Go Crazy Folks!
Probably the best player to wear the number 1 was Ozzie Smith. Smith was drafted in 1977 by the San Diego Padres and made his debut with the team on April 7, 1978 at the age of 23. He made a name for himself with his defense right away, winning his first of thirteen consecutive Gold Glove Awards in 1980 and made his first All Star Game in 1981.
Though he shined in his defensive prowess, Smith struggled at the plate. On top of that, Smith and his agent, Ed Gottlieb, were in conflict with Padres’ ownership during contract negotiations and it got a little ugly. Gottlieb put an ad in the San Diego Union for a Padre baseball player looking for a part-time job as a dig at ownership’s apparent unwillingness to pay Smith. The wife of the owner offered Smith a job as her gardener. Yikes.
And that was how the Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals found themselves perfect trade partners. The Cardinals were looking to move their shortstop, Garry Templeton, and the Padres had a shortstop they weren’t getting along with as well. Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog was in the midst of building his defense and base-running turf-optimized Whiteyball team and made the deal with San Diego, going so far as to fly to San Diego to meet with Ozzie Smith to convince him to waive his No Trade Clause.
As they say, the rest is history. Smith found a team that appreciated his defense, with Herzog famously saying “If he saves me two runs on defense… it seems to me that was just a valuable to the team as a player who drove in two runs a game on offense.” Under Herzog’s guidance and being encouraged to hit the ball on the ground, Smith’s hitting even improved. He was awarded a Silver Slugger in 1987. Smith went on to play for fifteen seasons in St. Louis, amassing 53.2 fWAR of his career 67.6 total. He slashed .272/.350/.344 in 1990 total games wearing the Birds on the Bat. In his career he was a 15-time All Star, 13-time Gold Glove winner, Roberto Clemente Award winner, a World Series Champion, and is a Hall of Famer.
