Schoendienst was born in Germantown, Illinois, approximately 40 miles (64 km) east of downtown St. Louis to Joe and Mary Schoendienst, one of seven children. His father was a coal miner, and the family lived without running water or electricity. Schoendienst showed a marked aptitude for baseball at a young age. In school he would handicap himself by hitting left-handed.

The Cardinals invited Schoendienst for spring training in Cairo, Illinois, in 1945. Schoendiest had been a shortstop in the minor leagues and because Marty Marion, the incumbent shortstop, had been the National League MVP in 1944 and was still considered the best shortstop in the league, St. Louis assigned Schoendienst to be the left fielder. Totaling 137 games in his rookie season, he batted .278 with a league-high 26 SB. In 1946, the Cardinals moved Schoendienst to play second base on their way to their third World Series title in five years. During the 1946 offseason, he won the televised home run derby. With sure hands and quick reflexes, he led the National League's second basemen for seven seasons and handled 320 consecutive chances without an error in 1950. In that season's All-Star Game, he won the contest for the National League with a home run in the top of 14th inning. It was the first All-Star game to go to extra innings. His 1956 league record fielding percentage of .9934 stood for 30 years until broken by Ryne Sandberg.  In 1956, the Cardinals traded him to the New York Giants, who dealt him the following season to the Milwaukee Braves, where he helped lead 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 flied 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. Despite being told that he would never play again, he returned to the Braves in 1960--only to be 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 Cardinals' manager. In his final two playing seasons he served as a player-coach, batting over .300 in both 1962 and 1963.  In 19 seasons as a player, Schoendienst compiled a .289 batting average with 84 home runs, 773 RBI, 1223 runs, 2449 hits, 427 doubles, 78 triples and 89 stolen bases in 2216 games played. His defensive statistics as a second baseman included 4616 putouts, 5243 assists, 1368 double plays, and only 170 errors in 10029 total chances for a .983 fielding average. Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

Did he play other positions?
Schoendiest had been a shortstop in the minor leagues