Ozzie Smith
FameRank: 6

"Osborne Earl "Ozzie" Smith" is a retired American baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals from 1978 to 1996. Nicknamed ""The Wizard"" for his defensive brilliance, Smith set major league records for career assist (baseball)/assists (8,375) and double plays (1,590) by a shortstop (the latter since broken by Omar Vizquel), as well as the National League (NL) record with 2,511 career games at the position; Smith won the NL Gold Glove Award for play at shortstop for 13 consecutive seasons (1980–1992). A 15-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game/All-Star, he accumulated 2,460 hit (baseball)/hits and 580 stolen bases during his career, and won the NL Silver Slugger Award as the best-hitting shortstop in 1987. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum/Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2002. He was also elected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum/St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 2014.

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This is what we have to deal with all the time, and unfortunately we sometimes have to turn people away. When a guy does get upset, if people are around and see what's happening, I think they realize you have a real reason to do that.

There are some guys that come off bad, but sometimes those people need you to come off like that. Sometimes they force you to come off like that, because you may tell them four or five times to go on, and they'll come back with their cap turned backwards and try again. Those are all tricks of the trade.

You've got to give [young players] time to develop. Some guys are just late bloomers. ? Chuck told B.J. he's really improved this year. They're just trying to exhaust all the avenues they can and not leave any stone unturned.

Electronically, we can go anywhere we want. It helps to break up the monotony of the classroom.

Teams hated coming in here playing on those hot summer days. Willie McGee, Vince Coleman, Tommy [Herr], Whitey managing us -- it was a great time.