I don’t remember which diner it was, we were there more than 15 years ago, but as you can see it was a paper placemat/menu of which I tore off the lower lefthand corner.

There are two diners in Cooperstown – The Cooperstown Diner and the Doubleday Café.  I don’t think zucchini bread is actually on either menu, so it doesn’t really matter.  It also doesn’t seem to matter that it is named after North Carolina native, Enos “Country” Slaughter, beyond the fact that the recipe calls for pecans which are a significant cash crop in the state.

Enos Bradsher Slaughter (April 27, 1916 – August 12, 2002), nicknamed "Country", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He played for 19-seasons on four major league teams from 1938–1942 and 1946–1959. He is noted primarily for his playing for the St. Louis Cardinals and is best known for scoring the winning run in Game Seven of the 1946 World Series. A ten time All-Star, he has been elected to both the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.   

I haven’t seen any mention of Enos being a particular fan of zucchini bread.  In fact, I would find it hard to believe that zucchini bread was a big treat back in the 1940's and 50's, when he was playing, though he did live to the ripe old age of 86, so perhaps he developed a fondness for it later in life.

We started making this recipe regularly after our trip to Cooperstown and from time to time even served it at Little League games to parents and siblings of our sons' teammates - so it will always be associated with baseball in our house!

Today is unseasonably warm in North Jersey and pitchers and catchers have been in camp for more than a week or so.  Bryant Gumbel aired an interview with World Champion Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Maddon this week on HBO, so baseball is in the air!