| Red Schoendienst | |
|---|---|
 Schoendienstc. 1953 | |
| Second baseman /Manager | |
| Born:(1923-02-02)February 2, 1923 Germantown, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: June 6, 2018(2018-06-06) (aged 95) Town and Country, Missouri, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 1945, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 7, 1963, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .289 |
| Hits | 2,449 |
| Home runs | 84 |
| Runs batted in | 773 |
| Managerial record | 1,041–955 |
| Winning % | .522 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Managerial record at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1989 |
| Election method | Veterans Committee |
Albert Fred "Red"Schoendienst (/ˈʃeɪndiːnst/SHAYN-deenst; February 2, 1923 – June 6, 2018) was an American professionalbaseballsecond baseman,coach, andmanager inMajor League Baseball (MLB), and is largely known for his coaching, managing, and playing years with theSt. Louis Cardinals. He played for 19 years with the Cardinals (1945–1956, 1961–1963),New York Giants (1956–1957) andMilwaukee Braves (1957–1960), and was named to 10All Star teams. He then managed the Cardinals from 1965 through 1976 – the second-longest managerial tenure in the team's history (behindTony La Russa). Under his direction, St. Louis won the 1967 and 1968National Leaguepennants and the1967 World Series, and he was named National League Manager of the Year in 1967 and 1968. He was elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in1989. At the time of his death, he had worn a Major League uniform for 74 consecutive years as a player, coach, or manager,[1][2][3] and had served 67 of his 76 years in baseball with the Cardinals.
Schoendienst was born inGermantown, Illinois, approximately 40 miles (64 km) east ofdowntown St. Louis to Joe and Mary Schoendienst, one of seven children.[4] His father was acoal miner, and the family lived without running water or electricity.[5]
Schoendienst showed a marked aptitude for baseball at a young age. In school he would handicap himself by hitting left-handed.[4] In 1939, at age 16, he dropped out of school to join theCivilian Conservation Corps, a major public works employment program within PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt'sNew Deal. While working on a fence, he suffered a serious injury to his left eye from a nail. Many doctors recommended removal of the eye, but eventually Red found one willing to pursue non-surgical treatment. He endured constant headaches and years of rehabilitation.[5]
After the eye injury, Schoendienst found it very difficult to readbreaking balls while batting right-handed against right-handed pitchers. To solve the problem, he used the left-handed batting skills he acquired as a youth to become aswitch hitter. In the spring of 1942, he participated in aSt. Louis Cardinals open tryout with about 400 other hopefuls. Though he was not signed at the tryout,Joe Mathes, the Cardinals' chiefscout, later changed his mind and drove to Germantown to sign him for$75 a month ($1,443 in current dollar terms).[5]
Schoendienst began his professional career in the D-levelGeorgia–Florida League with the Albany Cardinals, followed by theUnion City Greyhounds of the Class DKentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League. At Union City, he collected eighthits in his first eightat bats (AB) on his way tobatting .407 in six games. In 1943, after playing nine games for the Lynchburg Cardinals in the Class BPiedmont League, he had attained 17 hits in 36 AB. This strong start earned him a two-level promotion to one of the Cardinals' top affiliates, the Double-AInternational League's (IL)Rochester Red Wings, where he batted .337 in 136 games with 21doubles, sixhome runs (HR) and 20stolen bases (SB). His .337 average was the league's best; he won the IL'sMost Valuable Player (MVP) Award and gained visibility as a topprospect.[6]
In 1944, still in Rochester, Schoendienst hit .373 in 25 games. He was drafted mid-season into theU.S. Army,[5][7] but received a medical discharge on January 1, 1945, due to his eye injury and sustained trauma incurred while shootingbazookas.[8]
The Cardinals invited Schoendienst forspring training inCairo, Illinois, in1945. Schoendiest had been a shortstop in the minor leagues. but as the Cardinals hadMarty Marion, who had won theNational League's (NL)MVP Award in 1944, as their shortstop, St. Louis assigned Schoendienst to be theirleft fielder.[5] Totaling 137 games in his rookie season, he batted .278 with a league-high 26 SB. In1946, the Cardinals moved Schoendienst to play second base on their way to their thirdWorld Seriestitle in five years. During the 1946 offseason, he won the televisedhome run derby. With sure hands and quick reflexes, he led theNational League's second basemen for seven seasons and handled 320 consecutive chances without an error in1950. In that season'sAll-Star Game, he won the contest for the National League with a home run in the top of the 14thinning. It was the first All-Star game to go toextra innings.[5] His 1956 league recordfielding percentage of .9934 stood for 30 years until broken byRyne Sandberg.[9]
In a trade that was extremely unpopular with Cardinals fans and his best friendStan Musial, Schoendienst, along withJackie Brandt,Bill Sarni,Dick Littlefield and Bobby Stephenson, was sent to theNew York Giants forAlvin Dark,Whitey Lockman,Ray Katt andDon Liddle on June 14, 1956. The transaction was made possible after the Cardinals switchedDon Blasingame from shortstop to second base to replace Schoendienst.[10][11]
The following season, the Giants traded Schoendienst to theMilwaukee Braves forBobby Thomson,Ray Crone, andDanny O'Connell. Schoendienst helped lead the team to its first pennant in nine years,[12] batting .309 and finishing third in the NL MVP vote. In theWorld Series the Braves defeated theNew York Yankees to win their only title in Milwaukee, and the franchise's first since 1914. Milwaukee repeated as NL champions in 1958 but lost to the Yankees in theirWorld Series rematch; Schoendienst flied out toMickey Mantle for the Series' final out.[13]
During the 1958–59 off-season Schoendienst was diagnosed withtuberculosis and underwent a partialpneumonectomy in February 1959. Despite being told that he would never play again, he returned to the Braves in1960—only to be released at the end of the season. In1961 he rejoined the Cardinals, first as apinch hitter, then as a coach whenJohnny Keane replacedSolly Hemus as the Cardinals'manager. He would remain on the Cardinals payroll in various capacities for the rest of his life. In his final three playing seasons he served as a player-coach, batting over .300 in both1961 and1962 and going hitless in five at-bats in1963.[5]
In 19 seasons as a player, Schoendienst compiled a .289 batting average with 84 home runs, 773 RBI, 1,223 runs, 2,449hits, 427 doubles, 78 triples and 89 stolen bases in 2,216 games played. His defensive statistics as a second baseman included 4,616putouts, 5,243assists, 1,368double plays, and 170errors in 10,029total chances for a .983 fielding average.[14] Dark considered him "the finest second baseman in the game".[15]
Keane resigned the day following the Cardinals'1964 World Series victory over the Yankees, and Schoendienst was named as his replacement.[16] Three years later, the Cardinals defeated theBoston Red Sox—Schoendienst's fourth World Series title, and third as a Cardinal. The Cardinals repeated as champions of the National League in 1968 (the last year without divisions), but theDetroit Tigers beat them in seven games to win theWorld Series.
For the rest of Schoendienst's tenure of managing a team now entrenched in the National League East, the Cardinals won ninety games just once (1971) and did not reach the postseason again, although they finished second three times in a four-year span (1971-1974). His managerial record over twelve full seasons (1965–76) and two subsequent stints as interim manager (1980 and 1990) was 1,041–955 (.522).[17] After two years as a coach for the 1977–78Oakland Athletics, Schoendienst returned to the Cardinals as coach and special assistant to the general manager. He won his fifthSeries title in1982. He remained an employee of the Cardinals organization with the title of Special Assistant Coach, and in2017 completed his 73rd consecutive season as a Major League player, coach, or manager.[18]
Schoendienst was a member of five winning World Series teams, all of which were won in seven games: as a player with the Cardinals and Braves in1946 and1957 respectively; as the Cardinals manager in1967; and as a Cardinals coach in1964 and1982. He was also a member of three teams that lost the Series after leading three games to one: the 1958 Milwaukee Braves (to the Yankees), the 1968 Cardinals (to theDetroit Tigers), and the 1985 Cardinals (to theKansas City Royals).[19]
In 1989, theVeterans Committee elected Schoendienst to theBaseball Hall of Fame.[20] The Cardinals retired hisnumber 2 in 1996.[21] In 1998 he was inducted into theSt. Louis Walk of Fame[22]
The Cardinals named Schoendienst, among 21 other former players and personnel, to be inducted into theSt. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of2014.[23] The Milwaukee Braves Historical Association inducted Schoendienst into the Milwaukee Braves Honor Roll, located inMiller Park, in 2015.[24]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| STL | 1965 | 162 | 80 | 81 | .497 | 7th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1966 | 162 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1967 | 161 | 101 | 60 | .627 | 1st in NL | 4 | 3 | .571 | WonWorld Series (BOS) |
| STL | 1968 | 162 | 97 | 65 | .599 | 1st in NL | 3 | 4 | .429 | LostWorld Series (DET) |
| STL | 1969 | 162 | 87 | 75 | .537 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | |
| STL | 1970 | 162 | 76 | 86 | .469 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1971 | 163 | 90 | 72 | .556 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1972 | 156 | 75 | 81 | .481 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1973 | 162 | 81 | 81 | .500 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1974 | 161 | 86 | 75 | .534 | 2nd in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1975 | 163 | 82 | 80 | .506 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1976 | 162 | 72 | 90 | .444 | 5th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL* | 1980 | 37 | 18 | 19 | .486 | 4th in NL East | – | – | – | – |
| STL* | 1990 | 24 | 13 | 11 | .542 | (acting) | – | – | – | – |
| STL total | 1,999 | 1,041 | 955 | .522 | 7 | 7 | .500 | |||
| Total[25] | 1,999 | 1,041 | 955 | .522 | 7 | 7 | .500 | |||
In 1947, Schoendienst married the former Mary Eileen O'Reilly, who died in 1999 after 52 years of marriage.[26] The Schoendiensts had four children. He also had 10 grandchildren (though two predeceased him), and nine great-grandchildren. At the time of his death, Schoendienst lived inTown and Country, Missouri, a western suburb of St. Louis,[27] and had served 67 of his 76 years in baseball with the Cardinals.[28]
In 2013, theBob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Schoendienst as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Army during World War II.[29]
On November 13, 2017, Schoendienst, 94, became the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame whenBobby Doerr died at 99, and the oldest living manager of a World Series-winning, pennant-winning or post-season team. He was also the last living member of the Cardinals team that won the1946 World Series, opposing Doerr'sBoston Red Sox team. There are no living players who played on an earlier World Series-winning team. He said of Doerr, "I didn't want him to go."[30]
Schoendienst died at age 95 on June 6, 2018.[27]
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