What years did Ozzie Smith play?

Ozzie Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1996.

Was Ozzie Smith a pitcher?

No. Ozzie Smith was a position player (Shortstop).

How many home runs did Ozzie Smith hit?

Ozzie Smith hit 28 career home runs with 2460 hits.

What was Ozzie Smith's career batting average?

Ozzie Smith batted .262 over his career, with 2,460 hits in 9,396 at bats.

How many RBI did Ozzie Smith have?

Ozzie Smith drove in 793 runs in his career.

Ozzie Smith

Shortstop · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1978-1996)

Ozzie Smith was a shortstop who played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1996 for the San Diego Padres and the St. Louis Cardinals, a span of 19 seasons. In 2,573 career games, he hit .262 with 2,460 hits, 28 home runs, and 793 RBI. Ozzie Smith was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 and was a 15-time All-Star, an NLCS MVP, a 13-time Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, and a Roberto Clemente Award.

AVG (Batting Average):: Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):: Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):: Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):: On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated October 12, 2026

⭐ Hall of Fame 2002

AVG .262

HR 28

RBI 793

H 2,460

OPS .666

PIV -7,656

Position: Shortstop
Bats / Throws: B / R
Height / Weight: 5'11" / 150 lb
Born: 12/26/1954 in Mobile, AL, USA
MLB Debut: 1978-04-07
Last Game: 1996-09-29
Hall of Fame: Inducted 2002 (BBWAA)
Awards: 15× All-Star · NLCS MVP · 13× Gold Glove · Silver Slugger · Roberto Clemente Award

Full name: Osborne Earl Smith

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Career Batting Statistics

Ozzie Smith — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
2,573	9,396	1,257	2,460	402	69	28	793	580	1,072	589	.262	.337	.328	.666	-7,656

Career AVG .262 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .337 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career SLG .328 vs. league average .393 across their career seasons — 16.6% below league average.

Career OPS .666 vs. league average .720 across their career seasons — 7.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ozzie Smith Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1978	SDN	NL	159	590	69	152	17	6	1	46	40	47	43	.258	.257 (avg)	.323 (-4%)	.378 (-18%)	.702 (-11%)	-996.9
1979	SDN	NL	156	587	77	124	18	6	0	27	28	37	37	.211	.265 (-20%)	.329 (-21%)	.397 (-34%)	.727 (-28%)	-2647.2
1980	SDN	NL	158	609	67	140	18	5	0	35	57	71	49	.230	.264 (-13%)	.326 (-4%)	.387 (-29%)	.714 (-17%)	-1499.2
1981	SDN	NL	110	450	53	100	11	2	0	21	22	41	37	.222	.255 (-13%)	.320 (-8%)	.368 (-31%)	.688 (-20%)	-1277.2
1982	SLN	NL	140	488	58	121	24	1	2	43	25	68	32	.248	.261 (-5%)	.324 (+5%)	.388 (-19%)	.712 (-8%)	-466.4
1983	SLN	NL	159	552	69	134	30	6	3	50	34	64	36	.243	.260 (-7%)	.324 (-1%)	.389 (-14%)	.714 (-8%)	-624.9
1984	SLN	NL	124	412	53	106	20	5	1	44	35	56	17	.257	.259 (-1%)	.322 (+7%)	.384 (-12%)	.707 (-3%)	-82.6
1985	SLN	NL	158	537	70	148	22	3	6	54	31	65	27	.276	.257 (+7%)	.323 (+10%)	.390 (-8%)	.714 (avg)	255.2
1986	SLN	NL	153	514	67	144	19	4	0	54	31	79	27	.280	.257 (+9%)	.325 (+15%)	.395 (-16%)	.720 (-2%)	206.5
1987	SLN	NL	158	600	104	182	40	4	0	75	43	89	36	.303	.262 (+15%)	.331 (+18%)	.415 (-8%)	.746 (+4%)	855.2
1988	SLN	NL	153	575	80	155	27	1	3	51	57	74	43	.270	.254 (+6%)	.317 (+10%)	.377 (-11%)	.695 (-1%)	90.7
1989	SLN	NL	155	593	82	162	30	8	2	50	29	55	37	.273	.254 (+8%)	.319 (+5%)	.375 (-4%)	.694 (avg)	65.1
1990	SLN	NL	143	512	61	130	21	1	1	50	32	61	33	.254	.257 (-2%)	.324 (+2%)	.385 (-21%)	.710 (-11%)	-751.5
1991	SLN	NL	150	550	96	157	30	3	3	50	35	83	36	.285	.255 (+12%)	.323 (+17%)	.384 (-5%)	.708 (+5%)	965.9
1992	SLN	NL	132	518	73	153	20	2	0	31	43	59	34	.295	.255 (+15%)	.322 (+14%)	.377 (-9%)	.699 (+1%)	374.9
1993	SLN	NL	141	545	75	157	22	6	1	53	21	43	18	.288	.265 (+9%)	.332 (+1%)	.403 (-12%)	.735 (-6%)	-505.3
1994	SLN	NL	98	381	51	100	18	3	3	30	6	38	26	.262	.269 (-3%)	.338 (-4%)	.424 (-18%)	.763 (-11%)	-716.1
1995	SLN	NL	44	156	16	31	5	1	0	11	4	17	12	.199	.266 (-26%)	.337 (-16%)	.417 (-42%)	.755 (-30%)	-773.2
1996	SLN	NL	82	227	36	64	10	2	2	18	7	25	9	.282	.269 (+4%)	.340 (+5%)	.426 (-13%)	.767 (-5%)	-129.4
Career · 19 seasons			2,573	9,396	1,257	2,460	402	69	28	793	580	1,072	589	.262	—	—	—	—	-7,656

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Ozzie Smith — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
42	144	14	34	1	2	1	10	20	9	.236

Playoff Batting by Year

Ozzie Smith — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1996	NLCS	SLN	3	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
1996	NLDS2	SLN	2	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	.333
1987	NLCS	SLN	7	25	2	5	0	1	0	1	3	4	.200
1987	WS	SLN	7	28	3	6	0	0	0	2	2	3	.214
1985	NLCS	SLN	6	23	4	10	1	1	1	3	3	1	.435
1985	WS	SLN	7	23	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	.087
1982	NLCS	SLN	3	9	0	5	0	0	0	3	3	0	.556
1982	WS	SLN	7	24	3	5	0	0	0	1	3	0	.208

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2573 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Ozzie Smith — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	1311	4627	667	1222	13	408	.264
Away	1262	4769	590	1238	15	385	.260

Last 10 Games — Batting

Ozzie Smith — Last 10 Games — Batting
Date	Tm	Opp	Res	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO
1996-09-29	STL	CIN	L	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1996-09-28	STL	CIN	W	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
1996-09-27	STL	CIN	W	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1996-09-25	STL	PIT	W	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1996-09-24	STL	PIT	W	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
1996-09-23	STL	CIN	W	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1996-09-22	STL	CIN	L	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1996-09-20	STL	CIN	L	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
1996-09-19	STL	CHC	W	5	0	2	1	0	0	1	0
1996-09-17	STL	CHC	W	4	2	3	1	1	1	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ozzie Smith — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
SS	2511	2477	4249	8375	281	1590

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ozzie Smith — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1978	SDN	SS	159	154	264	548	25	98
1979	SDN	SS	155	153	256	555	20	86
1980	SDN	SS	158	157	288	621	24	113
1981	SDN	SS	110	110	220	422	16	72
1982	SLN	SS	139	139	279	535	13	101
1983	SLN	SS	158	154	304	519	21	100
1984	SLN	SS	124	124	233	437	12	94
1985	SLN	SS	158	158	264	549	14	111
1986	SLN	SS	144	144	229	453	15	96
1987	SLN	SS	158	153	245	516	10	111
1988	SLN	SS	150	150	234	519	22	79
1989	SLN	SS	153	152	209	483	17	73
1990	SLN	SS	140	137	212	378	12	66
1991	SLN	SS	150	148	244	387	8	79
1992	SLN	SS	132	128	232	420	10	82
1993	SLN	SS	134	131	251	451	19	98
1994	SLN	SS	96	94	135	291	8	67
1995	SLN	SS	41	41	60	129	7	28
1996	SLN	SS	52	50	90	162	8	36

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ozzie Smith Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Shortstop	2511

Awards & Honors

Ozzie Smith — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1995	Roberto Clemente Award
1994	Branch Rickey Award
1992	Gold Glove	SS
1991	Gold Glove	SS
1990	Gold Glove	SS
1989	Gold Glove	SS
1989	Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1988	Gold Glove	SS
1987	Gold Glove	SS
1987	Silver Slugger	SS
1987	TSN All-Star	SS
1986	Gold Glove	SS
1986	TSN All-Star	SS
1985	Gold Glove	SS
1985	NLCS MVP
1985	TSN All-Star	SS
1984	Gold Glove	SS
1984	TSN All-Star	SS
1983	Gold Glove	SS
1982	Gold Glove	SS
1982	TSN All-Star	SS
1981	Gold Glove	SS
1980	Gold Glove	SS

Salary History

Ozzie Smith — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1996	SLN	NL	$3,500,000
1995	SLN	NL	$3,000,000
1994	SLN	NL	$3,000,000
1993	SLN	NL	$3,000,000
1992	SLN	NL	$2,000,000
1991	SLN	NL	$2,225,000
1990	SLN	NL	$1,975,000
1989	SLN	NL	$2,240,000
1988	SLN	NL	$2,340,000
1987	SLN	NL	$1,940,000
1986	SLN	NL	$1,940,000
1985	SLN	NL	$1,440,000
Total Career Earnings			$28,600,000

College History

Ozzie Smith — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo	CA	1974, 1975, 1976, 1977

Award Voting History

Ozzie Smith — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
1992	Most Valuable Player	NL	22th	1.0	336	0
1991	Most Valuable Player	NL	20th	1.0	336	0
1987	Most Valuable Player	NL	2nd	193.0	336	9
1985	Most Valuable Player	NL	18th	5.0	336	0
1983	Most Valuable Player	NL	21th	1.0	336	0
1982	Most Valuable Player	NL	13th	25.0	336	0
1978	Rookie of the Year	NL	2nd	8.0	24	8

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Ozzie Smith (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Ozzie Smith: the record in brief

April 7, 1978 and September 29, 1996 bracket Ozzie Smith's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. The season rows list, in order, the San Diego Padres (1978 through 1981) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1982 to 1996). Smith is listed as a shortstop at 5'11" and 150 pounds. Smith switch-hit and threw right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is December 26, 1954, in Mobile, AL, USA. The given name on file is Osborne Earl Smith.

Smith finished with 2,460 hits from 9,396 at bats in 2,573 games, which works out to .262, along with 28 home runs, 793 RBI, and 580 stolen bases. Smith's career OPS of .666 combines a .337 on-base mark with .328 slugging. Smith hit .262 while the league hit .261 over the same span, a figure close to average. By OPS the gap is 7.6% below league average (.666 against .720). The hits column peaks at 182, in 1987. The RBI column peaks at 75 in 1987.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ozzie Smith

What years did Ozzie Smith play?: Ozzie Smith played in Major League Baseball from 1978 to 1996.
Was Ozzie Smith a pitcher?: No. Ozzie Smith was a position player (Shortstop).
How many home runs did Ozzie Smith hit?: Ozzie Smith hit 28 career home runs with 2460 hits.
Is Ozzie Smith in the Hall of Fame?: Yes. Ozzie Smith was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.
What was Ozzie Smith's career batting average?: Ozzie Smith batted .262 over his career, with 2,460 hits in 9,396 at bats.
How many RBI did Ozzie Smith have?: Ozzie Smith drove in 793 runs in his career.