#480 Red Schoendienst

Now that's a baseball card, right? Love the Braves' road flannels, the "M" cap and the seafoam green frame. But I think Hall of Fame member, 'baseball lifer' and revered Cardinal 'ambassador' Red Schoendienst deserves a nice card. He's been involved in the professional game since 1942! At the age of 90 he is still in uniform during Spring Training during the season is still serving as a special assistant in the St. Louis front office.

Albert 'Red' Schoendienst was signed by the Cards in '42 and he spent 2+ years in the minors including a 1943 season that saw him hit .345 and win the Piedmont League's MVP. He joined the Army late in 1943 but received a medical discharge due to an eye injury and he returned to baseball during the 1944 season. That injury hampered his hitting while batting right handed against righty pitchers so he taught himself to become a switch hitter.

He made the Cards as their starting second baseman in 1945 and promptly led the NL in stolen bases. The next season he made the first of his 10 All Star teams. He led the league in doubles in 1950 and his batting averages improved as he played with a high of .342 in 1952. He won the first of his World Series rings with the Cards in 1946.

He spent eleven full seasons as the Cardinals infield anchor but was traded to the Giants in June of 1956. Almost a year to the day later he was traded to the Braves. Not often that the league base hit leader is a guy who was traded in mid year. He won his second ring that year as the Braves beat the Yankees.

1958 was his last year as a regular and he was signed by the Cards for the 1961 season. He played part time in St. Louis for a couple of seasons before becoming a coach. When Johnny Keane quit following the Cards' 1964 Series win Red took over (a deal with Leo Durocher apparently fell through) and remained the Cardinal skipper for 12 years. He also served two stints as an interim manager when asked by the Cards. His overall winning percentage as a manager was .522 and he won a World Series in 1967.

Quite a baseball resume for the guy. In fact Wikipedia passes along this bit of Red Schoendienst wisdom:

Schoendienst was a member of five winning World Series teams, all of which won in seven games: as a player with the Cardinals and Braves in 1946 and 1957 respectively; as the Cardinals manager in 1967; and as a Cardinals coach in 1964 and 1982. 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 the Detroit Tigers), and the 1985 Cardinals (to the Kansas City Royals).

As noted Red Schoendiest is still involved with his club after celebrating his 90th birthday. We should all be so lucky. I know he was working with the team during the regular season as late as three seasons ago. We saw him on the field, in uniform before a Cardinal-Astro game at Minute Maid Park.

One final set of quotes courtesy of Wikipedia:

• "The greatest pair of hands I've ever seen." – teammate Stan Musial

• "He was just a tremendous ballplayer. He and I dressed side-by-side and I'll never forget how much he taught me about the game. He was a terrific leader." – teammate Hank Aaron

#104 Del Rice

Whoa. Catcher Del Rice had his first professional at bat in 1941 with the Williamson Red Birds, a Cardinals farm club in Williamson, West Virginia. He had his last professional at bat with the El Paso Sun Kings, an Angels farm club in El Paso, Texas in 1970. That's right, 1970. For the math impaired that's a span of 29 seasons. In fact, Ol' Del had two hits in three trips in 1970. At the age of 47.

In between Del Rice played 17 major league seasons, mostly with the Cardinals and Braves. He debuted with the Cards in 1945 and after a couple of seasons as a reserve his career gained traction and he was the Cards' primary catcher from the late 40's through the 1953 season. He got a World Series ring with the Cards in 1946, a Series that saw him go three for six with a double in three games.

He was never a big hitter but he had some decent batting averages and smacked the occasional long ball. Where he excelled was as a defensive player and as a handler of pitchers. He made the NL All Star team in 1953, a year after leading the league's catchers in putouts and assists. Traded to the Braves in 1955 Rice backed up All Star Del Crandall and served as Bob Buhl's 'designated catcher'.

By the end of the decade he had picked up his second World Series ring with the 1957 Braves club and then in 1960 and '61 he saw action with the Cubs, Cards (again), Orioles and Angels before leaving the field and entering the coaching/managing ranks. It was as a minor league manager that Rice got those last few at bats. He managed the 1972 Angels to a fifth place finish in 1972, his only year as a big league skipper.

He later was a scout for the Giants and was serving in that job when he passed away in 1983 at the age of 60. Rice had been an outstanding two-sport athlete and played pro basketball for the old NBL's Rochester Royals for several years while also playing for the Cardinals. There is a youth baseball league named for him in his native Ohio.

#155 Enos Slaughter

Pictured here with the Yankees, Enos 'Country' Slaughter made his name as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He played for the Cards for 13 seasons beginning in 1938 with a three year break for military service during WWII. During his tenure in St. Louis Slaughter made 10 NL All Star squads and finished in the top ten in MVP voting several times.

He hit .305 for the Cards and thought he was going to remain with them for his entire career. He was extremely disappointed (to the point of tears it seems) when he was dealt to the Yanks just prior to the 1954 season for three players including a young Bill Virdon. After a disappointing '54 season in pinstripes he was traded to Kansas City in May of 1955 but came back to the Yanks via waivers in 1956. (There's that Yankees-Athletics underground railroad again.)

His days as a regular over, Slaughter played part time for the Yanks until he was waived and claimed by the Braves for the final weeks of the '59 season. That was his last fling on the ball field.

During his long career Slaughter played in five World Series, winning one with the Cards and three with the Yankees. He compiled a .291 post season average. In the 1956 Series win over the Dodgers Slaughter went 7 for 20 with a homer and four RBIs. At one time or another during his Cardinals career he led the league in hits, doubles, triples, extra base hits, outfield assists, fielding % as an outfielder and RBIs. In 1959 he was the oldest player in either league.

In the 1946 Series his Game Seven 'Mad Dash' accounted for the deciding run in the Cards' win over the Red Sox. The video is below.

Slaughter was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985. There is speculation that his election wasn't done sooner because of the reported issues he had with Jackie Robinson debuting with the Dodgers. Slaughter was said to have led (along with teammate Terry Moore) a movement to strike in protest of Robinson's playing. Slaughter always maintained he had no part in that and that the on the field incident (a hard slide) was just a routine part of playing his no holds barred game. That aspect of his career, and a lot more, is detailed here. As usual a great bio of Slaughter can be found on the SABR site.

In his 1959 Topps picture Slaughter looks like he's still upset at being traded off by St. Louis. Standard Yankee Stadium backdrop in a red frame makes this a nice card of a Hall of Famer. I believe it's his last regular Topps card. I'm sure one of the three readers on this blog will correct me if I'm wrong on that.