Smith, "Ozzie" (Osborne E.)
Baseball
b. Dec. 26, 1954, Mobile, AL
The "Wizard of Oz" was unquestionably the greatest fielding shortstop ever, combining speed, quickness, leaping ability, sure hands, and a strong throwing arm. Smith made difficult plays look easy and nearly impossible plays look merely difficult.
The 5-foot-10, 168-pound switch-hitter arrived in the major leagues with the San Diego Padres in 1978 after graduating from Cal Polytech-San Luis Obispo and spending part of a season in the minor leagues.
He was quickly recognized as an outstanding defensive player, but his hitting was weak. After a .258 start as a rookie, he batted only .211, .230, and .222 with San Diego and he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982 for Garry Templeton, a good fielding shortstop who was also a very good hitter.
With the Cardinals, Smith developed into a much better offensive player, an above-average hitter with the skills that win games: Bunting, executing the hit and run, stealing bases, hitting the ball to the right side to advance a runner from second to third.
The biggest hit of his career came during the 1985 National League Championship Series, when his home run won Game 5 and the series to propel the Cardinals into the World Series. He was named Most Valuable Player of the NLCS.
Smith's best offensive season was 1987, when he batted .303, stole 43 bases, scored 104 runs, and had 75 RBI to win a Silver Slugger Award. But much of his value still rested on his fielding. He won thirteen consecutive Gold Gloves, an NL record for any position, from 1980 through 1992, and he holds a host of records for shortstops.
Among them are: Most years with 500 or more assists, 8; most years leading the league in chances accepted, 8; most assists in a season, 621 in 1980; fewest errors in 150 or more games, 8 in 1991; most years leading the NL in fielding percentage, 7; most consecutive years leading the NL in fielding percentage, 4.
Smith won his 13th and final Gold Glove in 1992; Jay Bell of the Pittsburgh Pirates won the 1993 award as the top defensive shortstop in the National League. Smith missed much of the 1995 season because of shoulder surgery. In 1996, he became a part-time starter and he retired after the Cardinals lost the NLCS.
The Cardinals retired his number (1) and a statue of him making a diving play to his left was dedicated at Busch Stadium August of 2002.
Smith was selected for 15 All-Star Games. He was honored with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award in 1989, the Branch Rickey Award in 1994, and the Roberto Clemente Award in 1995.