SMITH, Osborne Earl ("Ozzie")

(b. 26 December 1954 in Mobile, Alabama), baseball player whose exceptional defensive skills at shortstop earned him thirteen consecutive Gold Glove awards and numerous fielding records while playing for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals.

Born in Alabama, Smith spent most of his childhood in Los Angeles, California, and his father worked as a sand-blaster at a California Air Force base. For college Smith chose California State Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo. As a college star, his defense and speed caught the eye of scouts, and after he graduated in 1977, the five-foot, ten-inch shortstop signed a minor-league contract with the San Diego Padres organization.

After only sixty-eight games as a minor leaguer, Smith cracked the Padres lineup as the starting shortstop in 1978. In his rookie season Smith made a play against the Atlanta Braves that still appears on highlight reels and was an announcement to the league that a new standard for defensive excellence would be set by the Padres young shortstop. On 20 April Smith dove to his left to field a ground ball off the bat of Atlanta's Jeff Burroughs. The ball took a bad hop, chopping well high of Smith's outstretched glove. Already prone, Smith reached up with his bare right hand, speared the ball above his head, and threw in one fluid motion to first base to retire Burroughs. Amazing as it was, the play was merely business as usual for Smith, who was runner-up in balloting for National League (NL) Rookie of the Year that season. During the next three years with the Padres, Smith established himself as baseball's preeminent shortstop, leading the NL in assists every year and winning his first two Gold Gloves in 1980 and 1981.

Smith's offensive production, however, was no match to his glove in his early years. He hit an anemic .232 cumulatively as a Padre. Although he hit for a low average and minimal power, Smith became a threat once he did reach base, stealing fifty-seven times in 1980.

After the 1982 season Smith was traded from the Padres, who did not want to meet his salary demands for so little offensive production, to the powerful St. Louis Cardinals for shortstop Gary Templeton. With St. Louis, Smith had an opportunity to play for a contender for the first time. Smith was an immediate hit in St. Louis, helping the Cardinals win the World Series and garnering another Gold Glove for himself. In 1983 Smith was named starting shortstop for the NL's All-Star squad, the first of a record twelve such awards. A new contract in 1985 with the Cardinals made Smith the highest paid player in the game, a position usually reserved for sluggers or star pitchers, netting $2.75 million a year over four years. Smith made good on the Cardinals investment. That year St. Louis again made the post-season, losing the series to cross-state rival Kansas City, and Smith was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the National League championship series.

Smith, a switch hitter, also began to come into his own behind the plate, becoming one of the most difficult batters to strike out in either league. Intelligence, speed, and grit made Smith a solid hitter over time, culminating in the 1987 campaign, during which he batted .303 with 75 RBI and 40 doubles. Smith also continued his defensive greatness, setting a Cardinal record and personal best with a fielding percentage of .987. He led the Cardinals to the World Series again, this time losing to the Minnesota Twins. That year Smith finished second in the balloting for MVP, the closest any National League shortstop had come to that award since 1962. Smith continued to excel, both on the bases and at shortstop, tying his personal record of fifty-seven steals in a season in 1988. Smith was named Shortstop of the Decade by Sports Illustrated magazine in 1989. His seemingly impossible playmaking and his trademark backflip when stepping on the field helped earn him the nickname "The Wizard of Oz."

On 1 November 1983 Smith married Denise Jackson, with whom he had three children. The couple divorced in 1996.

By the early 1990s the "Wizard" was an established baseball institution. He won his eleventh straight Gold Glove and started in the All-Star game for the ninth straight year. The following year he broke another record, setting an NL mark for fewest errors by a shortstop with a stingy eight.

Smith has made great contributions to St. Louis off the field as well. Since coming to the Cardinals in 1982, Smith made a point to support children's organizations. In 1983 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) awarded him its Image Award for Sportsmanship, Humanitarianism, and Community Activities. In 1992 he was named St. Louis' Man of the Year, the first sports figure to garner the award. Baseball honored his humanitarian efforts in 1994 with the Branch Rickey Award, and in 1995 with the Roberto Clemente Award.

Smith retired in 1996, holding numerous defensive records including most assists (8,375) and most double plays (1,590). His 13 consecutive Gold Gloves are a record for shortstops. By the end, however, he had put up impressive offensive numbers as well, having amassed a substantial 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases. Smith is eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.

After his playing career Smith remained involved with baseball, working for the syndicated television show This Week in Baseball as well as continuing his connection to the Cardinals. Since 1998 Smith has served as a regular columnist and baseball analyst for Cable News Network-Sports Illustrated (CNN-SI). Smith and his family continue to have deep roots in St. Louis, where he owns a restaurant and remains involved in the philanthropic organizations he favored as a player, including the Ozzie Smith Foundation.

Arguably the greatest defensive shortstop ever, Smith brought a new level of acrobatic grace to his position. Over the course of a nineteen-year major league career with San Diego and St. Louis, Smith was a fifteen-time All-Star and holds more than a dozen fielding records. Smith's wizardry on the field and his poise and charitable work off the field made him one of the most respected players of his era.

Smith's autobiography is Wizard (1988), written with Rob Rains. Biographical essays appear in Legends in Their Own Time (1994), Who's Who of Sports Champions (1995), and Current Biography (1997). Smith has been the subject of countless articles in Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News throughout his career, including Michael Geffner, "Cardinal Singe," Sporting News (22 July 1996), an extended discussion of his career and retirement.

Matthew Taylor Raffety