By Annie Walker
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed “the Wizard of Oz“, Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National League Gold Glove Award for defensive play at shortstop for 13 consecutive seasons. A 15-time All-Star, Smith accumulated 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases during his career, and won the National League Silver Slugger Award as the best hitter at shortstop in 1987. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2002. He was also elected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 2014.
Smith was born in Mobile, Alabama; his family moved to Watts, Los Angeles, when he was six years old. While participating in childhood athletic activities, Smith developed quick reflexes; he went on to play baseball at Locke High School in Los Angeles, then at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Drafted as an amateur player by the Padres, Smith made his major league debut in 1978. He quickly established himself as an outstanding fielder, and later became known for performing backflips on special occasions while taking his position at the beginning of a game. Smith won his first Gold Glove Award in 1980 and made his first All-Star Game appearance in 1981.
When Smith clashed with the Padres’ owners, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog flew to San Diego to persuade the shortstop that he would be an appreciated and core component of the St. Louis team. Herzog’s overture worked; Smith waived his contract’s “no trade” clause and was traded to the Cardinals for shortstop Garry Templeton in 1982.
Upon joining the Cardinals, Smith helped the team win the 1982 World Series. Three years later, his game-winning home run during Game 5 of the 1985 National League Championship Series prompted broadcaster Jack Buck‘s “Go crazy, folks!” play-by-play call. Despite a rotator cuff injury during the 1985 season, Smith posted career highs in multiple offensive categories in 1987. Smith continued to earn Gold Gloves and All-Star appearances annually until 1993. During the 1995 season, Smith had shoulder surgery and was out nearly three months. After tension with his new manager Tony La Russa developed in 1996, Smith retired at season’s end, and his uniform number (No. 1) was subsequently retired by the Cardinals. Smith served as host of the television show This Week in Baseball from 1997 to 1998.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
In 2023, December’s Full Moon reaches peak illumination on Tuesday, December 26. December’s Moon is most commonly known as the Cold Moon—a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year, when cold weather truly begins to grip us. Read more about December’s Cold Moon here.
Kwanzaa is celebrated for seven days beginning on December 26 and lasting through January 1. This holiday was created in 1966 and named for the time of year when some African tribes traditionally celebrated the first harvest of their crops. During Kwanzaa, people decorate their homes with straw mats, ears of corn, and a candleholder called a kinara. They light a candle in the home each evening and may exchange homemade gifts. The seven-day celebration ends with a feast, usually held at a community center and featuring music and dancing. This spiritual holiday focuses on seven basic principles: unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani).
This holiday derives from the Old English custom of giving Christmas “boxes” to tradesmen, postmen, and servants. The original boxes were usually made of earthenware and contained money, which could be retrieved only by breaking the boxes open. These days, a gift of money is usually contained in a greeting card and given before the holiday. Where celebrated (Great Britain, Canada, and Australia), Boxing Day is welcomed as a quiet day of recuperation from the season’s hectic festivities. It is also the biggest day of the year for soccer playoffs.
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Henry Miller (writer) –
- Steve Allen (actor & comedian) –
- Norm Ullman (hockey player) –
- Carlton Fisk (baseball player) –
- Ozzie Smith (baseball player) –
- Jared Leto (actor) –
- Chris Daughtry (singer) –
Died
- Melvil Dewey (librarian famous for developing the Dewey Decimal Classification system) –
- Harry Truman (33rd U.S. president) –
- Jack Benny (actor) –
- Jason Robards (actor) –
- Herb Ritts (celebrity photographer) –
- Reggie White (football player) –
- Vincent Schiavelli (actor) –
- Gerald Ford (38th U.S. president) –
Events
- James Nason of Franklin, Massachusetts, invented the coffee percolator–
- Law amended to admit girls into Little League baseball–
- An earthquake at Bam in Southern Iran killed more than 20,000 people–
- Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts broke Dan Marino’s single-season touchdown pass record when he threw his 48th and 49th of the season against the San Diego Chargers–
- A powerful 9.0 earthquake erupted underwater off the island of Sumatra and set off tsunamis that built up speeds of as much as 500 miles per hour, which crashed into areas of Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, and Malaysia. An estimated 225,000 people were killed–
Weather
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received 21 inches of snow in a coastal storm that also brought record tides–
- Delaware received 24 inches of snow in a coastal storm that also brought record tides–
- NYC’s deepest snowstorm commenced: 25.8” at battery, 32” in suburbs – traffic completely stopped – removal costed $8 million – 27 people died–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
