Schoendienst’s promotion ignited Cardinals’ dynasty
In 1942, 19-year-old Red Schoendienst hitched a ride from his hometown of Germantown, Ill., to Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis for a tryout with the Cardinals.
Little did he know then that two decades later, he would be taking the reins of the organization as Cardinals manager after spending 15 years in a St. Louis uniform as a player.
Mere hours after the Cardinals defeated the Yankees in the 1964 World Series, manager Johnny Keane resigned from his position. Shortly afterward, in a stunning turn of events, Keane was hired to replace Yogi Berra as the manager of the Yankees.
Several candidates were considered for the role of Keane’s successor, including Leo Durocher, Charlie Metro and Alvin Dark. But the 41-year-old Schoendienst, then a coach for St. Louis, was an easy choice for the selection committee, which included general manager Bob Howsam, vice president Stan Musial, director James Conzelman, attorney Mark Eagleton and Anheuser-Busch vice president Richard Meyer.
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Schoendienst was officially named Cardinals manager on Oct. 20, 1964.
“The committee has gone to every possible candidate for the manager’s job,” Howsam told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Always Red Schoendienst’s name came out at the top of the list. I am happy to say he was my first choice and the first choice of the committee.”
When Howsam tried to deliver the good news to his new skipper, he found that Schoendienst’s phone was busy. He sent business manager Joe McShane to Schoendienst’s home to try to reach him, but he wasn’t home. When he finally got the message that Howsam was looking for him, Schoendienst rushed to his office at Busch Stadium, where he was offered the job.
“When [Howsam] told me, ‘You’re my new manager,’ I almost fell out of my chair,” Schoendienst said.
Schoendienst was as familiar with the Cardinals organization as anyone, having spent 15 years there as a player and one as a full-time coach. Shortly after he took part in the open tryout in 1942, the Cardinals signed the second baseman.
He would spend 12 seasons with the big league club, winning a World Series and earning nine All-Star selections, before moving on to brief stints with the New York Giants and the Milwaukee Braves.
Then, in 1961, he made his return to St. Louis, serving as a player-coach for three years before assuming a full-time role on the coaching staff in 1964.
“I felt I learned more about the game by sitting on the bench as a coach than as a player because I was able to concentrate more,” Schoendienst said.
Schoendienst already had an idea of how he planned to discipline his club.
“I’ve always stayed with the rules, even under Billy Southworth, who had some strict rules,” Schoendienst said. “I know the players will give me 100 percent because they know I’m going to give them 100 percent.”
The new gig caused a slight disruption in Schoendienst’s offseason plans – but it was a price he was willing to pay.
“This job kind of killed my hunting season,” Schoendienst said, “unless Mr. Busch invited me to hunt some ducks on his place. We could talk a lot of baseball there.”
Schoendienst would spend 14 years as Cardinals manager, including stints in an interim role in 1980 and 1990. He would lead the Redbirds to two pennants and one World Series as their skipper, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1989.
Janey Murray was the digital content specialist at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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