RetroSimba

(Updated Jan. 5, 2021)

Ozzie Smith agreed to be traded to the Cardinals in what one writer called “one of the most bizarre transactions in recent baseball history.”

The deal propelled the Cardinals to three National League pennants and a World Series title and launched Smith toward a Hall of Fame career.

The trade, however, almost never happened.

On Dec. 10, 1981, at the baseball winter meetings in Hollywood, Fla., the Cardinals announced a trade of outfielder Sixto Lezcano to the Padres for pitcher Steve Mura.

Whitey Herzog, the Cardinals’ general manager and manager, acknowledged the deal also involved players to be named, but contract issues prevented him from revealing the identity of those players. Published reports made it clear the players were shortstop Garry Templeton and pitcher Luis DeLeon of the Cardinals and shortstop Ozzie Smith and pitcher Al Olmsted of the Padres.

The snag was Smith, 27, had a no-trade clause in his Padres contract. He wouldn’t agree to a trade to St. Louis unless the Cardinals either allowed him to keep the no-trade clause or compensated him for dropping it.

Herzog went to San Diego to meet with Smith and his agent, Ed Gottlieb. In January 1982, in a story headlined, “Ozzie’s Pay Demand May Cancel Trade,” The Sporting News reported the trade of Templeton for Smith “apparently is about to fall through.”

Herzog was quoted as saying Smith wanted more than twice the $300,000 salary he was paid in 1981.

“Ozzie would like to play for me, but it looks as if we’ll have to cancel the trade,” Herzog said. “Ozzie is a great fielder and baserunner. I’d like to have him, but if he doesn’t want to come to St. Louis, I don’t want him. No .220 hitter is worth what he’s asking.”

On Jan. 26, 1982, Smith said there would be no trade unless the Cardinals paid him $750,000 that year. The Sporting News reported the Cardinals offered a base salary of between $425,000 and $450,000, with incentives that could take the total package to $500,000.

Finally, on Feb. 11, 1982 _ two months after a Cardinals-Padres deal first was announced _ Smith agreed to the trade. His salary would be determined in arbitration before the season began and his Cardinals contract would not contain a no-trade clause, said Lou Susman, attorney for club owner Gussie Busch.

In his lead paragraph for The Sporting News, St. Louis reporter Rick Hummel wrote, “After 62 days, it was over. Ozzie Smith had become a St. Louis Cardinal in one of the most bizarre transactions in recent baseball history.”

“I’m coming into this with a positive attitude,” Smith said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The Cardinals want my services. We won’t have any problems.”

In four seasons with the Padres, Smith twice won the Gold Glove Award, but he batted .231 with one home run and his on-base percentage was a paltry .295.

Herzog said he believed Smith’s offense would improve by playing home games on the AstroTurf  in St. Louis rather than on natural grass in San Diego, but only if Smith focused on hitting balls on the ground.

When Smith came to Cardinals spring training camp at St. Petersburg, Fla., Herzog assigned coaches Chuck Hiller and Dave Ricketts to help him develop “a downward type of swing,” Hummel reported.

“Guys like Ozzie have to keep the ball out of the air,” Herzog said. “If he could hit .240 or .250, we’d be very happy because we know he’s the best defensive shortstop in the league and maybe baseball.”

Just before the Cardinals opened the 1982 season at Houston, arbitrator Tom Roberts ruled for the Cardinals, awarding Smith a $450,000 salary rather than the $750,000 he requested.

In the opener at the Astrodome, Smith went 2-for-5 with two RBI, including a single and RBI against Nolan Ryan, in the Cardinals’ 14-3 victory. Boxscore

It was a successful start to a magical season for the Cardinals, who went on to win their first World Series title in 15 years. Smith was a key contributor, winning a third Gold Glove Award and batting .248 with 24 doubles, 25 stolen bases and a .339 on-base percentage.

Teammate Keith Hernandez, in the book “Pure Baseball,” said Smith was “the best No. 8 hitter you ever saw in 1982 and 1983. Two outs, Ozzie needed to get on base to bring up the pitcher. He could do it … The No. 8 man in the National League will see some hittable pitches if he’s patient. Ozzie came through in this situation with regularity.”

In his book “White Rat: A Life In Baseball,” Herzog said, “Watching him every day, I’ve found out just how good he is. Of all the shortstops I’ve seen, and I’ve seen some good ones _ guys like Marty Marion, Mark Belanger and Luis Aparicio _ Ozzie is the best. I’ve never seen anyone do the things on a baseball field that he can do.”