“I wouldn’t do anything in those meetings. I can’t hear a thing anyway,” he cracked.

Then, looking around the coaches’ room, Schoendienst asked, “How many years is this in the big leagues for me?”

Counting last year when he suited up just once _ for the team picture in September _ this would be Schoendienst’s 72nd in uniform and 71st spring training, including 1959 with the Milwaukee Braves when he was recovering from tuberculosis.

Asked if it seemed that long, he said, “I didn’t even think about it that way. It’s part of what I like to do.”

The changes in spring training over 71 years? Many.

“The big changes are the housing you have and the diamonds you have,” Schoendienst said. “Years ago, you had that one field and you had 56 players, maybe 58. Remember when we used to have sliding pits in left field?.”

The days were long. “You’d have a meeting at 9 o’clock in the morning and you’d still be there at 5 o’clock at night. And maybe you’d get five swings all day,” said Schoendienst. “We didn’t have batting cages.”