CULTURETECHLENSOzzie Smith
VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)
Combined Graph record U-07869 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6997.
Ozzie Smith (born December 26, 1954, in Mobile, Alabama), known as "The Wizard," reinvented shortstop defense. Smith won thirteen consecutive Gold Glove Awards (1980–92) and remains the standard against which defensive shortstops are measured; his backflip on Opening Day at St. Louis became an emblem of the position's artistry. A fifteen-time All-Star across nineteen seasons with San Diego and St. Louis, he collected 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases, and in the 1985 National League Championship Series he hit the walk-off home run in Game 5 — "Go crazy, folks" — that sent the Cardinals toward the pennant, winning the series MVP award. He won his World Series championship with St. Louis in 1982. Smith's .978 career fielding percentage and his records for assists and double plays by a shortstop at retirement made defense a headlining act. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002, his first year of eligibility.
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
Ozzie Smith (born December 26, 1954, in Mobile, Alabama), known as "The Wizard," reinvented shortstop defense. Smith won thirteen consecutive Gold Glove Awards (1980–92) and remains the standard against which defensive shortstops are measured; his backflip on Opening Day at St. Louis became an emblem of the position's artistry. A fifteen-time All-Star across nineteen seasons with San Diego and St.
The record
- Also known as: Osborne Earl Smith, The Wizard
Notes
Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0293. Firsts disposition: no 'first' asserted; defensive records stated as at-retirement marks per the Hall of Fame and Wikipedia. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Before Smith, shortstops were graded on survival; he made the position produce runs by preventing them. Photo: CLEARED (1978 Padres portrait, public domain).
Sources
- National Baseball Hall of Fame. "Ozzie Smith." Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
- Wikipedia. "Ozzie Smith." Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)
Photograph · rights-cleared record, CultureTechLens Photo Rights Log
Ozzie Smith - San Diego Padres - 1978
Ozzie Smith - San Diego Padres - 1978 — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Source: CultureTechLens · view at source
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Record CTL-E-6997 · Combined Graph record U-07869 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
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Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Ozzie Smith (CTL-E-6997).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6997/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Ozzie Smith (CTL-E-6997) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6997/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Ozzie Smith (CTL-E-6997).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6997/
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