Cardinals invite a team legend to spring training upon Nolan Arenado’s request

When one 10-time Gold Glover asks if a 13-time Gold Glover can be around more during Spring Training, you do your best to make it happen. 

Over the offseason, Cardinals third basemen Nolan Arenado called manager Oli Marmol with a simple request. He wanted to see if Cardinals legend and Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith could be around more at Spring Training.

Considering one of the main perks of Spring Training in the Cardinals system is being around the legends who have played in the Birds on the Bat, it would seem evident that he would be around. With the Covid-19 pandemic and players being locked out cutting into Spring Training, the Cardinals haven’t had regular Spring Training, and therefore, Smith hasn’t been around as much.

This season, things are different for the better.

Ozzie Smith is here to help the Cardinals level up

While Smith is looking forward to talking with Arenado about fielding and the game’s mental aspects, he is taking the opportunity to impart some wisdom on the talented young prospects at Spring Training. Here he is with prospect and fellow shortstop Masyn Winn.

Smith was traded to the Cardinals from the Padres for Garry Templeton in December 1981. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 and was an automatic induction into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014. He was a 15-time All-Star, a 13-time Gold Glover, a World Series champion in 1982, the NLCS MVP in 1985, and the winner of a Silver Slugger in 1987.

He was an outstanding defensive shortstop that made the most difficult plays look so easy, hence his nickname — the Wizard of Oz.

Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on comments from Marmol, “This is the advantage that we have over a lot of other organizations, the history and tradition of these guys, their ability to come back into camp and speak to our veteran group and our young group. … If it were up to me, he’d be here every day.”

The team gets to pick the brain of Cardinals legends in assistant coach Willie McGee and “Secret Weapon” Jose Oquendo. Watching how Smith impacts this talented group of players and prospects who will enjoy picking the brain of an absolute legend will be fun.