June 14, 1956: Trader Lane Sends Red Packing

On June 14, 1956, after making multiple early season deals Frank "Trader" Lane continued to shake up the Cardinals roster by shipping Red Schoendienst, Jackie Brandt, Dick Littlefield, Bill Sarmi, and Gordon Jones to the New York Giants for Al Dark, Whitey Lockman, Ray Katt,and Don Liddle. The deal stunned Cardinals fans, Shoendienst had been with the club since 1945 and had become a perennial all star as well as a fan favorite. It worked out well for Red, after the Giants dealt him to the Milwaukee Braves in June of '57 he would win a World Series Title in his first year in Milwaukee then another National League Pennant  in his second year with the club. As Lane's time continued in St. Louis he wore out his welcome by trying to trade Stan Musial, after Gussie Busch caught wind of that deal it was stopped dead in its tracks. Frank Lane only spent two years with the Cardinals, it was an interesting two years to say the least. After he resigned in September of '57, Bing Devine took over in the front office and  proceeded to build around his cornerstone players, not trade them like they were fresh out of a pack of baseball cards.

While I was looking into this I ran across a great newspaper archive that tells of how Lane's attempt to trade Musial really bothered the Cardinals legend, it also tells how upset Stan was about the trade that sent his friend and teammate Red Shoendienst packing: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19640410&id=UEcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_04EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7563,3762790

Here is a very good read about Lane's time with the Cardinals, it also touches on what he did before he arrived here and what he did after he left: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/nothing-sacred/