• When Schumaker was 5 years old and living in Southern California, he had a chance encounter with Tommy Lasorda and Orel Hershiser at a restaurant, both of whom signed his baseball glove with "To a future Dodger ..." And, indeed, it was true. Skip later became a Dodger.

  When he reached the Major Leagues with the Cardinals, Schumaker was given uniform number 55, which "happened to be Orel's number and I stuck with it." When he joined the Dodgers in 2013, he initially wore #3, but switched to #55 when it became available.

• After his freshman year, Schumaker transferred from Loyola Marymount to the University of California-Santa Barbara.

• Skip got his strong work ethic from his Dad, Wayne, who would get up every morning at 4:00 a.m., leave for work at 5:00, and drive 90 minutes to work for the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors in Marina del Rey. After work, Wayne Schumaker made the 65-mile drive back, getting home at 7:00 p.m.

  His son describes the father as a 110 percenter, a guy committed to his job but also committed enough to family that he moved it to a safer, more comfortable setting, even if it meant a hellish round trip five times a week.

  "We never, ever heard him complain about it," recalls the son. "We'd eat dinner, be done with our day, and Dad would get home. He never brought a bad day or the traffic home. He never wanted a break from us—not even five minutes. Dad was always in good spirits when he got there."

  Skip's mother, Marlene, still works as a teacher's aide with autistic children. His sister is married and has a family.  (Joe Strauss-St. Louis Post Dispatch-3/06/11)

• His real first name is Jared, but Skip, as he wants to be known as, said, "I haven't been called Jared since I was 5 or 6 years old."

• Before the 2004 season, Skip hired a personal trainer, Jeff Moss, who designed a three-times-a-week workout. He followed it tirelessly.

• In 2005, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Schumaker as 20th-best prospect in the Cardinal farm system. And they had him at #19 in the spring of 2006.

  In 2007, they had Skip as #29 in the St. Louis organization.

• In August and September of 2006, Skip helped Team USA win the Olympic qualifying tournament, beating Cuba 8-5 in front of 45,000 fans in Havana. Team USA qualified for the 2008 Olympics, as did Cuba.

  Schumaker finished the tournament with a .405 average (15 for 37), 6 walks, and 15 runs scored.

  Skip then joined the Cardinals for the last three weeks of the 2006 National League season.

• Former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of Skip: "He is one of those guys who gets overlooked. But if you closely examine his history, he's always been associated with winners. The more you watch him play, the more you see him do things that help his team win."

• In October 2010, after taking a couple of weeks off, Schumaker began workouts with LA County SWAT member Jim Moss, beginning his fifth winter with the cross-training grind that former teammate Jim Edmonds once described as "just shy of torture."

  Moss focuses on core strength, cardio work, and gut-busting. Schumaker, with suggestions from Cardinals strength coach Pete Prinzi in hand, will gear some workouts to flexibility and explosive first steps. He wants to be able to get into a crouch a thousand times and not worry about pulling a hamstring (as he did), dealing with a sore groin (as he did), or having weary legs (as he did). He wants quicker jumps to grounders.

• During winter workouts before 2011 spring training, Skip also trained alongside former St. Louis Blues left wing Paul Kariya. Conversation with Kariya made it clear that "I was preparing not to fail instead of preparing to win and succeed. That's a huge difference. It's a new mindset."

• Those who describe Schumaker paint the picture of a grounded person and a family man. The name Fitzgerald is tattooed on his left bicep—a tribute to his grandfather. On his right shoulder, Brody, his 6-year-old son's little footprints are tattooed. And on the inside of his right wrist, his daughter Presley's name is permanently inked into his skin. (2014)

• Skip and his wife, Lindsey, have two children, son Brody Hudson and daughter Presley Rowan.

• When I have time for myself:  "When I don't go to school, I surf. I like to surf a lot. I feel like the ocean and the beach are stress relievers. My Dad was in charge of the lifeguards for 30-plus years in Los Angeles County, so I grew up around the water."

• Skip was named as the club's winner of the 2014 Heart and Hustle Award. Given by the Major League Players Alumni Association each year, the award honors players "who demonstrate a passion for the game and best embody the values, spirits and tradition of the game. (7/22/14)

• Schumaker's charity largely extends to children. He's led monthly hospital visits to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and contributed to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Schumaker is also an advocate of the Jessie Rees Foundation, which supports children fighting cancer.

  "He's been great," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He's been very involved in the Reds community and in fundraising and being involved in the hospital visitations for the children's portion of the hospital visits. He gets it." (Kramer - mlb.com - 9/16/14)

• Schumaker is a veteran who understands his role on the Reds bench. Schumaker realizes that to achieve his personal big-picture dream of reaching the World Series again, he has to put his personal statistics on the back burner. Skip has been on playoff teams four times, including the World Champs 2011 Cardinals.

  "My goal at this stage of my career is to win another ring," Schumaker said. "People say that but some people just want big numbers. Of course, I want to have success but there is nothing better than being the last man standing on the field—nothing better in the world. I just hope that guys here experience that . . . once you taste that, you want it back. That's what I want. Helping guys get there is a good thing."

  To get there, Schumaker knows that would mean less playing time, personally.

  "I was telling Jay Bruce the other day that if I play more than starting a few games, we've got problems," Schumaker said. "I expect everybody in our starting lineup to play 150-plus games. If you see the really good teams, very rarely is their starting lineup taking days off."

  Schumaker can play all three outfield positions and second base.

  "I expect that to happen. That means we are doing really good. That's what I'm hoping for," Schumaker said. "You don't want your bench guys starting 50-80 games. That means we've got problems, and injury problems." (Mark Sheldon - MLB.com - March 13, 2015)

         TRANSACTIONS

• June 2001: The Cardinals chose Skip in the 5th round, out of UC-Santa Barbara.

• February 9, 2010: Schu and the Cardinals avoided salary arbitration when they agreed on a two-year, $4.7 million contract. It called for $2 million in 2010 and $2.7 million in 2011, plus $300,000 in incentives.

• December 12, 2011: Skip and the Cardinals agreed on a two-year, $3 million contract, receiving $1.5 million per season, plus performance bonuses.

• Dec 12, 2012: The Dodgers sent SS Jake Lemmerman to the Cardinals, acquiring Schumaker.

• Nov 18, 2013: The Reds agreed to a two-year deal with Skip. It calls for a $2 million base for 2014 and $2.5 million in 2015. The deal includes a club option for 2016 with a $2.5 million base and a $500,000 buyout.

• February 9, 2016: Schumaker signed with the Padres organization. But he retired before the regular season began.

• Skip is a solid lefthanded hitter who makes very good contact. He can leadoff or hit second if he will draw a few more walks.
• Skip doesn't hit many home runs, but he can rack up a bunch of doubles. His game is putting the ball in play, hitting line-drive ropes.

• In 2004, Tennessee Smokies hitting coach Steve Balboni worked with Schumaker. "He helped me a lot," Skip said. "He changed my hands, my whole approach about hittering and hitting in certain counts. He's the best I've ever worked with. I can't say enough good things about him My hands, my approach, my legs . . . he did a full tune-up. I owe a lot to Balboni."

  HELP FROM MCGWIRE

• In 2006, Schumaker put in extensive work with Triple-A Memphis hitting coach Rick Eckstein as a member of Team USA. And then he received personal instruction from Mark McGwire over the winter before the 2007 season.

• More Mark McGwire help in the offseason before the start of the 2008 campaign kept Skip hitting well.

  "The last two (2007 and 2008) offseasons, I worked with him for a few weeks straight, three or four hours a day," Schumaker said, explaining McGwire's assistance. "I didn't know how it was going to work, because he's a completely different hitter than me. I'm a base-hit hitter, he's a power guy; but hitting's hitting, and it really worked out."

• Schumaker credits McGwire with helping his career.

  "Most people would never associate a hitter like me with a great slugger like Mark," Skip said in 2008. "But he is a tremendous teacher, as well as an incredibly generous person with his time and knowledge. There isn't enough I can say to thank him for what he did for me."

• Skip's last season as a player was 2015. His career stats: batting average of .278 with 28 home runs and 284 RBI in 3,252 at-bats in the Majors.

• Schumacher's speed was useful in center field, where he also displays a very strong arm. It's strong enough arm for right field.
• As a pitcher at UC-Santa Barbara, he was clocked at 94 mph in intrasquad games.
• He was very good with the glove in center field. And Skip is an aggressive outfielder. He has excellent closing speed to the ball and gets a great jump in pursuit of any ball in his area.

• In 2009 spring training, Schumaker converted to second base with the Cardinals.

  His conversion was abetted by coaches Jose Oquendo and Joe Pettini, with Oquendo doing most of the heavy lifting early in the spring. By the end of camp, Skip was considered "nearly average" on defense at second, with ongoing improvement. 

  Oquendo stressed to relax and not to rush a play.

  "It's like a quarterback going from the college to the pros," Oquendo said. "The first thing they tell him is that you've got to slow down the game so you can see the whole field. It's the same thing here. He's got to slow down the game so he can make the plays more comfortably instead of rushing and throwing the ball where the other guys are not ready to receive it, or he throws it so hard that it's tough to catch.''

  Schumaker admits it was overwhelming, especially at first. And even now, Skip admitted, "It gets embarrassing at times when you have multiple-error games but . . . every single ball coming to me at second base is new. I had never played there before."

  As the season started, Skip was worried about "being a liability. I was worried for (the pitchers). Guys at first and third, I was worried. Turning the double play, I was worried. I was worried about all of these situations."

  But Schumaker developed into a very solid glove, very quickly. His range is now above average. By mid-season in 2009, Tony La Russa was no longer putting in a defensive replacement and actually hoped the ball would be hit to Skip in a tense situation.

• Baseball Info Solutions tracks fielders' plus/minus rating, awarding a plus for plays outside an infielder's assigned zone and a minus for misses within the zone. Schumaker was a minus-14 overall for the 2009 season, but in the second half of the 2009 campaign, Skip was better than average and a plus to his right.

  By 2011, he was at least average.

• Schumaker has quick feet on the double play.

• April 28, 2013: Schumaker was the first position player to pitch for the Dodgers since Mark Loretta on July 28, 2009.

  Schumaker had last pitched on Aug. 23, 2011, when he was a member of the Cardinals. 

• Skip is fast, but he needs to increase his success rate of stealing bases.

  POST-PLAYING CAREER

• 2018: The Padres have promoted Schumaker to first-base coach. Skip had spent the previous two seasons working in a baseball operations and player-development role.

• Nov. 2021: Skip became the Cardinals bench coach.
• Oct. 2022: The Marlins hired Schumaker to manage the team.

• 2000: Skip missed the college baseball season with a dislocated shoulder that required surgery.
• October 21, 2005: Schumaker underwent surgery on his left knee. The operation, to repair a bursa sac in his knee, was performed by Cardinals medical consultant Dr. George Paletta.
• April 16-May 23, 2011: Skip hyperextended his right elbow during an at-bat and was on the D.L. It was diagnosed as a right triceps strain.

• October 7, 2011: Schumaker suffered a strained right oblique muscle in the last game (a win) of the Cardinals' NLDS victory over the Phillies. Skip was left off the NLCS roster vs. the Brewers.

  "It was on a check swing the second at-bat," he said. "I felt it there, and I kind of walked around a little bit to shake it off. And the next pitch, I swung, and it grabbed pretty good."

• March 15-April 20, 2012: Skip suffered a torn right oblique during an at-bat in an exhibition game. He started the season on the D.L.
• May 30-June 19, 2012: Schumaker pulled his right hamstring while chasing down a hit by the Braves' Jack Wilson in the corner in right field. He went on the D.L. the next day.

• March 21-May 3, 2014: Schumaker was forced to leave the game with a shoulder injury after unsuccessfully diving for a line drive to left center. He dislocated his left shoulder when his glove jammed into the hard ground on the Arizona field. Skip stayed down after the ball got past him and rolled to the wall.

  "Initially, we thought he was staying down so the centerfielder would have a clear path to throw the ball in," Reds Manager Bryan Price said. "When we saw him wave us out there, we knew it was more than that."

  Skip missed the first month or so of the season.

• July 11-20, 2014: Schumaker was placed on the seven-day concussion DL.

• September 11-end of 2014 season: Reds outfielder/infielder Skip Schumaker's season ended when he had successful surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

  "We just felt like until we really checked the shoulder and got in there, we didn't know how long it would take to do the rehab and recovery," Price said. "We decided to be aggressive on it and get a jump-start on it. We look forward having him at Spring Training, hopefully 100 percent healthy."

  "He was never 100 percent. He was just playing at whatever he had," Price said. "He kept that very much to himself. He didn't ever say that he couldn't go—from the shoulder—not once did he say he couldn't go. The concussion thing, we had to take the lead on that because he was having some persistent issues with it that he couldn't deny."

  In 2014, Schumaker batted .235/.287/.308 with two home runs and 22 RBIs in 83 games. He made a total of 61 starts in right field, center field, left field and second base. He also made one relief appearance vs. the Braves during an 8-0 Reds loss and threw a scoreless ninth inning.

  "He just wanted to play. He was going to give us 100 percent of whatever he had—if it was 80 percent or 40 percent," Price said. (Mark Sheldon - MLB.com - 9/12/2014)