Of all the Cardinals of my youth, none were as entertaining as Ozzie Smith. The Wizard came to St. Louis as a light-hitting, slick-fielding shortstop in 1982, and immediately helped lead the Cardinals to a World Series victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
He is remembered for his acrobatic fielding exploits, as well as his pre-game backflips at season openers and other select big games. He eventually became pretty handy with the bat as well, collecting nearly 2500 hits in his career. And he of course hit the famous "Go crazy folks! Go crazy!" home run in the game 5 of the 1985 National League Championship Series, a game my father pulled me out of school to take me to.
I vividly remember the day I got this card signed. While the rest of the autograph seekers were waiting by the doors where the players normally exited the stadium, I noticed Ozzie walking by himself across the bridge up above us from the stadium to the parking garage. I ran up and met him, and he cheerfully signed the card and engaged me in chit chat. Before long, everyone else noticed us and the crowd raced over to join us. But not before I got about a moment of one-on-one time with the Wizard.
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