Ozzie Smith, a 15-time National League All-Star, is considered by many to be the greatest shortstop of all time. On July 28, 2002, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and in his acceptance speech compared his journey to the construction of a baseball:

Protecting the cork center of this ball and reinforcing it are two distinct rubber shells. For me these two layers reflect two vital and affirming shells of my core dream. The first shell is my faith in God. With him, I have everything. Without him, I have nothing.

The second shell is the faith I had in myself which came through my mother's love and encouragement.…

The second part of the construction of this baseball is manufactured by the wrapping of over 200 yards of wool around the core. I see that this is the second critical part of my journey. I refer to it as the strands of love and faith; —strands of love and faith that so many other people have wrapped around Ozzie Smith as a person and wrapped around my dream through their love and faith in me.…

I will never forget the faith that my high school coach, Art Webb… had in me. Just about the time I was questioning my ability and expressed thoughts of going home, Art got wind of my feelings, called me up, and sternly told me, "Oz, you're not going to quit. You're going to hang in there and weather the storm!" And because of that call and his faith in me, I stayed.