[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H5097]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE LIFE AND CAREER OF ALBERT FRED ``RED'' SCHOENDIENST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, on the week of the Congressional baseball 
game, one in which I will wear the uniform of the St. Louis Cardinals, 
I rise today to honor the life and career of Major League Baseball 
player Albert Fred ``Red'' Schoendienst, who passed away last week on 
Wednesday, June 6, at 95 years old. He was born 40 miles away from St. 
Louis, in my congressional district in Germantown, Illinois, on 
February 2, 1923.
  Red grew up as one of seven children. His dad was a coal miner. He 
lived, in his early days, without running water or electricity. He 
married Mary Eileen O'Reilly in 1947. They celebrated 52 years of 
marriage before she passed away in 1999. Together, they had four 
children, 10 grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren.
  At 16 years old, while working on a fence, under the Civilian 
Conservation Corps, he suffered an injury to his left eye. That injury 
made it hard for him to read a breaking ball from the right side, so he 
learned to be a switch-hitter.
  Red tried out for the Cardinals in 1942 and, at his induction 
ceremony at the Baseball Hall of Fame, he said he and his friends 
hitchhiked a ride to St. Louis on a milk truck and: ``I never thought 
that milk truck ride would eventually lead to Cooperstown and 
baseball's highest honor.''
  He also spoke about his attitude toward playing the game. ``I would 
play any position my manager asked. Whatever it took to win I was 
willing to do. All I ever wanted to do was be on that lineup card and 
become a champion.'' And that Red Schoendienst was.
  After his discharge from the military, Red started his major league 
career with the Cardinals in 1945 as a left fielder. The hometown kid 
finally had a chance to play for his hometown team. He played in 137 
games and stole 26 bases that season.
  In 1946, Red moved to second base, which is where he played for the 
rest of his career, and the Cardinals won the World Series at that 
time. It was the Cardinals' third championship in 5 years and Red's 
first.
  In 19 seasons as a player, Red compiled a .289 batting average, with 
84 home runs, 773 RBIs, 1200-plus runs. The Cardinals won the World 
Series in '46, '57, '64, '67 and '82. He spent 74 consecutive years in 
major league baseball as a player, coach, and manager, and spent 67 of 
those years as a St. Louis Cardinal.
  I would like to end by also talking about Red and his family as 
individuals. Mary was very involved with reaching out to new players' 
wives, helping them adjust to life with a major leaguer. Mary sang the 
national anthem many times before Cardinal games, and organized the 
wives' charity group.
  What Red Schoendienst said was: ``What makes baseball so great is you 
can't hold the ball for 24 seconds and take the last shot or run the 
clock down and kick a field goal. You have to get 27 outs, one way or 
the other. Time doesn't run out until you get that 27th out.''
  One of his best friends was Stan Musial, and he sums up Red this way: 
``A lot of guys had the privilege of playing with or for Red over the 
years, and I'm proud I was one of them. He is one of the kindest, most 
decent men I've ever known in my life. Even more important than having 
been his teammate or roommate, however, is having been his friend for 
so many years. They don't come any better.''
  I can't say it any better myself, Mr. Speaker. We have lost a great 
Cardinal.

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