How does a career .262 hitter get voted into the Hall of Fame? How does a man with just 2,460 hits receive votes on 433 of 472 ballots? How does a player with 38 times more walks than home runs receive an overwhelming 91.7 percent of votes cast?
The answers to these questions are quite simple: The stats belong to Ozzie Smith.
Ozzie Smith is simply the best fielding shortstop to ever don a piece of leather upon his hand. Smith is the standard against which all other shortstops are judged.
Before Alex Rodriguez could count to 252, Smith was making defensive plays with his bare hands. He made the impossible commonplace and the improbable ordinary.
Smith broke into the league in 1978 as an afro-bearing member of the San Diego Padres. In his first four seasons in the pros, he hit an anemic .230. Following his fourth season in San Diego he was traded to the Cardinals in what at the time looked like a trade of minimal significance.
Before the trade there was talk of Smith being sent back down to the minors due to a lack of offensive production. Owners and coaches questioned whether or not Smith’s lack of results at the plate was worth the tradeoff of great defense. Thirteen straight Gold Gloves later and their questions were answered.
While Smith’s mastery in the field is easily what he’s known best for, it isn’t what he’s most proud of. On numerous occasions, Smith has said that he is proud of the fact that he made himself a productive professional hitter. With hard work and determination Smith forged himself into a career .262 hitter.
Smith took the one aspect of his game that wasn’t up to par and worked until it was acceptable at the professional level. No one will ever say that he was a great offensive player, but that doesn’t really matter.
The thing that separates Ozzie Smith from the rest of the world is the fact that he didn’t get to the Hall of Fame with his bat. Smith is a living reminder to all owners, players, broadcasters and fans that baseball is not just played inside the batter’s box.
If Smith had been playing today, he wouldn’t have made nightly appearances on Sportscenter, but that is the beauty of what he did. He didn’t need to hit home runs and have shoe deals to establish his greatness.
While A-Rod, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra might hit .300 for a career and in 20 years end up in the Hall, Smith hit .300 just once. His career total for home runs was 28, which Barry Bonds hits in two months.
What people don’t grasp is that when A-Rod is said to be redefining the shortstop position, he is redefining what Smith created. The original shortstop is a slick-fielding player who uses his agility to create ballet with a glove.
The home run-hitting shortstops of today might be Smith’s superior at the plate. However, to even mention them in the same breath as Smith when talking about defense is like comparing John Lennon to John Goodman.
When people remember Ozzie Smith, they will always think of the back flips and the 15 times that he was elected to the All-Star team. They won’t remember the 2,460 hits that he had, and that is a good thing.
Smith’s legacy will live on in the grass and the dirt of shortstops everywhere. He will forever remind people that baseball is played on both sides of the pitcher’s mound, and that defensive greatness is as important as offensive numbers.
There might not ever be a player as graceful as Ozzie Smith. So until the next Nureyev with a glove comes around, every defensive player will be compared to the Wizard of Oz-the way it should be.
