Before the Hall of Fame, Ozzie Smith’s journey ran through NBC World Series
Long before the back flips, the gold gloves and the red sea of Cardinals fans chanting his name, Ozzie Smith was just hoping the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita might be his big break.
In the summer of 1976, Smith was the shortstop for the Clarinda A’s, a summer club from Iowa that played its way to Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. Wichita didn’t know it then, but it was watching the early steps of a future Hall of Famer.
Nearly 50 years later, Smith returned to Wichita this January to help honor the newest inductees into the NBC World Series Hall of Fame class and reflect on his own baseball roots.
“I wanted to come back because this was part of the humble beginnings,” Smith told The Eagle. “Getting a chance to come back and visit, it reminds myself what the journey was all about. When you’re a kid playing on little, bad fields, this is all we had to dream about.”
Smith was 20 when he joined the A’s and that summer helped shape what would become a legendary Major League career. By day, he worked a construction job, wielding a jackhammer. By night, he played shortstop.
“It gave me that grit and determination, having to work during the day and then play at night,” Smith said. “It made me learn how to prepare yourself every day. My goal was to always perform at the highest level I possibly could.”
This week, a new group of hopefuls will take the field in Wichita with similar dreams.
The 2025 NBC World Series begins Thursday at Wichita State’s Eck Stadium, with 16 teams from across the country competing for a national title. The tournament, one of the longest-running sporting events in America since its debut in 1935, runs through Augusta 1 at WSU before shifting to downtown for the championship game at Equity Bank Park on Saturday, August 2.
Among this year’s field: six-time national champion Alaska Goldpanners, perennial contenders like the Santa Barbara Foresters and Derby Twins, and small-town teams from Kansas to California chasing the same shot Smith once had.
The tournament’s signature promotions return this week as well, including Baseball ‘Round the Clock, a 33-hour marathon of 11 straight games that begins on Saturday. Buyout nights are back, too, with fans scoring free entry from Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (July 28), Sonic (July 29), and Midwest Ford Dealers (July 30). Tickets are available at nbcbaseball.com.
Today’s players might bring more power, but in 1976, Smith carved his path a different way. He had quick feet, quicker hands, a relentless motor and a reverence for baseball’s smallest details.
“In my generation, stealing bases and bunting were important little things that don’t seem to mean as much anymore,” Smith said. “To us, we grew up understanding the importance of them. They became automatic.”
He doesn’t remember the specifics of his games in Wichita, but he remembers the atmosphere. The summer heat. The crowds. The pursuit. And, most of all, the lessons.
When he returned this year, Wichita fans still recognized him. He was more than happy to take photos and sign autographs and even share some baseball stories.
“It’s nice that you still have an impact on people in a positive way,” Smith said. “Hopefully the memories that you created are memories that last a lifetime. I’m sure there are some fans who probably didn’t like me because I beat their team or whatever, but being able to share those memories and laugh about them now is what life is all about.”
More than 900 players who passed through the NBC World Series have gone on to play in the big leagues, including names like Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Satchel Paige. But only one became “The Wizard.”
And before he made it to Cooperstown, Smith had to earn his way in places like Clarinda and Wichita. That time taught him it was most important to always give his all, which is the lesson he hopes today’s players take away from their time under the Kansas sun.
“Knowing that, it allowed me to sleep at night,” Smith said. “Because I knew that I did the best that I could that day.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 6:19 AM.
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