St Louis gets a wizard Ozzie Smith trade is finalized

February 11, 1982 — Ozzie Smith agrees to go to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the December deal that finally sends Gary Templeton to the San Diego Padres.

An outside arbitrator, Tom Roberts, will determine ‘the Wizard of Oz’s’ Cardinal salary before the season starts, awarding the light-hitting Gold Glove shortstop $450,000, rather than the $750,000 he requested. Smith batted only .222 for the Padres in 1981. Pre trade, Templeton was a sensation in his first six years in the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals, hitting over .310 three times and never sinking below .280, despite his success the trade was prompted in part by an incident late in 1981 when Templeton made an obscene gesture at the crowd in St. Louis while being removed from a game. Despite playing for another decade and playing in 1984 World Series Templeton would never recapture his early career success.

Smith, defying critics who said he was too small and would never hit enough to stay in the big leagues, Ozzie Smith soared through the infield with his acrobatic moves, redefining the role of shortstop. He won 13 consecutive Gold Gloves and set a major league record for assists by a shortstop breaking Glenn Wrights 60+ year old record. After he was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals, Smith became one of the most popular players in franchise history. A switch-hitter, Ozzie blasted one of his few home runs from the left side of the plate to win the 1985 National League pennant. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2002, his first year of eligibility. He won a number of baseball’s major awards for off-field contributions: the 1989 Lou Gehrig Award, the 1994 Branch Rickey Award and the 1995 Roberto Clemente Award.

1987 MVP Award:
Fans & writers expected that Ozzie would win the MVP award in 1987. His team had won the division (and went on to the 1987 World Series), and Ozzie had posted a .303 batting average and a .392 on-base percentage, with 40 doubles, 43 stolen bases and 104 runs scored. And, as usual, his range in the field was wildly above average. However, while the MVP voters gave Ozzie 9 first-place votes, they gave Andre Dawson 11 first-place votes in spite of his team finishing last in the division. In all fairness Tony Gwynn had a better season than both, as did Eric Davis, Dale Murphy and Tim Raines. Smith’s teammate Jack Clark who had a great season with 35 HR’s and 106 RBI’s and lead the league in OPS, OBP & Slugging most likly cost Smith because he took 3 first place votes, they essentially split the MVP share 57% (193 Smith) & 55% (186 Clark) respectfully.

Post-Season Appearances
1982 National League Championship Series
1982 World Series
1985 National League Championship Series
1985 World Series
1987 National League Championship Series
1987 World Series
1996 National League Championship Series
1996 National League Divisional Series

All-Star Selections
1981 NL
1982 NL
1983 NL
1984 NL
1985 NL
1986 NL
1987 NL
1988 NL
1989 NL
1990 NL
1991 NL
1992 NL
1994 NL
1995 NL
1996 NL

The Ozzie Smith All Time Teammate Team
C: Gene Tenace
1B: Keith Hernandez
2B: Tommie Herr
3B: Terry Pendleton
SS: Royce Clayton
LF: Vince Coleman
CF: Willie McGee
RF: Dave Winfield
SP: Bob Forsch
SP: Joaquin Andujar
SP: Gaylord Perry
SP: Jim Kaat
SP: John Tudor
RP: Bruce Sutter
RP: Dennis Eckersley
M: Whitey Herzog