Up For Grabs Cardinalpalooza: Ozzie Smith

Previously on the Cardinalpalooza: Jim Edmonds | Adam Wainwright | Joe Torre | Scott Rolen | Willie McGee | Red Schoendienst | Enos Slaughter | Bruce Sutter | Albert Pujols | Ray Lankford | Mark McGwire | J.D. Drew | Colby Rasmus | Yadier Molina | Allen Craig | Stan Musial | Rick Ankiel

At long last, here's one last list of Cardinals cards that I need to get rid of. Said list follows at the end of this post, so get your scroll wheel warmed up.

It's no secret that Ozzie Smith is my all-time favorite player. This is one of those things that is harder to explain with each passing year, as he became my favorite sometime during my childhood for reasons that I can't exactly put my finger on.

I was originally a Yankees fan when I was still learning about the game of baseball, and an American League fan by default. My dad (and his dad) had a heavy hand in that. No matter how many times I tell this story, it comes out differently, so sometime around when the Royals and Cardinals were meeting in the World Series, I decided the following things: 1) The world isn't fair. 2) Those exciting guys in red are sure fun to watch. Ozzie just happened to be the most exciting of them, and he played shortstop -- that was my position.

When you're 7 to 12 years old, there's something to be said for a guy that does a backflip before he takes his position.

I don't want say that time has diminished my enthusiasm for the Wizard or that I'm reassessing my feelings about him. He was a great player who was a surefire Hall of Famer on defensive skills alone. This is no insignificant feat in an era where defensive metrics were largely unknown/underappreciated. (They still are.) I will always collect Ozzie Smith cards as long as I collect cards. He was my first player collection before I ever even considered collecting Cardinals cards as a whole.

The list:

1984 O-Pee-Chee #130 [2 available, 1 is lightly creased]
1984 Topps (All-Star) #389
1984 Topps All-Star Glossy #16
1985 O-Pee-Chee #191 [dinged corner]
1985 Topps #605
1985 Topps (All-Star) #715 [2 available]
1986 Donruss #59
1986 Donruss Pop-Ups [2 available]
1986 Leaf/Donruss #47
1986 Sportflics #121
1986 Topps #730 [5 available]
1986 Topps (All-Star) #704 [6 available]
1986 Topps All-Star Glossy #16
1987 Donruss (Diamond Kings) #5
1987 Fleer Award Winner #38
1987 Fleer Baseball All Stars #41
1987 Fleer Star Stickers #112
1987 Sportflics #142
1987 Sportflics (Tri-Stars w/ Hubie Brooks and Shawon Dunston) #79
1987 Topps #749 [7 available]
1987 Topps (All-Star) #598 [5 available]
1988 Donruss #263 [4 available]
1988 Donruss MVP #BC-22 [5 available]
1988 Donruss All-Stars #37
1988 Donruss All-Stars (Top Vote Getter) #63
1988 Donruss Pop-Ups
1988 Fleer #47 [2 available]
1988 Fleer Baseball All-Stars #39 [2 available]
1988 Fleer Star Stickers #120
1988 Score #12 [2 available]
1988 Topps #460 [7 available]
1988 Topps (All-Star) #400 [7 available]
1988 Topps All-Star Glossy #16 [2 available]
1988 Topps Kmart #28
1988 Topps Mini League Leaders #72
1988 Topps UK Minis #72
1989 Donruss #63 [10 available]
1989 Donruss MVP #BC-14 [12 available]
1989 Donruss All-Stars (Top Vote Getter) #62
1989 Fleer #463 [6 available]
1989 Score #80 [3 available]
1989 Topps #230 [13 available]
1989 Topps (All-Star) #389 [11 available]
1989 Topps All-Star Glossy #16 [4 available]
1989 Upper Deck #265 [2 available]
1989 Upper Deck (Team Checklist) #674
1990 Bowman #195 [2 available]
1990 CMC Collect-A-Books #5
1990 Donruss #201 [13 available]
1990 Donruss (All-Star ERR "Recent Game Performance") #710 [2 available]
1990 Donruss (All-Star COR "All-Star Game Performance") #710 [23 available]
1990 Fleer #260 [11 available]
1990 Leaf #142
1990 Post #6
1990 Score #285 [2 available]
1990 Topps #590 [5 available]
1990 Topps (All-Star) #400 [3 available]
1990 Topps Kmart #4 [6 available]
1990 Upper Deck #225 [6 available]
1990 U.S. Playing Card Co
1991 Donruss #240 [20 available]
1991 Donruss (All-Star) #437 [6 available]
1991 Fleer #646
1991 Fleer Ultra #296
1991 Leaf #80 [3 available]
1991 Score #825 [4 available]
1991 Studio #238
1991 Topps #130 [3 available]
1991 Upper Deck #162 [5 available]
1992 Classic II #T26
1992 Confex The Baseball Enquirer #29
1992 Donruss #432
1992 Donruss (All-Star) #423
1992 Donruss McDonald's #26
1992 Donruss Triple Play #244 [2 available]
1992 Fleer #592 [3 available]
1992 Fleer Ultra #271 [4 available]
1992 Leaf #400
1992 Leaf Black Gold #400
1992 O-Pee-Chee Premier #84 [2 available]
1992 Pinnacle #6 [2 available]
1992 Score #590
1992 Topps #760 [4 available]
1992 Topps Stadium Club #680 [3 available]
1992 Upper Deck #177 [6 available]
1992 Upper Deck (Diamond Skills) #716 [2 available]
1993 Bowman #460
1993 Donruss #520
1993 Fleer Diamond Tribute #8
1993 Fleer Flair #128
1993 Fleer Ultra #113
1993 Leaf #328
1993 Score (Dream Team) #532
1993 Score Select #15 [4 available]
1993 Studio #217
1993 Topps #40 [2 available]
1993 Topps Black Gold #20
1993 Triple Play Nicknames #9
1993 Upper Deck #146 [5 available]
1993 Upper Deck Iooss Collection #WI7
1994 Donruss Triple Play #66 [2 available]
1994 Fleer #646
1994 Pacific #604
1994 Pinnacle #389 [2 available]
1994 Score #384
1994 Topps #320 [2 available]
1994 Topps Stadium Club #417 [2 available]
1994 Topps Stadium Club (Career Leaders) #541 [2 available]
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #545 [2 available]
1994 Upper Deck Collector's Choice (Team Checklist) #334
1995 Emotion #183
1995 Leaf Great Gloves #13
1995 Sportflix #108
1995 Topps #347 [4 available]
1995 Topps D3 #58
1995 Topps Stadium Club #65
1995 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition #75 [2 available]
1996 Metal Universe #229
1996 Pinnacle Denny's #20
1996 Pinnacle Zenith #2
1996 Topps #301
1996 Upper Deck (Best of a Generation) #386
1996 Upper Deck SP #155
1997 Donruss #231 [2 available]
1997 Donruss Elite #125 [2 available]
1997 Fleer Ultra #276
1997 Leaf #152
1997 Upper Deck Collector's Choice Stick Um's #1
1999 Upper Deck Retro #95
2002 Topps Archives ('87) #153
2002 Upper Deck World Series Heroes #23 [3 available]
2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #10
2003 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic #65
2004 Fleer Greats #143
2005 Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts #59
2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces #19
2008 Upper Deck Baseball Heroes #124
2008 Upper Deck Masterpiecs #83 [5 available]
2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Mini #56
2010 Topps Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT100
2010 Topps Peak Performance #PP-80
2010 Topps Vintage Legends #VLC9 [3 available]
2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-95
2011 Topps Gypsy Queen #99 [3 available]
2011 Topps Lineage #141
2012 Topps Archives #142
2013 Topps Archives #70 [3 available]