#165 "Red" Schoendienst - St. Louis Cardinals

Albert Fred Schoendienst
St. Louis Cardinals
Second Base

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Born:  February 2, 1923, Germantown, IL
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1945-1956; New York Giants 1956-1957; Milwaukee Braves 1957-1960; St. Louis Cardinals 1961-1963
As a Manager:  St. Louis Cardinals 1965-1976, 1980, 1990
Hall of Fame Induction:  1989
Died:  June 6, 2018, Town and Country, MO (age 95)

Amazingly, 67 of Red Schoendienst's 76 years in baseball were spent as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals organization.  Schoendienst was a 10-time All-Star, a steady hitter and an above-average defender who led all National League second basemen in fielding percentage in six different seasons.  He enjoyed his finest seasons in the early 1950s, batting over .300 three seasons in a row and hitting a career-high .342 in 1953.  He won his first World Series ring with the Cardinals in 1946 and he won the All-Star game for his league in 1950 with a 14th inning home run.  Schoendienst departed St. Louis in a highly unpopular trade with the Giants in June 1956.  A year later, he was dealt to the Braves and he won his second World Series ring when Milwaukee defeated the Yankees in seven games in the 1957 series.  Schoendienst led the league that season with 200 hits.

After three seasons as a back-up infielder and pinch-hitter back with the Cardinals in the early 1960s, he retired as a player and began his lengthy coaching and managing career.  In 2,216 career games, Schoendienst collected 2,449 hits while batting .289.  He'd manage his Cardinals in parts of 14 different seasons, over four different decades, winning the National League pennants in 1967 and 1968.  His lifetime managerial record was 1,041-955 with a World Series title in 1967.  He served as a coach for the Cardinals (1961-1964, 1979-1995) and Athletics (1977-1978) and won two more World Series rings as a member of the Cardinals coaching staff in 1964 and 1982.  Schoendienst was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Cardinals retired his #2 in 1996.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #17
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-posted the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Ed Mathews (#107) post last July.  There are eight Hall of Famers found within the Original 44, although Schoendienst and Larry Doby (#250) hadn't yet been inducted when I first handled these cards.  The other six Hall of Famers are Ed Mathews (#107), Yogi Berra (#110), Willie Mays (#130), Early Wynn (#187), Bob Lemon (#255) and Hoyt Wilhelm (#307).

This post gives me the opportunity to tell my Mr. Mint story.  In the mid-1980s, my Dad and I became familiar with Al Rosen, Mr. Mint, as we'd see him every year at the Ocean City Baseball Card Show.  He'd sit at his table, with nothing on it but his business cards, looking somewhat bored and very smug.  Before one of these shows, a friend of my Dad's brought him a vintage, game-used Schoendienst jersey and asked my Dad to try to sell it for him at the upcoming show.  My Dad's friend was hoping to get at least $100 for the jersey, and I think his floor was maybe $50.  (These prices may not be accurate, given this is a 35-year-old story, but you get the gist.)  My Dad carried around the Schoendienst jersey, which was gorgeous and from the 1950s with two Cardinals sitting on a bat and bearing Schoendienst's #2.  His name was written on the tag sown into the jersey.

After an hour or so of walking around with the jersey, and asking dealers if they were interested in buying it, we came to the conclusion there was only one dealer present who would probably buy it from us - Mr. Mint.  We weren't fans of the guy, but my Dad didn't want to disappoint his friend, so we approached Rosen's table.  My Dad asked him if he'd be interested in buying the Schoendienst jersey and I don't think Rosen ever said hello.  There was no small talk.  Rosen looked it over begrudgingly and said, "$300" to my Dad.  My Dad agreed on the spot and Rosen tossed the jersey over his shoulder onto the table behind him.  He then opened his briefcase and counted out three crisp $100 bills into my Dad's hand and that was it.  No thank you, no conversation, no joy whatsoever.  And that was our first and last experience with Mr. Mint.  We'd see him at future shows and we'd occasionally joke about asking him if he still had the Schoendienst jersey.

As a postscript, my Dad's friend was thrilled.  My Dad made an elaborate show of handing over the proceeds, pretending as if he only received $100 but then telling a tale of exaggerated and lengthy negotiations that ultimately netted the $300 sales price.  He told his Mr. Mint story for years.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
It looks as if Schoendienst and all of his 170 pounds have completely taken out the catcher here, safe at home with the ball trickling out of the mitt.  He returned to Topps with this card after a two-year absence and exclusive appearances in the Bowman sets.  The cartoon panels on the back nicely sum up Schoendienst's career highlights to date - his ability to hit well from both sides of the plate, his fine fielding and his heroics in the 1950 All-Star Game.  With the score tied 3-3 at Comiskey Park after 13 innings, Schoendienst connected off the Tigers' Ted Gray to give the National League a 4-3 lead.

1956 Season

Like all recent seasons before this, Schoendienst was the Cardinals' opening day second baseman.  He appeared in 40 games for the club, batting .314 before the aforementioned highly unpopular trade to the Giants on June 14th.  Schoendienst, along with Jackie Brandt, Dick Littlefield, Bill Sarni (#247), Bob Stephenson and Gordon Jones, were sent to New York for Al Dark (#148), Ray Katt, Don Liddle (#325), Whitey Lockman (#205) and cash.  Schoendienst took over at second base for Daryl Spencer (#277), appearing in 92 games for the Giants and batting .302.  His league record .993 fielding percentage was the top mark all-time for second baseman until Ryne Sandberg broke the record in 1986 with a .994 percentage.

1948 Bowman #38

1952 Topps #91

1957 Topps #154

1967 Topps #512

1990 Topps Traded #113T

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1948 Bowman #38
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (24):  1951-1953, 1956-1962, 1965-1976, 1988, 1990
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps Update Iconic Card Reprints #ICR-41

652 - Schoendienst non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/29/21.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia