Feb 11, 1982: Padres give up Ozzie
Submitted by BTGrimes on Mon, 02/11/2013 - 9:00am |
| A Swap Opera ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI/SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - Wonder if the San Diego Padres wish they could have a do-over? A trade involving two promising young shortstops was finally resolved on this date in 1982. Ozzie Smith officially became a member of the St. Louis Cardinals and Garry Templeton became a San Diego Padre. The trade was announced two months earlier, but seemed dead several times. While 25-year old Garry Templeton started strong with the Cardinals (a two-time all-star) it was a less than harmonious existence. Templeton was suspended from the team in August of 1981 for flipping off the hometown fans. He demanded to be traded and the Cardinals obliged. San Diego wanted to make space for Templeton by, believe it or not, trading Ozzie Smith. Smith didn't want to go. Smith changed his mind about coming to St. Louis because he felt the Cardinals wanted him and the Padres didn't, which was exactly the case. "Any ballplayer wants to come to a club where he's really wanted, and I felt really wanted in St. Louis." As it turned out, statistically, there wasn't a great deal of difference between the career's of Ozzie Smith and Garry Templeton. Here are their seasonal averages:
But Ozzie Smith became the leader of a powerful National League team. The Cardinals made it to the League Championship Series four times during Smith's career, winning three. They made it to the World Series three times, winning one (1982). The "Wizard of Oz" was a 13-time all-star, the starting shortstop 11 times in a row. The Padres made it to the post-season once during Templeton's career; they lost the 1984 World Series to the Detroit Tigers. Ozzie Smith was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2002. Contributing Sources: This daily dose of baseball history is brought to you by TODAY in BASEBALL. |
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