Ozzie Smith was known as "the Wizard of Oz" for his play at shortstop for the San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1978-96. He made the spectacular as well as the routine plays, winning 13 consecutive Gold Glove awards. While other shortstops at the time were tall and hit for power, Ozzie redefined the position by being under 6 feet tall, acrobatic and focused on defense.
Childhood
As a child, Ozzie developed his acrobatic abilities and quick reflexes through activities like performing flips off of inner tubes into sawdust piles and bouncing a ball off the steps in front of his house, moving in closer to reduce the reaction time to catch it. These abilities allowed him to star as a shortstop on his high school and college baseball teams before being drafted by the Padres in 1977.
San Diego Padres
Smith started at shortstop with the Padres in 1978. Early in that season, during a game against the Atlanta Braves, Jeff Burroughs hit a ground ball up the middle that Ozzie dived to catch. The ball took a bad hop, but Ozzie, still in the air, reached back with his bare hand, caught the ball, hopped up and threw the runner out at first base. He became known as "the Wizard of Oz" for plays like that while with the Padres, but his career took off when he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1982 season.
The Trade
Whitey Herzog, the Cardinals' manager, was instrumental in getting Smith to agree to the trade. Ozzie was not as productive on offense as he was defensively, but Herzog understood the value that Ozzie's defense brought to the team. Whitey later said of Smith: "If he saved two runs a game on defense, which he did many a night, it seemed to me that was just as valuable to the team as a player who drove in two runs a game on offense."
Ozzie's Impact
Herzog encouraged Smith to hit the ball on the ground and use his speed to get on base, where he was a dangerous base runner. In his first season with the Cardinals, Smith followed this advice and raised his batting average to .248 from .222 the previous year, all while continuing his defensive wizardry. His impact on the town and the team were immediate, as he became a fan favorite and helped lead the Cardinals to the 1982 World Series title.
Career Highlights
Smith's most famous moment, surprisingly, came on offense. Never known for his power, the switch-hitting Ozzie hit a walk-off home run in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1985 National League championship series. Broadcaster Jack Buck commemorated Smith's first-ever left-handed home run with the famous words: "Go crazy, folks. Go crazy!" Ozzie continued his offensive improvement to the point that, in 1987, he batted a career-high .303 and came in second in Most Valuable Player award voting to Andre Dawson. Smith also appeared in 15 All-Star games.
Hall of Fame
Smith continued playing terrific defense, committing eight errors in 1991, a league record low for shortstops at the time, while still getting to balls that most shortstops would have let go for hits. Ozzie retired in 1996 and became a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee in 2002 as the only player inducted that year. On the same day that he received the call that he had been elected into the Hall, Smith carried the Olympic torch through St. Louis.
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