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the angels & mlb remember
from World War II; he led the N.L. in runs as a brought shortstop Alvin Dark to St. Louis. But, a
rookie hitting in front of Ted Kluszewski, one of year and a day later, he was sent by the Giants to
the biggest stars of the immediate postwar years, the Milwaukee Braves, whom he helped lead to
and playing alongside Joe Nuxhall, who was most pennants in 1957 and 1958 before being limited
famous for making his MLB debut as a 15-year- to just five games in 1959 after he had been be-
old during the war. Robinson ended his tenure in set by tuberculosis.
Cincinnati just as Pete Rose and Tony Perez were Counting his seasons with Aaron as a teammate,
breaking in. Robinson built up the Orioles along- Schoendienst had the distinction of being team-
side fellow Hall of Famers Palmer and Brooks mates with Hall of Famers Musial, Hank Aaron,
Robinson, and was a key player in the early ca- and Willie Mays of the Giants, just as those three
reer of manager Earl Weaver, who went on to be- had the distinction of being his teammate.
come one of the iconic figures in late-20th-cen-
in memoriam
tury baseball himself. Robinson ended his career Schoendienst’s career had taken form when he
playing with the young Nolan Ryan in California was named the International League Most Valu-
and the young Dennis Eckersley in Cleveland, able Player in 1943 as he hit .337 for the Cardi-
and managed Hall of Famers like Eckersley, Cal nals’ Rochester Class AAA farm team and then
Ripken Jr., and Vladimir Guerrero. Robinson was he batted .373 in 25 games for Rochester the
one of the last players to score a run off Sandy next year before going into the Army. He was dis-
Koufax, in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series, and charged in 1945 due to a severe eye injury and an
the last manager of the Montreal Expos and the injured left shoulder and soon joined the Cardi-
first manager of the Washington Nationals. His nals, making the team out of spring training.
uniform number, 20, has been retired by three After his year in the outfield, Schoendienst
different teams; apart from Jackie Robinson, moved to second base in 1946, helping the Cardi-
whose no. 42 is out of circulation leaguewide, nals to their third World Series title in five years.
Nolan Ryan is the only other person to have been He would be a staple at second base for the Car-
so honored. dinals for the next 10 years. His best offensive
RED SCHOENDIENST, who wore year came in 1953 when he finished second in
the NL batting race, hitting .342 (193/564), two
the Cardinals uniform longer points behind Carl Furillo of Brooklyn.
than anybody else in the fran-
chise’s long and storied history Schoendienst also would manage the National
and was the oldest living Hall of League to All-Star victories in 1968 and 1969. He
Famer, passed away last June 6th. is the only person to have managed the Cardinals
He was 95. in four different decades. After his 12-season
He played for the Cardinals from stint from 1965-76, Schoendienst finished out
the 1980 season as manager and then managed
1945-56 and again from 1961-63. in 1990 between the resignation of Whitey Her-
He coached for the 1964 world champion Cardi- zog and the hiring of Joe Torre.
nals and managed the Cardinals from 1965-76,
winning N.L. pennants in 1967-68 and a World The “Redhead” achieved 1,041 victories as a Car-
Series in 1967. dinals manager, second only to Tony La Russa. As
a player, he hit .289 (2449/8479) for his career
After two years as an Oakland Athletics coach, and his fielding average was an impressive .983.
Schoendienst returned as a Cardinals coach from
1977-1995, including stints as interim manager in RUSTY STAUB, the orange-haired
1980 and 1990, and after that, for more than 20 outfielder who became a huge hit
years, was a staple in uniform before every home with baseball fans in two coun-
game and in spring training as a special assistant tries during an All-Star career
to the general manager. that spanned 23 Major League
In total, he wore the “birds on the bat” for more seasons, died March 29th of last
than 60 years, with the highlight coming in 1989 year. He was 73.
when he was elected by the Veterans Committee Affectionately dubbed “Le Grand
to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.,
Orange,” Staub was a six-time All-
joining his longtime friend, roommate and team- Star and the only player in Major League history
mate Stan Musial. to have at least 500 hits with four teams. He be-
Schoendienst, born on Feb. 2, 1923, in German- came a huge hit with fans in the U.S. and Canada,
town, IL, was signed by the Cardinals from a try- most adored in New York and Montreal.
out camp in St. Louis in 1942. Ironically, he made A savvy, reliable slugger with left-handed power
his big-league debut in 1945 when Musial was and a discerning eye, Staub played from 1963 to
in the Navy and even more ironically, he made 1985 and finished 284 hits shy of 3,000. He had
that debut as a left fielder. As his career evolved, three-and-a-half solid seasons with the Detroit
Schoendienst became known, besides his clutch Tigers and batted .300 (102/340) for the Texas
hitting as a switch-hitter, for his defensive play at Rangers in 1980.
second base. He broke into the Majors as a teenager with
Schoendienst led the National League in fielding Houston, lasted into his 40s with the Mets and
percentage at second base seven times, in addi- spent decades doing charity work in the New
tion to hitting better than .300 for a full season York area.
on five occasions and being named to 10 All-
Star squads. His defensive percentage of .9934 He owned and operated two popular Manhattan
in 1956 lasted as a National League mark for 30 restaurants that bore his name, and authored a
years. children’s book titled “Hello, Mr. Met!”
Schoendienst was surprised and crushed when Staub was the first star for the expansion Mon-
he was dealt at the trading deadline in 1956 to treal Expos in 1969, embraced by French-Cana-
the New York Giants in a nine-player deal that dian fans at Parc Jarry who appreciated that he
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