Ozzie Smith speaks at Southeast

When St. Louis Cardinal and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ozzie Smith stepped up to the podium at the Show Me Center on April 20, he wanted explain to the most casual baseball fans what it means to him to play baseball at such a high level for so many years and the countless people that helped him along the way.

"How does one express a birth of a dream as it takes place inside a young boy's heart?" Smith said. "How does one recount the endless number of people that helped bring that dream to its completion?"

Smith knew of only one way, and it resides in the words of a novel by L. Frank Baum, "The Wizard of Oz."

"When you look at Dorothy and her three companions, The Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, you will see three distinct characteristics that helped shape my career," Smith said.

The Scarecrow was first on Smith's list and the characteristic that he saw most in the Scarecrow was his urge to dream.

"All great journeys begin with a dream and that was what the Scarecrow wanted most was the ability to think and dream," Smith said. "The core of my dream to reach the baseball hall of fame began as a child on the front steps of my house. I would throw a baseball over the roof of my house and run to the other side and try to catch it, unfortunately I never did, but that was the moment at the age of 12 when I decided that I wanted to play professional baseball."

Smith said that he didn't let that dream die that day playing catch, but instead let it flourish, embraced it and took ownership of it. He would not let his mind tell him he could not accomplish this dream and much like the Tin Man who wanted a heart so he could show his dream love, several other people would help Smith along the way.

"I will never forget the faith and love that my high school baseball coach had in me, not only in high school, but also my collegiate career," Smith said. "When I was becoming discouraged at Cal Poly, my coach Art Web got wind of it and when I expressed thoughts of giving up and going home, he called me and said 'Oz, you are not going to quit,'" and because of that faith I stayed."

Smith said that his college coach instilled in him the value of a strong work ethic and different ways to make himself better and helped him develop a motto that he still lives by today.

"Nothing is good enough is it can be made better, and better is not good enough of it can be made best," Smith said.

The final characteristic that Smith thought shaped his career was what the Cowardly Lion wanted: Courage.

"I, like many others, tried to accomplish an impossible dream and had many highs and lows and detours had to be taken," Smith said. "Many of you are probably thinking how a man who couldn't run as fast as others or hit the ball as far could still reach the Mount Everest of baseball? It is this, their character."

Smith read a poem that expressed that children will always look up to their role models and it is their duty to make sure they are doing the right thing.

"Yes my glove has given me much, but what I get the most enjoyment out of is giving back." Smith said. "But I'm no better than anyone here, I was just a boy that discovered a formula that take me beyond the rainbow, a mind to dream, a heart to believe and the courage to see it through."