I have never known Cardinals baseball without Red Schoendienst. Nobody who reads this has either. He has been around forever, an oft overused term that is nonetheless completely applicable in this particular situation. He has been a player, manager, coach, special assistant, and whatever else was required of him. He was a Cardinals lifer.
It is appropriate that Albert Fred Schoendienst was born in Germantown, Illinois, less than an hour drive from Busch Stadium (and likely Sportsman Park, but I’m not exactly sure where that stadium was located). He was born in Cardinals country in 1923, and three years later the Cardinals won their first World Series.