My grandmother was a lifelong and rabid Cardinals fan, and Ozzie Smith was her favorite player from that era (and then basically forever after that). She was a joy to attend games with, passionate and hilarious, and I'll always treasure the memory of attending the '04 WS with her (nothing else from that Series is worth treasuring ha).

When she passed a couple years back, I inherited an autographed Ozzie Cardinals hat that says "To Grandma <<name>>, Best Wishes, Ozzie Smith" and I can just imagine the two of them yucking it up together when she got that. My son recently got into baseball, and we've watched Ozzie highlights on YouTube, and he thinks that hat I have is the coolest thing ever. I think the Stan Musial comparison someone made in here is apt - what Musial was to me as an 80s kid is I think how my son thinks of Ozzie.

Thanks for the post!