HR1364 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1364 LRB098 23342 MST 62446 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Jose Abreu on being named the 2014 Major League Baseball American League Rookie of the Year; and

WHEREAS, Jose Dariel Abreu Correa was born on January 29, 1987 in Cruces, Cienfuegos Province, Cuba; and

WHEREAS, Jose Abreu was a star of Cuban baseball; he played in the Cuban National Series and on Cuba's national baseball team; after defecting from Cuba to the Dominican Republic in August of 2013, he was granted free agency by Major League Baseball (MLB); he signed with the Chicago White Sox in October 2013; and

WHEREAS, Jose Abreu made his MLB debut for the White Sox on March 31, 2014; he recorded his first major-league hit on that day and his first home run 8 days later; and

WHEREAS, During the first half of the 2014 MLB season, Jose Abreu was repeatedly named American League (AL) Player of the Week and AL Player of the Month as his statistics continued to climb; and

WHEREAS, As excitement and appreciation grew for Jose Abreu's talents as a hitter, he was selected to join the American League All-Star Team in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game, played at Target Field in Minneapolis; and

WHEREAS, By the end of the 2014 MLB season, Jose Abreu was credited with 176 hits, 107 runs batted in, and 80 runs; his on-base percentage was .383, and his 36 homers notched a new record for White Sox sluggers in their rookie year; and

WHEREAS, Jose Abreu was awarded the Silver Slugger Award for being the best offensive player at first base in the American League during the 2014 MLB season; and

WHEREAS, On November 10, 2014, Jose Abreu was named by the Baseball Writers Association of America as recipient of the American League Rookie of the Year Award in a unanimous vote; and

WHEREAS, Jose Abreu joins Luis Aparicio, Gary Peters, Tommie Agee, Ron Kittle, and Ozzie Guillen as Chicago White Sox players named American League Rookie of the Year; and

WHEREAS, The Rookie of the Year Award for the American League and the National League are presented annually in honor of the inaugural 1947 winner, Jackie Robinson, signaling this award's status as one of the highest honors in Major League Baseball; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Jose Dariel Abreu Correa on being named the 2014 Major League Baseball American League Rookie of the Year, and we wish him many more years of success; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Jose Abreu and to the Chicago White Sox as a symbol of our recognition of his great achievements.