No Cardinal wears No. 2, except Red
Baseball Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst, who still suits up before St. Louis Cardinals home games, is celebrating his 68th season in a big-league uniform this year, more than 60 of them with the Cardinals. He will be 90 on Feb. 2.
According to St. Louis PostDispatch columnist Rick Hummel, Schoendienst, whose No. 2 is one of 11 retired by the Cardinals, hasn’t always worn that number.
“The first season he played with the Cardinals was 1945, and he wore, of all numbers, No. 6, because Stan Musial was in the military. In those days, players didn’t necessarily keep their numbers when they went into the service and No. 6 was available — for a while.
“When Musial returned for the 1946 season, equipment manager Butch Yatkeman approached Schoendienst and said, ‘No. 6 was Musial’s number — and he’s back.’ Schoendienst said: ‘I don’t care. Do whatever you want to do. And he gave me No. 2.’
“Who knew how that would turn out?”
Schoendienst, a 10-time AllStar during his playing career, compiled a .289 batting average with 84 home runs, 773 RBI, 1,223 runs, 2,449 hits, 427 doubles, 78 triples and 89 stolen bases in 2,216 games played in stints with the Cardinals, New York Giants and Milwaukee Braves. He was a member of five World Series-winning teams, including one each as a player with the Cardinals (1946) and the Braves (1957) and three as a coach or manager with the Cardinals (1964, 1967, 1982).
Staying put
Kicker Jason Hanson, nearly 42 and about to enter his 21st NFL season with the Detroit Lions, learned something about himself when he took part in some defensive back drills during an offseason workout.
“I feel like I’m in good shape, I feel like I can move,” Hanson told the Detroit Free Press, “but I’m definitely playing the position I should be playing.”
Random thoughts
From Greg Cote of the Miami Herald:
“The underappreciated French Open is getting under way. The bigger tennis majors, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, tease the French Open mercilessly whenever they get together. It’s how bullying started.”
“Also now under way: the WNBA, for those basketball fans seeking a calming, sedative-like break from the excitement of the NBA playoffs.”
“And in other NBA news, as expected, coach Stan Van Gundy was fired by Dwight Howard. Wait. I meant fired by the Orlando Magic. Sorry, Freud.”
They said it ...
President Barack Obama, praising David Beckham during the MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy’s White House visit: “[It’s a] rare man who can be that tough on the field and also have his own line of underwear.”
Receiver Donald Driver, to Si.com, declining to get into hypotheticals when asked what he’d do if the Packers released him: “If ‘if’ was a fifth, we’d all be drunk.” Dwight Perry of the Seattle
Times, after the Indiana Pacers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs last week, less than 48 hours after team president Larry Bird called them “soft”: “So what if they lost a title shot. They just might’ve won a Charmin endorsement.”