The legendary St. Louis Cardinals shortstop no longer does backflips on the field, but he continues to inspire not just baseball fans but also Cards players. Among them is St. Louis rookie infielder Masyn Winn, who was vocal about how big of an inspiration the Hall of Famer is to him.
“He makes me want to carry that torch,” Winn said via (Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch), “and perform the best that I can.”
Hopefully for Winn and the Cardinals, he will be able to channel his admiration of Smith into better production at the plate in the 2024 MLB season than he did in 2023 when he appeared in 37 games for St. Louis. That season, Winn hit just .172/.230/.238 with two home runs and 12 RBIs across a total of 498 plate appearances.
The way Winn looks up to Smith seems to be so easy to see in his eyes, especially in the way he speaks about the 13-time Gold Glove winner and 15-time All-Star.
“Cool Papa Bell, Hank Aaron, Ozzie Smith …. I know about those guys from growing up,” said Winn, who wore No. 1 as a youth player in honor of Ozzie. “And my stepdad was a huge Ozzie fan — everything about him was just electric. And watching (highlights) growing up, especially him being African-American, is super-huge for me. … My stepdad raised me right, raised me to be as proud as I can be about being a Black baseball player. So it’s awesome, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Winn will look to showcase his talents anew for the Cardinals in Spring Training, which begins on Saturday for St. Louis when the team takes on the Miami Marlins at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
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