Red Schoendienst
Albert Fred Schoendienst
(Hands)
- Bats Both, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.
- Debut April 17, 1945
- Final Game July 7, 1963
- Born February 2, 1923 in Germantown, IL USA
- Died June 6, 2018 in Town and Country, MO USA
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1989
Biographical Information[edit]
Red Schoendienst was involved in professional baseball for some 67 years as a player, coach, and manager. During most of that time, he was associated with the St. Louis Cardinals. Three of his brothers, Elmer Schoendienst, Joseph Schoendienst and Julius Schoendienst played in the minors, as did cousin Paul Schoendienst, who was a minor league player and manager. His son, Kevin Schoendienst, also played in the minors.
Schoendienst dropped out of school at 16 to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps to earn money while playing semi-pro baseball. He suffered a serious eye injury while working with one of his brothers on building fences and spent five weeks in a St. Louis hospital as a result. Doctors were able to save his eye, and when World War II started, he took a job at Scott Air Force Base near Belleville, IL. In 1942, he headed to Sportsman's Park with his cousin Paul and another friend to attend an open trial put on by the St. Louis Cardinals. While he was not signed immediately, the Cardinals called him back a couple of weeks later. Head scout Joe Mathes handed him a contract, and he began his professional career with the Union City Greyhounds of the Kitty League.
Six games into his first professional season, the league folded, as did many minor league circuits during the war, but Red was lucky to be given another job, with the Albany Cardinals of the Georgia-Florida League. After only 9 games in the Piedmont League at the start of 1943, he was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings, the Cards' top farm team; of course, he had batted .472 for the Lynchburg Cardinals, prompting the quick promotion. He then led the International League in hitting, with a .337 average in 136 games. He was back with Rochester at the start of 1944 but was soon drafted, but hurt his shoulder playing ball for his unit's baseball team, and then aggravated the injury during basic training, making him medically unfit for service. Thus, he was back with Cards in 1945, and with so many players in the service, he started the season with the big league team. He would never play in the minors again.
He was named to ten All-Star teams and appeared in three World Series. He finished as high as third in the MVP voting in 1957. Although the large majority of his major league career was spent with the Cardinals, two of his three World Series teams were from his relatively brief time with the Milwaukee Braves.
In his most successful year with the bat, 1953 Red hit .342, good for second in the National League. He was a couple of points behind league leader Carl Furillo and a few points ahead of teammate Stan Musial.
He managed the Cardinals for 14 years, including their 1967 World Series win, and their loss in 1968. His last two stints, in 1980 and 1990, came in an interim role.
He was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1989. In 2009 he was elected to the International League Hall of Fame. At the time of his passing, he was the oldest living Hall of Famer and former major league manager, holding the latter title for only a couple of weeks following the passing of Dave Garcia. Alex Grammas became the oldest living former manager after Schoendienst's death and Tommy Lasorda became the oldest Hall of Famer.
"He's a plenty good batter from either side of the plate. We've thrown him everything in the book and he reads the riot act to us most every game. We consider ourselves lucky when we get him out." - Charlie Grimm, Cubs Manager, 1947
Notable Achievements[edit]
- 1943 MVP International League Rochester Red Wings
- 10-time NL All-Star (1946, 1948-1955 & 1957)
- 2-time NL At Bats Leader (1947 & 1950)
- NL Hits Leader (1957)
- NL Singles Leader (1949)
- NL Doubles Leader (1950)
- NL Stolen Bases Leader (1945)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1949 & 1953)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (1957)
- Won two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals (1946) and the Milwaukee Braves (1957)
- NL Pennants: 2 (1967 & 1968)
- Managed one World Series Champion with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967
- 100 Wins Seasons as Manager: 1 (1967)
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1989
| Preceded by Johnny Keane |
St. Louis Cardinals Manager 1965-1976 |
Succeeded by Vern Rapp |
| Preceded by Whitey Herzog |
St. Louis Cardinals Manager 1980 |
Succeeded by Whitey Herzog |
| Preceded by Whitey Herzog |
St. Louis Cardinals Manager 1990 |
Succeeded by Joe Torre |
Year-By-Year Managerial Record[edit]
Further Reading[edit]
- Steve Gardner: "Baseball Hall of Famer, St. Louis Cardinals icon Red Schoendienst dies at 95", USA Today Sports, June 6, 2018. [1]
- Richard Justice: "Schoendienst connected with fans of all ages: Hall of Famer's life was one of accomplishment and celebration", mlb.com, June 7, 2018. [2]
- Kristen Lokemoen: "Red Schoendienst", in Gregory H. Wolf, ed.: Thar's Joy in Braveland: The 1957 Milwaukee Braves, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2014, pp. 179-184. ISBN 978-1933599717
- Joe Trezza: "Hall of Famer Schoendienst dies at 95: Spent 67 of his 76 years in baseball with Cardinals", mlb.com, June 7, 2018. [3]
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