Osborne Earl Smith was born on December 26, 1954, in Mobile, Alabama. He grew up in the Watts section of Los Angeles, where he practiced fielding outside his home using a paper bag instead of a glove. He attended California Polytechnic University on an academic scholarship, and he also played baseball. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1977 draft by the San Diego Padres.
In his first season with the Padres, Ozzie played 159 games and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting. In 1980, he won a Gold Glove at shortstop and set the major league record for most assists by a shortstop in a single season. In 1982, he was traded for Garry Templeton, another shortstop who was considered far superior to Smith offensively. The 1982 Cardinals won the World Series, and in the offseason Ozzie became baseball's first shortstop to earn $1 million per year. In explaining the contract, Cards manager Whitey Herzog said, "He took two hits or a run away from our opponents every game last year. That’s just as important as a guy who drives in runs."
The Cardinals of the 1980s were much like Smith himself: fast, smart, switch-hitting, able to manufacture runs, and exceptional in the field. Ozzie was the unquestioned leader of a team that included such terrors on the base paths as Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, and Andy Van Slyke. Despite not leading the team in steals, Smith was considered the team's most important base stealer by Whitey Herzog. Said Herzog, "The guy who stole the most bases that meant winning baseball games was Ozzie...Ozzie's forty-some thefts a year meant more to us than Vince's 100 did."
Smith's legacy as a shortstop is unmatched. He played in 15 consecutive All-Star games and earned 13 consecutive Gold Gloves, the most by any position player. Despite being labeled a one-dimensional player early in his career, he finished with almost 2500 hits. He holds major league records for assists and double plays.
The legacy Smith was building on the field was paralleled by the legacy he was building off the field. In 1994, he was awarded the Branch Rickey award, given to the player who personifies "service above self."
As a Padre, Ozzie said "thank you" to the fans on Fan Appreciation Day in the form of a backflip. He took the backflip to St. Louis and performed it before every home game. He once even brought his young son out onto the field to perform a somersault, which was the talk of Mrs. Adams's second grade class at Chesterfield Elementary the next morning.
For obvious reasons, Ozzie was nicknamed "The Wizard," a nickname that went a long way in describing what it felt like to go to the ballpark and see him play. Watching Ozzie play was pure magic. When he turned a double play, he didn't just jump to avoid the runner arriving at second; he floated. In 1996, Ozzie was in his final year, and rookie Doug Glanville decided to make his presence known by taking Ozzie out at second.
"So I slid where most mortal shortstops would have positioned themselves," Glanville said. "And he moved the complete opposite way to turn it. I must have missed him by 10 feet."
Of all the games I've attended in any sport, Ozzie had the greatest presence of any competitor I've ever seen. When you watch Alex Rodriguez or Randy Johnson or Barry Bonds you feel awe; when you watch Ozzie Smith you feel joy. At the same time, Ozzie made you feel sorry for all the people who would never get to see him in person.
To many people, the nickname "Wizard" encapsulates a lot about the playing career of a very gifted athlete, yes, but it also brings to mind an exceptional human being playing in a great baseball town. It elicits memories of the city that did what it was told and went crazy when Ozzie's homer bounced off the concrete support in right field to bring the Cardinals within a game of the 1985 World Series.
A primary virtue of nicknames is brevity. "Wizard" certainly accomplishes that--it packs 19 years worth of incredibly evocative sports memories into two tiny syllables.
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