Ozzie Smith Tuning Up For Return To The Cardinals

With every passing day, Ozzie Smith is feeling a little younger.

The major-league’s oldest shortstop in 45 years, on the mend since undergoing shoulder surgery May 31, expects to return to the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup during the next homestand. And his injury hasn’t affected his plans for playing at least a few more seasons.

“When I can’t play, I’m not going to play,” Smith said. “Plain and simple. I’ve earned the right to play as long as I want to play.”

After the surgery, doctors pegged his recovery time at 8-10 weeks. So Smith, 40, the oldest opening-day shortstop since Luke Appling in 1950, is right on schedule.

Not that the Cardinals, in last place in the N.L. Central, are rushing him.

“I’ve kind of left him alone,” manager Mike Jorgensen said. “He’s progressing, slowly but surely, and when he’s ready, he’ll know.”

If there’s a setback between now and next Thursday, when St. Louis plays Atlanta to begin a seven-game homestand, Jorgensen said it won’t be from lack of effort.

“Everybody knows how hard Ozzie works,” he said. “His work habits are the best I’ve ever seen.”

When he gets back, Smith cautioned not to expect the old Ozzie right off the bat.

“I can’t really expect it to be 100 percent at first because it’s throwing that’s going to make it stronger,” he said. “Hopefully, the more I do the better I get.”

He also said he might have to bounce a higher percentage of throws on the Busch Stadium AstroTurf, although he added he will continue to bounce them even when he’s back to full strength - especially when he has to go to the hole.

“Sure, it’d be great to be able to just gun somebody out,” Smith said. “But people don’t realize if you have momentum going that way, from a technical standpoint it’s an easier play. Everything that goes in motion stays in motion.”

Smith’s career hit a standstill when he went on the disabled list for only the fourth time in his 18-year career on May 18 after being bothered by the shoulder since spring training. In the mid-1980s, he played through a rotator cuff injury without undergoing surgery, but the injury got progressively worse through the years.

Now the process is in reverse. The big test comes this week when Smith begins taking infield again while the Cardinals are on the road.

“I feel pretty good,” Smith said. “There are a lot of things I have to do before I get back out there from an instinctive standpoint.”

Smith is in his 14th season with St. Louis and is batting .250 with three RBIs in 68 at-bats. He is the Cardinals’ oldest shortstop since 44-year-old Bobby Wallace in 1918.