February 11

February 11 - St Louis gets a Wizard

February 11, 2025

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.

Listen to Ozzie on the trade and the impact playing for St Louis did for his career on the Podcast.

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Game of the day - October 6, 1957 Game 4 World Series New York Yankees vs Milwaukee Braves - Eddie Mathews supplies a thrill.

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Trivia:

Through 2010, 88 players had a career batting average of 1.000. How many were 3-3?

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B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

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February 11 1937 – Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack is interviewed by Boake Carter, one of the most famous journalists of the period, in a television demonstration by the Philco company to display its new technology. It is the first-ever baseball interview on television, although the audience consists only of selected guests at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, a few miles away from Philco’s studio.

Born today, John Paciorek on February 11, 1945 in Detroit, MI, he is the only plyer in history to go 3-3 in his short career.

February 11, 1961 – The 39 homers and 124 RBIs driven in last year by Eddie Mathews paid off today for the hard-hitting third baseman of the Milwaukee Braves. Mathews signed his 1961 contract for $60,000. The 29-year-old slugger was the runner-up to teammate Hank Aaron for National League RBI honors in 1960. Mathews has hit 338 homers since becoming a regular in 1952. He is twelfth on the major league list of home run hitters.

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February 11 1977 The Chicago Cubs trade two-time National League batting champion Bill Madlock and infielder Rob Sperring to the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Bobby Murcer, third baseman Steve Ontiveros, and a minor league pitcher.

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.

February 11, 2001 — As thousands cheer, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh’s 30 year-old sports venue, is imploded when electricity surges through a detonating cord connected to more than 4,800 pounds of dynamite in 2,500 spots in the former home of the Pirates and NFL’s Steelers.

Roberto Clemente’s 3,000th hit, as well as Mike Schmidt’s 500th career home run, are part of the historic park’s legacy.

Quote of the day:

“I may not drive in 100 runs a year, but I can prevent 100 runs from scoring against us.”

Hall of Famer - Ozzie Smith

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