Ozzie Smith
Ozzie Smith
Osborne Earl "Ozzie" Smithis a retired American baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseballfor 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 assistsand double playsby a shortstop, as well as the National Leaguerecord with 2,511 career games at the position; Smith won the NL Gold Glove Award for play at shortstop for 13 consecutive seasons. A 15-time All-Star, he accumulated 2,460...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth26 December 1954
CountryUnited States of America
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.
Electronically, we can go anywhere we want. It helps to break up the monotony of the classroom.
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.
For the most part, guys try to be nice about it, but when these guys keep coming and asking, it's hard, ... It's one thing if they ask you to personalize it. But when they start asking you to put 'Hall of Fame,' or put 'The Wizard,' or put how many Gold Gloves you won, you know what's happening.
No one paid attention to my offense. So having 2,000 hits is one of the things that is an accomplishment.
We saw very little of the real Jack Buck behind the microphone. He would touch people in ways that we will never know. Jack was much more than just an announcer.
As I was in the air, the ball took a bad hop and caromed behind me, but I was able to catch it with my bare hand. I hit the ground, bounced back up, and threw Burroughs out at first.
I don't think anybody ever really just retires where they don't do anything.
There are 22 million people who have, some point in time, played hooky from work or school, so it's already an unofficial holiday,
I don't know how many people have ever seen the National Guard break in somewhere, but they mean business.
My short game's not that good. It just becomes a matter of getting that weight moving.
I think umpires have too much power, without any system of checks and balances and the more money a player makes, the more the umpire tries to show off that power to him. Unfortunately, since I signed my contract my strike zone has suddenly become a lot larger.
We hope there is a sense of purpose in everything.
When I'm in my groove there is no thinking. Everything just happens.