Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst has done it all for the St. Louis Cardinals – All-Star player, World Champion manager and now sage adviser to the scores who followed.
Making his St. Louis debut in 1945, the switch-hitting second baseman played 15 seasons with the Cardinals, including in the 1946 World Series. The 10-time National League All-Star also appeared in two more Series while with Milwaukee.
Red coached in St. Louis from 1961-64 and in 1965 began a 12-year run as Cardinals manager, exceeded in duration by only Tony La Russa. His clubs won the 1967 World Series and the NL pennant the following season. Red also served as interim manager in 1980 and 1990.
He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 and his uniform was retired by the Cardinals in 1996. Red remains a special assistant to the general manager. When reporting to spring training next month, I am expecting to see number 2 in uniform with fungo bat in hand or heading between fields in a golf cart.
Today, February 2, Schoendienst celebrates his 89th birthday. In recognition of a great Cardinals hero, I am sharing a dozen photographs of Red provided by the Cardinals Media Relations department. If you are interested, join in the discussion below to help identify and date some of the photos.
Follow me on Twitter.
Follow The Cardinal Nation Blog on Facebook.
Follow TCN on Google+.