Ozzie Smith

How good defensively was St. Louis Cardinals’ shortstop Ozzie Smith? So good that he’s one of only a handful of baseball players to have ever made the Hall of Fame based solely on his defense.

“The Wizard” was one of the best defensive shortstops the game of baseball has ever seen. He started his career for the San Diego Padres in 1978, but made a name for himself as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, the club he played for from 1982 to 1996.

Ozzie Smith only hit .262 with 28 home runs and averaged just 43 RBI per season, but it didn’t matter. He was so good defensively that baseball fans consider him a legend. Smith also kept fans entertained with his highlight reel plays, back flips and hand springs that he regularly performed on the diamond.

Smith played his last game on October 17, 1996. Over his career, he would go on to rack up 13 Gold Glove Awards, 15 All-Star Game appearances and one World Series title in 1982. He also won the Roberto Clemente Award (given to players for character and charitable contributions to the community) in 1995, the Branch Rickey Award (awarded in recognition to a player’s exceptional community service) in 1994 and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (given to players who best exemplify character and integrity both on and off the field) in 1989.

On January 8, 2002, Ozzie Smith was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He received a first ballot vote by receiving 91.7% of the votes cast and even served as a torchbearer in the opening ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics as the torch based through Salt Lake City.

The shortstop position has certainly changed over the years. Nowadays, more power is expected from the position than ever before with the emergence of Hanley Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez (former shortstop who now plays third base for the Yankees) and Miguel Tejada.

But in the not too distance past, shortstops were almost solely known for their defense. And Ozzie Smith is certainly a legend in that category.