最新杏吧原创

ST. ALBANS, Mo. 鈥� He鈥檚 a humble wizard, and when Ozzie Smith greeted me Monday at the 19th hole, he was dressed conservatively in a gray quarter zip. But subtly peeking out from under was a golf polo shirt 鈥� which was covered by the mini-insignia of midair Ozzie amid his trademark backflip.

Yes, he鈥檚 humble, but to be fair, he still has some flair. It鈥檚 Ozzie, after all, the bedazzling benchmark for defensive shortstops and winner of 13 Gold Glove Awards.

And with the Cardinals鈥� season now over, I wanted to get his take on the next generation of 最新杏吧原创 shortstop wizardry. At the 2024 Ozzie & Friends Pro Am, in association with , Smith described Masyn Winn the way 最新杏吧原创ans once described the Hall of Fame shortstop.

鈥淚 am entertained 鈥� he鈥檚 fun to watch,鈥� said Smith, who turns 70 in December, from the Country Club of St Albans. 鈥淵ou know, he makes it fun to go to the ballpark.鈥�

Winn should win the Gold Glove. He led all shortstops (not just in the National League) with 14 defensive runs saved, which has become an appreciated and referenced stat for defense. And of course, Winn did this as a rookie at the age of just 22.

But even if some other NL shortstop receives the Gold Glove, Winn still has received shining praise from the standard at shortstop. That鈥檚 worth its weight in, well, you know.

鈥淗e鈥檚 instinctive 鈥� great baseball instincts,鈥� Smith said of Winn. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that you teach. It鈥檚 just something you kind of have. And he has it. ... The best assessment of a player is to see how he performs when things are not going well. He鈥檚 a grinder, a guy that gives you the same effort, whether you鈥檙e up by 10 or down by 10. And having that type of pedigree is important.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a good two-strike hitter, and that鈥檚 also important, being able to put that ball in play. And he has some power. You know, he reminds me a lot of the guy that I got traded for.鈥�

Many Cardinals fans don鈥檛 respect Garry Templeton the way they should. For one, he鈥檚 considered the lesser shortstop who 最新杏吧原创 dealt to get 鈥淭he Wizard.鈥� And Templeton had that infamous day in 1981 when he made obscene gestures to fans. In the book 鈥淭he Wax Pack,鈥� that 最新杏吧原创 fans had used the N-word that day. In the offseason after the 1981 season, Cardinals manager and executive Whitey Herzog traded Templeton to the Padres for their shortstop.

But Templeton made two All-Star teams as a 最新杏吧原创 Cardinal. In his time with the club, 1976-1981, he hit .305 in his 2,990 at-bats. He led the league in triples three times (with totals of 19, 18 and 13). And in 1979, the switch-hitting Templeton became the first player in Major League Baseball history to get 100 hits as a righty and 100 hits as a lefty.

鈥�(Winn) can hit with power, can hit for average, he can run, great arm and glove,鈥� Smith said, while making the comparison to Templeton. 鈥淔ive-tool player. He certainly possesses that. Hopefully next year he can build on that. Now he knows, 鈥業 can do it here.鈥欌��

The 2024 Cardinals were woefully average, and perhaps even worse than that description, they were boring. But Winn was an exception. He made jaw-dropping grabs and then unleashed throws that were as fast as actual fastballs (they track that stuff these days 鈥� Winn鈥檚 throws this year averaged 92.7 mph, second to Pittsburgh鈥檚 Oneil Cruz among shortstops).

And Winn hit .267 with a .730 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and 15 homers. Now, on the last day of August, Winn was at .282 and .753, but he ran into the proverbial rookie wall in his final month.

He still finished with a flashy 4.9 WAR (wins above replacement) per Baseball Reference, tops on the club (though Willson Contreras missed almost half the year due to injuries). Fangraphs uses a different formula for WAR that has less of a defensive impact. Still, Winn鈥檚 WAR was 3.6, highest among Cardinals hitters and trailed only pitcher Sonny Gray (3.8).

鈥淗e has a good baseball mind,鈥� said Smith, who spent time with Winn at the past two spring trainings. 鈥淭he one thing that you don鈥檛 want to do is confuse him. People say, 鈥榃hat do you say to him?鈥� I say nothin鈥�. Let him play. He鈥檚 fundamentally sound, he has good baseball instincts and so now you let that happen. And how great he becomes depends on how hard he鈥檚 willing to work. ... I think he鈥檚 one of the guys that the team is now understanding that they can depend on.鈥�

On Sunday, Smith was able to honor the man and manager who changed his career. The Ozzie & Friends gala at the Ritz-Carlton paid tribute to the late Herzog, who died on April 15 at 94. Other 1980s Cardinals such as Willie McGee and Vince Coleman were in attendance for what Smith called 鈥渁 celebration of his life. And we tried to make his presence in the room through video. It turned out very special because (his wife) Mary Lou was able to come.鈥�

And on Monday, more than 100 golfers participated in the Pro Am for PGA REACH Gateway Foundation, which makes a community-minded impact on young golfers from diverse populations.

After his round, Smith mingled with the men and women, many of whom are quite successful professionally though remain forever in reverence of No. 1.

And who knows, maybe in, say, 2054, there will be huge events hosted in 最新杏吧原创 by the beloved retired shortstop who wore No. 0?