There was no question about the Collingwood Athlete of the Year Award back in 1935. Deverde “Smokey” Smith won the honours hands down!

Deverde came from down eastern Ontario way with a infectious smile. Nobody paid him particular attention until he turned up at the Exhibition Park one day and he
wanted to try out for the junior baseball team.

Veteran baseball men like Huck Caesar, Dr. Bill Blakley, Father Hugh Ellard and Roy Burmister just couldn’t believe their eyes.

Here was a kid with magic in his left arm and only sixteen years old. His curve looked like the ball was coming at you from first base, the high hard one looked the size of an aspirin and his sinker dropped five feet from the point of delivery to the plate. That evening, this reporter hung the name “Smokey” on him and moniker stuck.

The kid became Collingwood’s skater that very day and baseball was back in Collingwood. I t was too late to build a title winning team that year but in 1935 Collingwood lured catcher Paddy Young away from Creemore as Smitty’s battery mate and the rest is sporting history.

In 1935, Smokey curve balled the Shipbuilders to the Ontario championship and in the process defeated Penetang’s, Phil Marchildon, who was destined to star in the American League with Conny Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics, seven out of nine times with two more games ending in ties.

He pitched a perfect game against Coniston in the Semi-final round and had two more no-hit no-run games in the regular Georgian Bay League schedule. His 1935 pitching record with 22 wins – 3 losses while striking out 310 batters. He went on to a professional career in the Canadian-American League and had the pleasure of beating Marchildon in the same league 2-1 in a game that went 12 innings.

Deverde did not seriously pursue a pro career and he hung up the glove after joining the Ontario Provincial Police.