Cardinals Franchise Four: No Wizard?

Redbird Rants co-editor Steve Ungrey offers his thoughts on the snub of Ozzie Smith for the Fantastic Four.

When Major League Baseball announced its plans to honor each team with a Franchise Four of its most famous ballplayers, I thought it was a good idea for some teams.

I didn’t think it was a good idea for the St. Louis Cardinals, and with good reason.

With a franchise as successful as the Cardinals, you can’t narrow down the list to just four. So although I agree with Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Stan Musial and Rogers Hornsby, my big question is:

Where is Ozzie Smith, The Wizard?

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It’s clear to me the votes for the Cardinals reflect the team’s rich history. The Cardinals didn’t have a player among their top four who played in the 1980s. Brock retired in 1979.

That means four decades of Cardinal history doesn’t get honored in a Franchise Four?

I smell a rat.

I’m not saying this contest was rigged… after all, it’s strictly public opinion… but Smith came over to the Cardinals in 1979, and three years later the team had its first World Series championship since 1967.

If you ever saw Ozzie play, there’s no mistaking his prowess. He would enter a playing field in the first inning doing his patented backflip. Mind you, this was in the era of artificial turf and stadiums with hard playing surfaces, so those flips had to be hard on the body.

Then there was his range. Whether he was running to the left to grab a sharp-hit grounder or jumping to the right to nab a ball screaming through the infield, Smith would vacuum up everything in sight.

He wasn’t much of a power hitter, but that memorable 1985 home run… you know the one, the homer where the late Jack Buck told the fans to “Go crazy, folks!”… that was a homer that left an indelible mark on Cardinals history.

Smith shouldn’t be the only one feeling bad. Albert Pujols got snubbed, and he was one of the reasons why the Cardinals did so well in the past decade. Red Schoendienst is perhaps the third best known Cardinal behind Musial and Hornsby. Why the snub there?

Next time, MLB, don’t do arbitrary contests like this. You may stir up more trouble than it’s worth.

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