Osborne Earl "Ozzie" Smith was born December 26, 1954 in Mobile, Alabama. Smith would later grow up in Watts, California, and would later play college ball at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
After college, Smith was drafted as an amateur to the San Diego Padres and made his pro debut in 1978. He quickly became recognized for his defensive prowess and his grand back-flipping entrances. In 1982, Smith went to the St. Louis Cardinals where he helped the team win a World Series ring that year. He spend the rest of his career with the Cardinals until he retired in 1996.
Smith earned the nickname of "The Wizard", and the Hall of Fame shortstop really was a magician on the field. Over his career Smith was a 15-time All-Star and 13-time Gold Glove award winner. Smith set major league records for career 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. He also wasn't a bad hitter, accumulating 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases.
In 1985, Smith hit a game-winning home run in Game 5 of the NLCS that prompted Joe Buck's famous "Go crazy, folks!" play-by-play call:
Here's to you Ozzie Smith and all your wizardry on the field:
