ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Basilica was full of people for Red’s funeral on Friday. Family, friends and fans showed up to pay tribute to the St. Louis legend.
Mike Shannon, who has been the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals for decades, gave an emotional speech for his dear friend. He knew Red as a player, manager, mentor and friend.
Shannon started by thanking the Schoendienst family for sharing Red with him and everyone.
“Red was the man. Just period, he was the man,” Shannon said.
“Character if you look in the dictionary it says, ‘mental and moral qualities distinctive of an individual… a man of sterling character. That’s who Red Schoendienst was.”
Shannon got a chuckle out of the room when he talked about Red turning his flip phone in for a smart phone.
“He turned his flip phone [God bless him, he and I and Costas were the only guys with flip phones left] But he turned it in for a smart phone, you know why? So he could have pictures of his family, all of his family.”
“He was one of the most moral people that we will ever know,” Shannon said.
Click here to watch Red’s funeral.
“Red was everything everyone else wanted to be as a person,” Shannon said.
“Red’s body might gone, but his soul is our hearts forever. People come and people go, No. 2 will always stay.”