"I really didn't expect to stay with the Phillies but they had to give me a 30-day trial because I was on the National Defense List.
I never had spring training [in 1946] and I pinch hit in Pittsburgh in my first game, then I got into the starting lineup.
In my second game in left field, I hit a bases loaded double to beat the Pirates.
A few days later in Chicago against the Cubs, I hit two homers in one game"
Ennis used to treat his bats with great care: "I used to hang out at a gas station at Rising Sun and Van Kirk in the Crescentville section of Philadelphia called the Gas House.
I used to take home a dozen bats at the end of each year.
I would fill up one of those big drums with linseed oil and leave the bats in the drum all winter.
They would get to be about 40–42 ounces and when I got to Florida for spring training, I put the bats in the dryer where they dried uniforms.
That would get them down to about 36 ounces, and make them harder.
Andy Seminick and I used the same bat all year in 1950 when we won the NL pennant."

On Ennis's best day as a Phillie – he hit three home runs and knocked in seven runs – he happened to pop out his fourth time up. "
They booed the daylights out of me", he remembers.

"Now a pitcher can't go out of his way to hit somebody, he can't knock you down, and when we played we didn't wear helmets.
They'd tell you they were going to put one in your ear and when you looked back and saw the catcher's glove by your head you got the idea you shouldn't take a toehold." –
Del Ennis in Baseball Digest (July 1975)
Ennis popped up with the bases loaded sending Cardinals Manager Fred Hutchinson into a slow burn.
After he dropped his bat into the rack, Hutchinson fetched it.
He angrily took a swing at the concrete dugout steps.
Nothing happened.
Two more swings produced nothing more than dents in the bat.
Hutch calmly walked to where Ennis sat and dropped the bat at his feet.
Keep it, he said. "
It's got good wood".

Ennis died in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, at 70 years of age from complications of diabetes.
He was buried in Hillside Cemetery, Roslyn, Pennsylvania.
"I really didn't expect to stay with the Phillies but they had to give me a 30-day trial because I was on the National Defense List. I never had spring training [in 1946] and I pinch hit in Pittsburgh in my first game, then I got into the starting lineup. In my second game in left field, I hit a bases loaded double to beat the Pirates. A few days later in Chicago against the Cubs, I hit two homers in one game"
Ennis used to treat his bats with great care: "I used to hang out at a gas station at Rising Sun and Van Kirk in the Crescentville section of Philadelphia called the Gas House. I used to take home a dozen bats at the end of each year. I would fill up one of those big drums with linseed oil and leave the bats in the drum all winter. They would get to be about 40–42 ounces and when I got to Florida for spring training, I put the bats in the dryer where they dried uniforms. That would get them down to about 36 ounces, and make them harder. Andy Seminick and I used the same bat all year in 1950 when we won the NL pennant."
On Ennis's best day as a Phillie – he hit three home runs and knocked in seven runs – he happened to pop out his fourth time up. "They booed the daylights out of me", he remembers.
"Now a pitcher can't go out of his way to hit somebody, he can't knock you down, and when we played we didn't wear helmets. They'd tell you they were going to put one in your ear and when you looked back and saw the catcher's glove by your head you got the idea you shouldn't take a toehold." – Del Ennis in Baseball Digest (July 1975)
Ennis popped up with the bases loaded sending Cardinals Manager Fred Hutchinson into a slow burn. After he dropped his bat into the rack, Hutchinson fetched it. He angrily took a swing at the concrete dugout steps. Nothing happened. Two more swings produced nothing more than dents in the bat. Hutch calmly walked to where Ennis sat and dropped the bat at his feet. Keep it, he said. "It's got good wood".
Ennis died in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, at 70 years of age from complications of diabetes. He was buried in Hillside Cemetery, Roslyn, Pennsylvania.
Del Ennis