Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame pays tribute to T.G. Smith

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/11/2022 (1445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The legendary contributions to the community of Steinbach made by T.G. Smith are going to be recognized at the provincial level.

When it was suggested Smith should be inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame, a dozen of “T.G.’s boys” were quick to write letters of endorsement for a long overdue application.

Last week, the former little league baseball players who advocated for him got their answer. Next June they will have the opportunity to travel to Morden for an official induction ceremony at the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame to posthumously honour the man who almost single-handedly got an arena built and launched a successful little league baseball program in Steinbach.

Thomas Goldwin Smith was an affable banker who made a great impact on the community of Steinbach, which he served for two decades. From the time of his arrival in Steinbach in 1946, Smith was a tireless advocate for youth recreation in a community which frowned on anything as frivolous as baseball or hockey.

While he was best known and will be remembered as the builder of an arena complex that still bears his name, many who grew up in the community believe Thomas Goldwin Smith’s greatest personal achievement was the little league baseball league he organized starting in 1955.

He helped it grow for more than a dozen years, eventually handing the program over to the next generation of ball players in Steinbach, many of whom are part of the Steinbach Millers Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame team, inducted in 2015.

For Smith’s Steinbach little leaguers, the experience was one of learning sportsmanship, trying their best, accepting setbacks and most of all, sharing one’s talents wherever possible, both on and off the field.

Smith’s little leaguers became solid citizens in the community, going on to be lawyers, teachers, bankers, car salesmen (a popular occupation in the Automobile City), grocers and even a journalist and writer or two.

Ten former Steinbach little-leaguers provided letters in support of an application to have Smith inducted to the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame as a builder.

But Mr. Smith was by no means strictly a proponent of sports. When people speak of the agriculture society and the annual fair with the 4-H program, Smith is always mentioned. Businessmen and farmers alike had this enthusiastic banker to thank for setting them on their feet.

The Steinbach Royal Bank branch had just three employees when Smith took over as relief manager, but a dozen years later, it was already recognized as one of the senior branches in the province.

T.G. Smith modestly gave credit for his bank’s unprecedented growth to his customers, who he said were full of ideas on how to expand their business operations and begin new ventures.

From the very beginning of Smith’s career with the Royal Bank, business didn’t take up all of his time, and he spent as much time participating in his two favorite sports, baseball and hockey, as he did at work.

When Mr. Smith was 21, however, one of his legs was so seriously injured in a baseball game, it had to be partially amputated, but his lifelong interest in sports never faded, although of necessity it became of a non-playing nature.

This interest prompted him to organize little league baseball and minor hockey in Steinbach, and was the drive that made him work so hard for the youth of his community to get an indoor arena built.

In 1947, Smith wrote a newspaper editorial, sending a message to the community.

“It has been rumoured that our young people are not satisfied with the facilities provided for their recreation. Dissatisfaction leads to juvenile delinquency, and our community is far from being free from ‘petty crimes’ and ‘lowered moral standards,’” he wrote.

“If our young people have somewhere to go in the evenings, where they meet children within their own age groups, where good, clean competition is fostered on an equal basis, then surely the father and the mother would be greatly relieved of the frequent worries they must encounter under present conditions.”

Unwavering through the defeat of two arena votes, Smith remained tireless in his efforts over the next 20 years to convince people to work together so an arena could be built.

He was equally tenacious when it came to organizing summer activities, including little league baseball in Steinbach.

Undaunted by the lack of adult volunteers to assist him with the program, Mr Smith recruited some older boys to help coach, and set about organizing three teams in 1955. In spite of walking with a cane, he filled active roles both as a coach and an umpire.

His efforts, and the example he set of life beyond sports, inspired many of those who played for him as youngsters to keep his dream alive.

It is their reflection of that little league experience, and the life lessons taught by Thomas Goldwin Smith, more than anything, that speak to the merit of honoring his memory and acknowledging his contribution to baseball with induction to the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame as a builder.