Today’s word of the day, following on from the last two days, is wizard. Pronounced / ˈwɪz ərd /, this noun designates “a person who practices magic; magician or sorcerer,” “a conjurer or juggler,” “Also whiz, wiz a person of amazing skill or accomplishment,” “a software feature that guides users through complex procedures with step-by-step instructions, often presented in dialog boxes” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/wizard). In the UK, it can also be used as an adjective meaning “worthy of the highest praise” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wizard).

The word appears in the “early 15c., wisard, ‘philosopher, sage, person possessing great wisdom,’ often with a suggestion of use for evil ends; from Middle English wys ‘wise’ (see wise (adj.)) + -ard.
“Compare Lithuanian žynystė ‘magic,’ žynys ‘sorcerer,’ žynė ‘witch,’ all from žinoti ‘to know.’ The ground sense is perhaps ‘to know the future.’
“The meaning ‘one with magical power, one proficient in the occult sciences’ did not emerge distinctly until c. 1550, the difference between philosophy and magic being blurred in the Middle Ages. As a vogue slang word meaning ‘excellent’ it is recorded from 1922” (https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=wizard).

The -ard is a word forming element, “also -art, from Old French -ard, -art, from German -hard, -hart ‘hardy,’ forming the second element in many personal names, often used as an intensifier, but in Middle High German and Dutch used as a pejorative element in common nouns, and thus passing into Middle English in bastard, coward, blaffard (‘one who stammers’), tailard ‘one who has a tail’ (a term of abuse), etc.
“It thus became a living element in English, as in buzzard, drunkard. The German element is from Proto-Germanic *-hart/*-hard ‘bold, hardy’ (from PIE root *kar- ‘hard’)” (https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ard).

On this date in 1982, according to On This Day, the “Ozzie Smith for Garry Templeton trade between San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals finally goes through, after 62 days” (https://www.onthisday.com/sport/events/february/11). Wikipedia says that the trade was finally completed on February 19, 1982 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozzie_Smith), but exactly what is meant by “completing the trade” can actually mean a few different things.

Osborne Earl “Ozzie” Smith was born in 1954 in Alabama; his family moved to Los Angeles in 1960. Like many American boys in the 1950s and ‘60s (including me), he grew up playing sports, particularly baseball. He was good enough to make the team at his high school, Locke High School in LA, and then played in college at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he learned to be a switch hitter. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1976, but he wanted a bigger signing bonus than the Tigers were offering, so he returned to college. In 1977, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres and signed.

After a year of minor league ball, Smith was invited to the Padres’ Spring Training, and he made the team. He quickly gained a reputation as an outstanding defensive player. “It did not take long for Smith to earn recognition in the major leagues, making what some consider his greatest fielding play only 10 games into his rookie season. The Padres played host to the Atlanta Braves on April 20, 1978, and with two out in the top of the fourth inning, Atlanta’s Jeff Burroughs hit a ground ball up the middle. Smith described the play by saying, ‘He hit a ball back up the middle that everybody thought was going into center field. I instinctively broke to my left and dove behind second. As I was in the air, the ball took a bad hop and caromed behind me, but I was able to catch it with my bare hand. I hit the ground, bounced back up, and threw Burroughs out at first’” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozzie_Smith).

In addition to being an outstanding player, Smith was an entertainer: “Padres promotion director Andy Strasberg knew Smith could perform backflips, though only did them during practice before fans entered the stadium. Strasberg asked Smith to do a backflip for fans during Fan Appreciation Day on October 1, the Padres’ last home game of the season. After conferring with veteran teammate Gene Tenace, Smith went ahead with the backflip, and it proved to be wildly popular” (ibid.). He played in San Diego four four seasons, but his agent had issues with the Padres’ management, and that is what led to the trade.

Smith played 15 seasons with the Cardinals, although the last three seasons saw his number of appearances drop significantly. He retired after the 1996 season.

Smith’s offensive production improved over the course of his career, and he made the MLB All-Star Game 15 times. But he was best known for his defensive prowess. He won 13 consecutive Gold Gloves in the National League for his position of short stop; the Gold Glove is, as you can probably guess, the award to the best defensive player.

In fact, Smith was such a great defender that he got the nickname “The Wizard,” though I am certain there was nothing paranormal about his performances.

Today’s image is of Ozzie Smith, the Wizard of Oz, turning a very difficult double play (https://siphotos.tumblr.com/post/16017786112/cardinals-shortstop-ozzie-smith-tries-to-turn-a).