Ozzie Smith

Osborne Earl Smith
Nickname: The Wizard of Oz
Born: December 26, 1954 in Mobile, Ala.
Debut: 1978 | Pos: SS
H: 5'11" | W: 150 | B: B | T: R

>> Visit the Ozzie Smith biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

If Ozzie Smith's career proved one thing, it's that even a player with great defensive skills can be exciting. Just look at the way he flipped as he ran out on the field.

Smith's career in Major League Baseball started with a fourth-round selection by the San Diego Padres in 1977 and came full circle with his election to the Hall of Fame in 2002. 

After staring as a high school athlete in Los Angeles, Smith made his professional debut with the Padres in spring 1978. His phenomenal command of the position of shortstop earned him second place to Bob Horner in rookie of the year voting. 

No one denied his defensive abilties. In 1980, he set a major league record for shortstops with 621 assists.  What was debated, however, was his ability to hit. He was now a 27-year-old shortstop with a lifetime average of .231.

After the 1981 season, Smith's agent angered the Kroc family, owners of McDonalds and the Padres, with salary demands. The Padres decided to see if they could trade him and they found a deal with St. Louis that would send Smith to the Cardinals for Gary Templeton who had worn out his welcome in St. Louis. Smith, however, had a no-trade clause and postponed the deal for a couple of months before the Cardinals' Whitey Herzog gave Smith salary arbitration.

Ozzie Smith fit in well with Cardinals' manager Whitey Herzog and his work ethic. Herzog worked to teach Smith patience and to hit the ball on the ground to capitalize on the shortstop's speed.

"Ozzie Smith used every resource available to him -- talent, work, respect, hours of practice, imagination and love of the game -- to achieve what few in baseball can: doing the impossible, someplace on the field, day after day. Nothing about Ozzie was ever ordinary," Herzog wrote in his book about his career.

In 1982, the Cardinals with Ozzie Smith, Lonnie Smith, and Willie McGee sped through the competition and beat out the Phillies for the NL East title. In the NLCS, the Cardinals took out the Braves in three games and beat Milwaukee 4-3 to win the World Series. Smith hit .566 in the NLCS victory.

In the 1985, Smith hits his first left-handed home run in Game 5 to beat the Dodgers. Still though, his defensive work was what made Smith stand out from the rest of the field.

"My fielding is just one of those things," he said in an interview in 1985. "I just do it."

One of his best seasons came in 1987 when he hit .303, stole 43 bases and drove in 75 runs. His efforts brought him a second-place finish in National League MVP voting -- losing to Andre Dawson who hit 49 home runs that season. 

In 1989, he set a record for shortstops when he picked up his 10th consecutive Gold Glove. He was given a three-year contract that paid him $2.34 million a year -- the highest ever for a middle infielder.

He was 38 years old in 1992, but that didn't slow Ozzie Smith down. The Cardinals' shortstop stole 43 bases that season. 

He holds records for the most double plays and assists ever for a shortstop. In 1992, he earned his 14th consecutive Gold Glove to break his own record. For the entire decade of the 80s and into the mid-90s, Smith was simply the best defensive player in the National League.

An event that happened in his last season affects his relationship today with the Cardinals. Tony La Russa became the team's manager and the team acquired Royce Clayton to become Smith's replacement. LaRussa continued to play Clayton during what would be Smith's retirement "tour."

Smith's "1" jersey was retired by the Cardinals at the conclusion of his career.

Here's how Smith ranks on the Cardinals' all-time statistics lists:  Games: 1,990 (3rd all-time), At-Bats: 7,160 (3rd all-time), hits (1944, 6th all-time), stolen bases (433, 3rd all-time).

Sources: The Autobiography of Baseball, Associated Press, 20th Century Baseball Chronicle