Editing Ozzie Smith (section)

==Early life==
Smith was born in [[Mobile, Alabama]], the second of Clovi and Marvella Smith's six children (five boys and one girl).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/07/27/ozzie_hall_ap/ |title='Wizard of Oz' on deck for enshrinement |access-date=March 19, 2008 |agency=Associated Press |date=July 28, 2002 |work=Sports Illustrated.com |archive-date=July 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100730012510/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/news/2002/07/27/ozzie_hall_ap/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> His father worked as a sandblaster at [[Brookley Air Force Base]].<ref name="page6">[[#Smi88|Smith and Rains 1988]]: 6</ref> When Smith was six, his family moved to the [[Watts, Los Angeles, California|Watts]] section of Los Angeles.<ref name=page6/> His father became a delivery truck driver for [[Safeway Inc.|Safeway]] stores, while his mother became an aide at a [[nursing home]].<ref name=page9/> His mother was an influential part of his life who stressed the importance of education and encouraged him to pursue his dreams.<ref name="Eisenbath284">[[#Eis99|Eisenbath 1999]]: 284–285</ref><ref name="SI87">{{cite web |url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066503/4/index.htm |last=Fimrite |first=Ron |title=No. 1 In His Field |date=September 28, 1987 |access-date=January 3, 2009 |work=Sports Illustrated.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801154824/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066503/4/index.htm |archive-date=August 1, 2009  }}</ref>

Smith played a variety of sports in his youth, though considered baseball to be his favorite.<ref>[[#Smi88|Smith and Rains 1988]]: 8</ref> He developed quick reflexes through various athletic and leisure activities, such as bouncing a ball off the concrete steps in front of his house, moving in closer to reduce reaction time with each throw.<ref>[[#Smi02|Smith and Rains 2002]]: 24</ref> When not at the local [[YMCA]] or playing sports, Smith sometimes went with friends to the neighborhood lumberyard, springboarding off inner tubes and doing flips into sawdust piles (a precursor to his famous backflips).<ref>[[#Smi88|Smith and Rains 1988]]: 7</ref> In 1965, at age 10, he endured the [[Watts Riots]] with his family, recalling, "We had to sleep on the floor because of all the sniping and looting going on."<ref>[[#Smi88|Smith and Rains 1988]]: 4</ref>

While Smith was attending [[middle school|junior high school]], his parents divorced.<ref name="page9">[[#Smi88|Smith and Rains 1988]]: 9</ref> Continuing to pursue his interest in baseball, he would ride the bus for nearly an hour to reach [[Dodger Stadium]], cheering for the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] at about 25 games a year.<ref name="page9"/> Upon becoming a student at [[Locke High School]], Smith played on the basketball and baseball teams.<ref name="page9"/> Smith was a teammate of future [[National Basketball Association]] player [[Marques Johnson]] on the basketball team, and a teammate of future fellow Hall-of-Fame player [[Eddie Murray]] on the baseball side.<ref>[[#Smi88|Smith and Rains 1988]]: 9–10</ref> After high school, Smith attended [[California Polytechnic State University|Cal Poly San Luis Obispo]] in 1974 on a partial academic scholarship, and managed to [[Walk-on (sport term)|walk on]] to the [[Cal Poly Mustangs baseball|baseball team]].<ref name="calpoly">{{cite web |url=http://polyland.calpoly.edu/topics/recreation/studentsites/2004b/Ozzie%20Smith.htm |title=Ozzie Smith |access-date=April 26, 2008 |publisher=Cal Poly Land |archive-date=September 13, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913085556/http://polyland.calpoly.edu/topics/recreation/studentsites/2004b/Ozzie%20Smith.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> He learned to [[switch hitter|switch-hit]] from Cal Poly coach Berdy Harr.<ref name="Yearbook">Lang, Dave. "There is Only 1 Ozzie Smith." St. Louis Cardinals Official 1993 Yearbook. 1993. 17</ref> When Cal Poly's starting shortstop broke his leg midway through the 1974 season, Smith took over the starting role.<ref name="SI87"/> He was named an [[All-America|All-American athlete]] and established school records in career [[at bat|at-bat]]s (754) and [[stolen base]]s (110) before graduating in 1977.<ref name="calpoly"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gopoly.com/index.php?p=hall_of_fame&id=166 |title=Ozzie Smith |access-date=January 4, 2009 |publisher=California Polytechnic State University |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929170555/http://gopoly.com/index.php?p=hall_of_fame&id=166 |archive-date=September 29, 2010  }}</ref>