Full Text of HR0993 97th General Assembly
HR0993 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0993 | | LRB097 21161 KXB 68704 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to honor Chicago White Sox legend | 4 | | Billy Pierce for his baseball career and continuing | 5 | | humanitarian work; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Billy Pierce was born in Detroit on April 2, 1927; | 7 | | he played baseball for Highland Park (Michigan) High School; he | 8 | | came to the Chicago White Sox in a trade with the Detroit | 9 | | Tigers on November 10, 1948; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, During his major league career, he
accumulated the | 11 | | following awards and stellar statistics: 211
wins; 1,999 | 12 | | strikeouts; 193 complete games; a 3.27 earned run
average; 38 | 13 | | shutouts; and 5 one-hitters; he is the White Sox career leader | 14 | | in strikeouts with 1,796; he was the starting pitcher for the | 15 | | American League in the 1953, 1955, and 1956 All-Star games, and | 16 | | was a member of the American League All-Star team in 1953, | 17 | | 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, and
1961; he was the 1956 and | 18 | | 1957 Sporting News Pitcher of the Year; he accumulated more | 19 | | wins than any other pitcher for the Chicago White Sox during | 20 | | the 1950s; his 182 wins are the most wins of any lefty in White | 21 | | Sox history; he pitched 39 and 2/3 consecutive scoreless | 22 | | innings for the White Sox in 1953; in 1955, he had an earned | 23 | | run average of 1.97; with the exception of 1954, he had at |
| | | HR0993 | - 2 - | LRB097 21161 KXB 68704 r |
|
| 1 | | least 14 wins every season from 1951 to 1960;
and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, He is considered to be one of the greatest
| 3 | | pitchers in Chicago White Sox history; in addition to his 7 | 4 | | all-star selections in the 13 years he spent
with the White | 5 | | Sox, he won 186 games and struck out 1,796 batters; as a member | 6 | | of the 1959 American League Champion White Sox, he threw 4 | 7 | | scoreless innings out of the bullpen during the World Series; | 8 | | he was also a member of World Series teams in Detroit in 1945 | 9 | | and San Francisco in 1962; in the 1962 3 game National League | 10 | | playoff against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was the winning | 11 | | pitcher in game one over Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, throwing a | 12 | | 3-hit shutout and saving game 3 by pitching a perfect ninth | 13 | | inning; in game 6 of the 1962 World Series, he again only gave | 14 | | up 3 hits in a complete game victory over Hall of Famer Whitey | 15 | | Ford and the New York Yankees, forcing a seventh game; he | 16 | | retired
from baseball in 1964; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, He
continues to serve as an ambassador for the | 18 | | White Sox organization, appearing at various community events | 19 | | on its behalf; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, He is also known for his continuous work raising | 21 | | money for the Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities,
raising over | 22 | | $13 million for the organization, which has
gone toward cancer | 23 | | patient care, education, and research
programs; and
|
| | | HR0993 | - 3 - | LRB097 21161 KXB 68704 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, He played his last 3 seasons with the Giants, but | 2 | | moved his family back to Chicago, where he owned an automobile | 3 | | dealership for 2 years, worked as a stockbroker, and was an | 4 | | unofficial scout for the White Sox; he later worked for and | 5 | | retired from Continental Envelope Company; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In 1987, the Chicago White Sox retired his number | 7 | | 19; upon Nellie Fox's selection to the National Baseball Hall | 8 | | of Fame, the Nellie Fox Society was renamed the Billy Pierce | 9 | | Society, in part to create awareness of the fact that Billy | 10 | | Pierce belongs in the National Baseball Hall of Fame; in 2007, | 11 | | a bronze likeness of Billy Pierce was unveiled at U.S. Cellular | 12 | | Field; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, He and his wife of over 60 years, Gloria, have 3 | 14 | | children, Bill, Patti, and Bob; and 5 grandchildren; therefore, | 15 | | be it
| 16 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 17 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 18 | | we declare May 16, 2012 as Billy Pierce Day in the State of | 19 | | Illinois in honor of his baseball career and continuing | 20 | | humanitarian work; and be it further
| 21 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
| | | HR0993 | - 4 - | LRB097 21161 KXB 68704 r |
|
| 1 | | presented to Billy Pierce as a symbol of our respect and | 2 | | esteem.
|
|