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Alex Grammas, George Crowe, and Alex Kellner.

...Ennis was traded in May 1959 by the Cincinnati Redlegs to the Chicago White Sox for Don Rudolph and Lou Skizas.

...Ennis was released by the Chicago White Sox in June 1959.

...Ennis was born June 8, 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died February 8, 1996 in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania at age 71.

DEL ENNIS played 11 seasons with the Phillies, two with the Cardinals, and split his last season in the Major Leagues between the Reds and White Sox.

DEL ENNIS was chosen for the Phillies' Centennial team in 1983 during the team's 100th anniversary celebration.