Red Schoendienst
Second baseman
Born: (1923-02-02) February 2, 1923 (age 89) Germantown, Illinois
Batted: Switch	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 17, 1945 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Last MLB appearance
July 7, 1963 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics
Batting average	.289
Hits	2,449
Runs batted in	773
Teams
As player St. Louis Cardinals (1945–1956) New York Giants (1956–1957) Milwaukee Braves (1957–1960) St. Louis Cardinals (1961–1963) As manager St. Louis Cardinals (1965–1976, 1980, 1990)
Career highlights and awards
10× All-Star (1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957) 5× World Series champion (1946, 1957, 1964, 1967, 1982) St. Louis Cardinals #2 retired
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1989
Election Method	Veterans Committee

Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst ( /ˈʃeɪndiːnst/; born February 2, 1923) is an American Major League Baseball coach, former player and manager, and 10-time All-star. After a 19-year playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals (1945–56, 1961–63), New York Giants (1956–57) and Milwaukee Braves (1957–60), Schoendienst managed the Cardinals from 1965 through 1976, the second-longest managerial tenure in the team's history (behind Tony La Russa's). Under his direction St. Louis won the 1967 and 1968 National League pennants and the 1967 World Series, and Schoendienst was named National League Manager of the Year in both '67 and '68. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 by the Veterans Committee. Schoendienst remains with the Cardinals as Special Assistant Coach; as of 2012 he has worn a Major League uniform as a player, coach or manager for 67 consecutive seasons.^[1]

Biography[link]

Red Schoendienst's number 2 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1990.

Schoendienst was born in Germantown, Illinois. He signed with the Cardinals organization as an amateur free agent in 1942, and was named the Triple-A International League's Most Valuable Player in 1943 before enlisting in the Army later that year. In 1944 he received a medical discharge due to a severe injury to his left eye. The injury significantly hampered his visual acuity while batting right-handed against right-handed pitching; he trained himself as a switch hitter, and eventually became one of the best in the game.^[2]

Schoendienst joined the Cardinals in 1945 as a left fielder and finished the season batting .278 with a league-high 26 stolen bases. In 1946 he moved to second base, helping the Cardinals to their third World Series title in five years. With sure hands and quick reflexes, he led the league's second basemen for seven seasons and handled 320 consecutive chances without an error in 1950. His 1956 league record fielding average of .9934 stood for 30 years until broken by Ryne Sandberg. During the 1946 off-season he won the televised Home Run Derby Contest.^[3]

Schoendienst in about 1953.

In 1956 the Cardinals traded him to the New York Giants, who dealt him the following season to the Milwaukee Braves, where he promptly led the team to its first pennant in nine years, batting .309 and finishing third in the NL MVP vote. In the World Series the Braves defeated the New York Yankees to win their only world championship in Milwaukee, and the franchise's first since 1914. Milwaukee repeated as NL champions in 1958 but lost to the Yankees in their World Series rematch; Schoendienst flew out to Mickey Mantle for the Series' final out.

During the 1958-59 off-season Schoendienst was diagnosed with tuberculosis and underwent a partial pneumonectomy in February 1959. He returned to the Braves in 1960 but was released at the end of the season. In 1961 he rejoined the Cardinals, first as a pinch hitter, then as a coach when Johnny Keane replaced Solly Hemus as the Red Birds' manager. Keane resigned the day following the Cardinals' 1964 World Series victory over the Yankees, and Schoendienst was named as his replacement. His managerial record over 12 full-time seasons (1965–76) and two subsequent stints as interim manager (1980 and 1990) was 1,041 victories and 955 defeats (.522). After two years as a coach for the 1977-78 Oakland Athletics, Schoendienst returned to the Cardinals as coach and special assistant to the general manager. He remains an employee of the Cardinals organization with the title of Special Assistant Coach.

In his playing career Schoendienst compiled a .289 batting average with 84 home runs, 773 runs batted in, 1223 runs, 2449 hits, 427 doubles, 78 triples and 89 stolen bases in 2216 games played. His defensive stats as a second baseman include 4616 putouts, 5243 assists, 1368 double plays, and only 170 errors in 10029 total chances for a .983 fielding average.

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).

Red Schoendienst was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989 by the Veterans Committee. The Cardinals retired his number (2) in 1996, one of three numbers the Cardinals retired that year along with Enos Slaughter and Ozzie Smith, although no other Cardinal player had worn the number in several years.^[4] In 1998 he was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Personal life[link]

In 1951 Schoendienst married the former Mary Eileen O'Reilly, who died in 1999.^[5] Their 48-year marriage produced three daughters (Colleen, Cathleen, and Eileen) and one son (Kevin).^[2]

Quotations[link]

• "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

See also[link]

• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions
• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Schoendienst, Red; Rains, Bob (1998). Red: A Baseball Life (Hardcover ed.). Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing. ISBN 1-57167-200-1. 

External links[link]

• Red Schoendienst at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• St. Louis Walk of Fame
• Red Schoendienst Photographs from the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri–St. Louis

Stephen Robert Holm (born October 21, 1979 in Sacramento, California) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Colorado Rockies organization.

Amateur career[link]

Holm attended Sacramento's McClatchy High School, where he played shortstop. He earned 3rd Team All-American honors as a shortstop for Oral Roberts University in 2000.

Professional career[link]

San Franscico Giants[link]

Holm was drafted by the Giants in the 17th round in 2001. He beat Eliezer Alfonzo and Guillermo Rodríguez to earn a position on the major-league roster in 2008 spring training, but got sent down for Eliezer Alfonzo on July 1, 2008. He got re-called on July 23, 2008.^[1]

After playing for a short period of time on the Giants in 2009, he was sent back to Triple-A Fresno. Eli Whiteside then became the back-up catcher when Holm was unable to be re-called. Steve Holm was taken off the 40 man roster to clear room for Matt Downs, who replaced 2nd baseman Emmanuel Burriss.

Minnesota Twins[link]

In December 2010, Holm signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins.

On April 14, 2011, Holm was called up to the major leagues during a Joe Mauer injury. After being sent down, he was designated for assignment on May 15.^[2] After the 2011 season, he elected for free agency.^[3]

Colorado Rockies[link]

Holm signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies on February 9, 2012.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Adam LaRoche
LaRoche up to bat for the Braves.
Washington Nationals – No. 25
First baseman
Born: (1979-11-06) November 6, 1979 (age 32)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 7, 2004 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics (through May 27, 2012)
Batting Average	.268
Home Runs	172
Runs Batted In	619
Hits	1005
Teams
Atlanta Braves (2004–2006) Pittsburgh Pirates (2007–2009) Boston Red Sox (2009) Atlanta Braves (2009) Arizona Diamondbacks (2010) Washington Nationals (2011–present)
Career highlights and awards
Topps All-Star Rookie First Baseman (2004)

David Adam LaRoche (born November 6, 1979 in Orange County, California), is a Major League Baseball first baseman. In 2011, the Washington Nationals signed him to a two-year deal.^[1][2] He is the son of Dave LaRoche and the brother of third baseman Andy LaRoche who is currently a member of the Cleveland Indians organization.

College baseball career[link]

Adam LaRoche was a 1998 graduate of Fort Scott (KS) High School, where he played baseball. He was named an All-American in baseball as a senior. His uncle, Dave Regan, was his high school head coach.

He played for his father, Dave, at Fort Scott Community College in 1999 before transferring to Seminole (OK) Junior College in 2000, where he was an All-American and the MVP of the Junior College World Series.

Professional baseball career[link]

He had been drafted by the Florida Marlins in both the 1998 and 1999 amateur drafts, but refused to sign. He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2000 and did sign.

Atlanta Braves[link]

For the start of the 2004 season, the Braves made LaRoche, who had not yet made his major league debut, their starting first baseman. The left-handed LaRoche platooned with 46 year-old veteran Julio Franco and put up a respectable .278 rookie batting average.

LaRoche demonstrated his strong defensive skills at first base, but also a lack of speed on the basepaths.^{[citation needed]}

He again platooned with Franco in 2005. While he did hit 22 home runs, LaRoche had a very streaky season. He hit .385 in his final 17 games of the year, but just .105 in the 19 games that preceded that streak. He batted .500 with a grand slam in the Braves 2005 NLDS Series against the Houston Astros. With the offseason departure of Franco, LaRoche became the Braves sole starter at first base in 2006.

On May 28, 2006, LaRoche contributed two of the Braves' record eight home runs in a remarkable win against the Chicago Cubs. In addition, in a wild game against the San Diego Padres on July 14, 2006, LaRoche hit two more home runs and had five RBIs to help the Braves to a 15-12, 11-inning win. He finished the year with a .285 average, 32 home runs, and 90 RBIs - all career-bests.

LaRoche during his tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007.

Pittsburgh Pirates[link]

The Braves traded LaRoche and minor league outfielder Jamie Romak to the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 17, 2007 for reliever Mike González and minor league shortstop Brent Lillibridge.

During the 2009 season he played with his brother Andy LaRoche with the Pirates until July 22, 2009 when he was traded to the Boston Red Sox

On May 13, 2009, LaRoche became the first player in major league history to have a home run taken away through the use of video replay.^[3]

Boston Red Sox[link]

On July 22, 2009, LaRoche was traded to the Boston Red Sox^[4] for minor league pitcher Hunter Strickland and shortstop Argenis Díaz.^[5] In six games, LaRoche would go on to hit one home run and three RBIs, with an average of .263. During his brief tenure in Boston, LaRoche lived with his teammate J.D. Drew in Drew's home in Boston.

Return to the Braves[link]

On July 31, 2009, after only spending six games with Boston he was dealt back to one of his former teams, the Atlanta Braves for 1st baseman Casey Kotchman.^[6] LaRoche was traded by Boston in order to cut payroll and the belief that Kotchman would be a better pinch hitter than LaRoche would.

Arizona Diamondbacks[link]

On January 14, 2010, LaRoche agreed to a 1 year, $4.5 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His deal includes a $7.5 million mutual option with a $1.5 million buyout.^[7]

Washington Nationals[link]

LaRoche on Opening Day 2011, with the Washington Nationals.

On January 4, 2011, LaRoche agreed to a 2 year contract with the Washington Nationals.^[8] He will wear number 25 on the back of his jersey.^[9] His contract pays him $7 million in 2011 and $8 million in 2012 with a mutual option for $10 million in 2013. ^[10] On April 7, LaRoche hit his first home run as a member of the Nationals, a game-winning two-run home run off Florida Marlins reliever Edward Mujica in the 11th inning of a 5-3 Nationals win. His 2011 season ended with labrum surgery on his left shoulder ^[11] with career-low batting numbers of 0.172 BA/0.288 OPS/0.258 SLG ^[12]

Personal life[link]

LaRoche and his wife Jennifer have a daughter, Montana, and a son, Drake. His hobbies include fishing, hunting, and golf. He is the son of former Major League pitcher Dave LaRoche and older brother of Andy LaRoche.

LaRoche is of Mexican descent. According to his brother Andy LaRoche, his father's surname was Garcia, however, his father changed it to LaRoche at age seven, the last name of his stepfather.^[13]

LaRoche suffers from ADHD that was diagnosed during his high school years, which occasionally leads to on field blunders such as in a game against the Washington Nationals in 2006.^[14]

LaRoche is one of the co-owners of Outdoor Networks hunting show Buck Commander with friends and pro athletes Chipper Jones, Ryan Langerhans, Tom Martin, and Willie Robertson who is from the Duck Commander series.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adam LaRoche

• List of second generation MLB players

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube