Ozzie

"The Wizard" is considered by most to be one of the greatest shortstops to play the game. When he first started playing "you could knock the bat out of his hands with a good fastball," but as he matured as a player he became a very potent offensive threat as well.

"What I did, I did every day. Anyone can make a great play every now and then on any given day. But what I did, I did everyday." -- Ozzie

"I may not drive in 100 runs each year, but I can prevent 100 runs from scoring against us." -- Ozzie

1. 4/20/78 vs. Atlanta, 4th inning, 2 out -- Jeff Burroughs hits a ground ball up the middle. As Ozzie dives to his left, the ball caroms into the air. Ozzie reaches high, grabs the ball barehanded and throws Burroughs out at first. (see video below)

2. 8/4/86 vs. Pittsburgh, 9th inning, 1 out -- Von Hayes hits a shallow fly to left field. Outfielder Curt Ford dives headfirst toward the infield while Ozzie dives head long toward the outfield and makes a basket catch in midair.

3. 8/6/86 vs. Philadelphia, 3rd inning, 1 out, 1 on -- With Ronn Reynolds running from second on the play, Gary Redus hits an infield single to deep short. Instead of throwing to first, Ozzie throws behind Reynolds, who is tagged out after rounding third base.

The Sporting News has ranked Ozzie number 87 in their list of the top 100 greatest players of all time!!!!

Yr	Team	Avg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	OBP	SLG
1978	SD	.258	159	590	69	152	17	6	1	46	47	43	40	.311	.312
1979	SD	.211	156	587	77	124	18	6	0	27	37	37	28	.260	.262
1980	SD	.230	158	609	67	140	18	5	0	35	71	49	57	.313	.276
1981	SD	.222	110	450	53	100	11	2	0	21	41	37	22	.294	.256
1982	STL	.248	140	488	58	121	24	1	2	43	68	32	25	.339	.314
1983	STL	.243	159	552	69	134	30	6	3	50	64	36	34	.321	.335
1984	STL	.257	124	412	53	106	20	5	1	44	56	17	35	.347	.337
1985	STL	.276	158	537	70	148	22	3	6	54	56	27	31	.355	.361
1986	STL	.280	153	514	67	144	19	4	0	54	79	27	31	.376	.333
1987	STL	.303	158	600	104	182	40	4	0	75	89	36	43	.392	.383
1988	STL	.270	153	575	80	155	27	1	3	51	74	43	57	.350	.336
1989	STL	.273	155	593	82	162	30	8	2	50	55	37	29	.335	.361
1990	STL	.254	143	512	61	130	21	1	1	50	61	33	32	.330	.305
1991	STL	.285	150	550	96	157	30	3	3	50	83	36	35	.380	.367
1992	STL	.295	132	518	73	153	20	2	0	31	59	34	43	.367	.342
1993	STL	.288	141	545	75	157	22	6	1	53	43	18	21	.337	.356
1994	STL	.262	98	381	51	100	18	3	3	30	38	26	6	.326	.349
1995	STL	.199	44	156	16	31	5	1	0	11	17	12	4	.282	.244
1996	STL	.282	82	227	36	64	10	2	2	18	25	9	7	.358	.370
	----	----	----	----	----	----	---	--	--	---	----	---	---	----	----
19yrs.		.262	2573	9396	1257	2460	402	69	28	793	1072	589	580	.339	.328

Ozzie played himself in an episode of the The Simpsons. ("Homer at the Bat", Season 3, Episode 17)

Dan Schatzeder is the only pitcher that Ozzie has hit multiple HRs off of. Ozzie also holds a .406 batting average against Schatzeder as well.

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