Ozzie Smith

Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954), better known as "the Wizard of Oz," was a Major League Baseball shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals. His acrobatic style made him one of the sport’s all-time great defenders, earning him the National League Gold Glove Award for shortstop 13 years in a row. Over his career, he was selected to 15 All-Star Games, collected 2,460 hits, stole 580 bases, and won the NL Silver Slugger Award in 1987.

Smith was born in Mobile, Alabama, the second of six children. His father worked as a sandblaster at Brookley Air Force Base. When Smith was six, his family moved to the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where his father became a Safeway delivery truck driver and his mother worked as a nursing home aide. She stressed education and encouraged him to follow his dreams. As a child, Smith developed quick reflexes by bouncing a ball off concrete steps and moving closer with each throw. He also went to a local lumberyard with friends, jumping off inner tubes and flipping into sawdust piles—a precursor to his later backflips. During the 1965 Watts Riots, when he was 10, his family slept on the floor because of sniping and looting. His parents divorced while he was in junior high school. He often rode the bus nearly an hour to Dodger Stadium, attending about 25 games a year.

At Locke High School, Smith played basketball and baseball. On the basketball team, he was a teammate of future NBA player Marques Johnson; on the baseball team, he played with future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray. In 1974, he attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on a partial academic scholarship and walked onto the baseball team. Coach Berdy Harr taught him to switch-hit. When the starting shortstop broke his leg midway through the 1974 season, Smith took over and became an All-American. He set school records with 754 career at-bats and 110 stolen bases before graduating in 1977.

Smith was drafted in the seventh round by the Detroit Tigers in June 1976 while playing semi-pro ball in Clarinda, Iowa, but couldn’t agree on a contract—he wanted a $10,000 signing bonus, the Tigers offered $8,500. He returned to Cal Poly for his senior year. In the 1977 draft, the Padres selected him in the fourth round, and he signed for a $5,000 bonus. He spent 1977 with the Class A Walla Walla Padres. In 1978, he arrived at spring training as a non-roster invitee. Padres manager Alvin Dark told reporters the shortstop job was Smith’s until he proved he couldn’t handle it. Though Dark was fired mid-camp, Smith made his MLB debut on April 7, 1978.

Smith quickly earned notice for his fielding. He won his first Gold Glove in 1980 and made his first All-Star team in 1981. After clashing with Padres ownership, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog flew to San Diego to convince Smith he would be a valued core player in St. Louis. Smith waived his no-trade clause and was traded for shortstop Garry Templeton in 1982.

He helped the Cardinals win the 1982 World Series. In Game 5 of the 1985 National League Championship Series, his game-winning home run prompted broadcaster Jack Buck’s famous call, “Go crazy, folks!” Despite a rotator cuff injury that season, Smith posted career highs in several offensive categories in 1987. He continued earning Gold Gloves and All-Star selections annually through 1993.

In 1995, he had shoulder surgery and missed nearly three months. Tension with new manager Tony La Russa developed in 1996, and Smith retired at season’s end. The Cardinals retired his uniform number 1. He hosted This Week in Baseball from 1997 to 1998.

Smith was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2002, and to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in its inaugural class of 2014.