The Philadelphia Phillies scout Jocko Collins came to watch one of Ennis's high school classmates pitch.

Ennis signed with Collins again in March 1943, and hit .348 with 19 home runs and 16 triples for the Phillies' Trenton, New Jersey Interstate League team.

Ennis saw military action in the Pacific Theater and also toured with a baseball team that included Billy Herman, Johnny Vander Meer and Schoolboy Rowe.

When the Navy learned that Ennis was associated with the Phillies, they assumed he was a major leaguer and invited him to fill one of the vacancies while in Honolulu.

His slugging prompted Dan Topping, new owner of the New York Yankees and a fellow serviceman at Pearl Harbor, to offer him $25,000 to sign with the Yanks.

Player-manager Ben Chapman delayed Ennis's debut since he had missed spring training, and then had him pinch-hit on April 28 against the Boston Braves – a groundout to shortstop.

[2][4] Chapman gave Ennis the starting job in left field, a weak spot in the Phillies lineup.

His favorite moment was on Del's birthday, June 8, 1946, hitting a single to break up a perfect game with only four outs remaining against Red Barrett.

[5] Olney residents held a Del Ennis Night at Shibe Park with 36,356 in attendance and an estimated 20,000 were turned away.

[2] Eleven weeks after his debut, Ennis became the first Phillies rookie to make an All-Star team on the strength of a strong throwing arm and lively bat.

On August 25, 1955, before a doubleheader with St. Louis, the Phillies honored Ennis for driving in more runs at that point than any player in team history.

Ennis was presented with gifts including a Cadillac, TV, air conditioner, freezer, diamond ring, and fishing outfit.

No wonder Phillies broadcasters Gene Kelly and By Saam said, “It’s Ding Dong Del” or “Here comes Ennis the Menace” whenever he stepped to the plate, according to SABR.org.

Traded to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1957 season for Rip Repulski, Ennis responded with a .286 average, 26 home runs and 105 RBI, finishing second in the league behind his teammate and roommate on the road Stan Musial.

But his production dropped off sharply in 1958, and after two years in St. Louis he finished his career in 1959 playing for the Cincinnati Redlegs and the pennant-winning Chicago White Sox.

[6] As an example, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals on July 31, 1954, in the top of the third inning, Ennis dropped an outfield fly with the bases loaded and all three runners scored.

"[7] In the bottom half of the same inning with two on and two out, he hit the first pitch on the roof in left field at Connie Mack Stadium, and the Phillies won the game by a score of 6–5.

[8] Ennis' career ended with a mid-season release by the White Sox in 1959, after having been acquired from Cincinnati during the first week of the 1959 season.

On May 1, he was traded to the White Sox, helmed by Al López, where Ennis became the starting left fielder throughout May into early June 1959.

In the first 11 games with the White Sox, Ennis drove in seven runs including a game-winner in mid-May at Yankee Stadium.

In fact, Ennis had four game-winning hits in six games in early 1959 and the White Sox went on to win the AL pennant.

To make room on the roster for Norm Cash, who had completed his military service commitment, Ennis was waived by the Sox in mid-June 1959, thus ending a career spanning 14 seasons.

There is now a plaque on the Phillies Wall of Fame at the team's ballpark honoring the career of Ennis as a Whiz Kid.