PHOTOGRAPH BY TAKA YANAGIMOTO
Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith was one of four 2024 recipients of the National Civil Rights Museum’s Sports Legacy Award. Along with Alex English, Calvin Hill, and Renee Montgomery, Smith was saluted before and during the Memphis Grizzlies’ game against the Golden State Warriors on Martin Luther King Day. He shared some thoughts before a memorable trip from St. Louis to Memphis.
Congratulations on the Sports Legacy Award. You’re only the second baseball legend (after Willie Mays) to receive this honor.
I guess I’m treading in tall cotton. Any honor you get from outside your sport or business … I feel blessed and honored. To be included with people who are doing something outside of what they’re known for.
You were born in Mobile, Alabama, and you were in Los Angeles as a child during the Watts Riots. What comes to mind when you think of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement?
Dr. King and so many others — Andrew Young, Ralph Abernathy — had the courage to stand up and allow us as African Americans to achieve the things we were able to achieve. The fight continues today. It hasn’t ended. There’s a lot of whitewashing going on right now, as we speak. I think of the trials and tribulations: the water hoses, dogs, the pain. Everything the people who came before us had to suffer to get us to this point … I take my hat off to people who are willing to continue the fight. Though we’ve come a long way, we still have a long way to go.
Do you have distinct memories of April 4, 1968? You were 13 years old when we lost Dr. King.
When you have a leader like that, his impact was so powerful. Anytime you have a leader like Dr. King succumb to assassination, it has a profound effect on your life, from that point forward. You have visions of where it happened, how it happened. I’ll get the chance to walk in that space [this weekend]. I’m sure it’s very touching.
Memphis has been Cardinals country for generations, but officially since 1998 when the Triple-A Redbirds began play here. Do you get to the Bluff City at all? Have you visited the National Civil Rights Museum?
I’ve been to Memphis, but I haven’t had the opportunity to visit the museum. This will be my first time.
You’re currently president of the PGA REACH Gateway Foundation. What can you share about that program?
I retired in 1996, and for anyone who plays sports for 20 or 25 years, you’re looking for that next challenge. There’s a competitive void in your life, and I gravitated to golf. I fell in love with it so quickly. Growing up in Southern California, I never had the opportunity to pick up a golf club. It was always baseball, basketball, or football. When I was asked to be president of the St. Louis chapter [of PGA REACH], I didn’t know what that entailed.
Exposing kids not just to the game of golf, but the business of golf is a great way for them to learn discipline in life, honesty. It was through that prism that I could give kids opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have.
We’ve also taken on the challenge of giving veterans their lives back. As I look back on my career, the thing you miss the most is camaraderie, being with the guys. I think it’s the same thing with soldiers: You miss the people you’ve spent the majority of your time with. A lot of these guys have PTSD. PGA HOPE helps give them their lives back, and that’s just as important as giving young kids a new experience. We’re in the process of building a facility near the grounds of the old Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. I’m very proud to be a part of this.
There are much fewer Black players in Major League Baseball today than when you debuted in 1978. Are there steps baseball can take to better engage young Black athletes?
It will take the work of a lot of people. Most of the [development] focus these days is in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the islands. There’s not as much red tape. We have programs here, trying to get more [African-American] kids interested. But there has to be a lot more money to get it back to the level it was in the late Sixties or early Seventies. I don’t have all the answers, but there has to be a lot more interest to get it back to the level it should be. HBCUs may be the way. Get the numbers back up. There are talented African Americans, but they don’t have the guidance or vehicle to elevate [their skills].
The Cardinals finished in last place in 2023, the first time in over three decades. What must the club do to regain its footing and return to the World Series?
It’s a real challenge to get back to prominence. You gotta pitch, you gotta hit, you gotta throw and catch. I think analytics have had a lot to do with some teams forgetting what is the heartbeat of the organization. The minor-league system has always been a big part of success for the Cardinals, the Dodgers. We need to get back to refurbishing the minor-league system, so it becomes that lifeline, allowing young guys to learn the game, and be ready when they reach the big leagues.
You’re generally considered the greatest fielding shortstop in baseball history. If there’s one fielding tip you had to share for posterity, what would it be?
I actually learned this through golf: Stagnation is a killer. A baseball player can’t get started until the pitcher releases the ball. That’s where the hitter finds his rhythm, as the pitcher goes into his wind-up. As a fielder, you don’t want to be in a stagnated position. You want some type of movement, be it left, right. Some type of swaying movement that allows you to get into the flow for a ground ball or fly ball.
Ozzie Smith won 13 Gold Gloves over his 19-year career with the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals. He played in three World Series for the Cardinals and won the 1982 championship. His uniform number 1 was retired by St. Louis in 1996 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. He is one of nine former Cardinals honored with a statue outside Busch Stadium.
