Ozzie Smith's restaurant in Westport Plaza took a hit when Albert Pujols opened his eatery less than a home run away. Smith's restaurant shuttered in October, but it is reopening in April near downtown, where Cardinals fans enjoyed his Golden Glove play.

Look for the new restaurant to open in the East Bank Building in the 1500 block of Washington Avenue.

I pitched the idea to relocate downtown back in May on this blog. I'd like to think Ozzie has been reading. Or city leaders.

Here is the earlier post:

Get a whiff of that, city leaders. That is opportunity you are smelling.

The operators of Ozzie Smith's sports bar at West Port Plaza say they were thrown a curve ball by the owners of the office and shopping complex by allowing an Albert Pujols eatery to open there and offer the same basic fare.

As accusations of fraud and breach of contract make their way through St. Louis County Circuit Court, Mayor Franics Slay and his staff should be on the horn with Ozzie and his reps and say: "Move to the city. We'll treat you fair. We'll find a place for your sports bar near Busch Stadium, where fans flipped for your Gold Glove moves. It will be a extra bases hit. You'll make money hand over glove (or some other clumsy baseball analogy.)"

The company running Ozzie's wants its lease, which runs to 2015, rescinded. With nearly 3 million baseball fans descending on downtown St. Louis a year, it shouldn't be that hard of a sell for Mr. Slay and company.

After all, Slay knows the baseball superstar. He named Smith the city's first fitness czar in 2004.

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