Full Text of HR0913 100th General Assembly
HR0913 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome was elected to the National Baseball | 3 | | Hall of Fame on January
24, 2018 as a first ballot inductee, | 4 | | after an illustrious 22-year career in Major League Baseball | 5 | | (MLB); and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Over the course of his baseball career, Jim Thome | 7 | | hit 612 home runs, batted in 1,699 runs, had a batting
average | 8 | | of .276, and a total of 2,328 hits; he was a five time | 9 | | all-star, Silver Slugger Award
Winner, American League | 10 | | Comeback Player of the Year, Roberto Clemente Award Winner, and | 11 | | National League home run
leader in 2003; he has been inducted | 12 | | into both the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame and the | 13 | | Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Fame; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome was born in Peoria on August 27, 1970, | 15 | | the
youngest of five children, all of whom were athletic and | 16 | | involved in sports; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome's earliest baseball instruction came | 18 | | from his father and older brothers
before he began to play | 19 | | American Legion Baseball for Bartonville Limestone Post 979; | 20 | | and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome attended Limestone High School, where he |
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| 1 | | received all-state honors in both
basketball and baseball; he | 2 | | continued his career in both basketball and baseball at | 3 | | Illinois
Central College, where he was drafted by the Cleveland | 4 | | Indians in the 13th round of the 1989
MLB draft; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome's 22-year professional career began | 6 | | with the Cleveland Indians in 1991,
where he was an offensive | 7 | | leader for a team that went to two World Series in the mid-90s; | 8 | | and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome continued his career by playing for the | 10 | | Philadelphia Phillies from 2003 to
2005 until he was traded to | 11 | | the Chicago White Sox after the 2005 season; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome had a very successful career for the | 13 | | Chicago White Sox, where in his first
season he set a team | 14 | | record for most home runs in the month of April, and also a | 15 | | Major League Baseball
record by scoring in each of Chicago's | 16 | | first 17 games; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, On September 16, 2007, with his father and several | 18 | | other family members in
attendance, Jim Thome joined the 500 | 19 | | home run club with a walk-off home run against the Los
Angeles | 20 | | Angels; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome spent the 2009 season with the Los |
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| 1 | | Angeles Dodgers before signing with
the Minnesota Twins, where | 2 | | he hit numerous home runs, including the longest ever at Target | 3 | | Field,
and became only the ninth MLB player to hit at least 600 | 4 | | home runs in his career; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome spent the 2011 season with the Cleveland | 6 | | Indians, where he became the
Indians' all-time home run leader, | 7 | | and it was announced that a statue of him would be erected, | 8 | | which
was unveiled in 2014; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome spent the 2012 season with the | 10 | | Philadelphia Phillies, where he became the
fourth MLB player to | 11 | | hit 100 home runs with three different teams and set the new | 12 | | record for
most walk-off home runs during a career in the | 13 | | modern era with 13; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome spent the remainder of the 2012 season | 15 | | with the Baltimore Orioles, where
he surpassed Sammy Sosa to | 16 | | become the MLB player with the eighth highest number of
home | 17 | | runs in a career with 612, a statistic which still stands | 18 | | today; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome was well known in MLB for several | 20 | | memorable traits, such as wearing
high socks, which his team | 21 | | donned in the 1997 season all the way to the World Series, and | 22 | | his
unique batting stance that featured him pointing his bat to |
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| 1 | | centerfield prior to the pitch; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, Even more memorable than those traits, Jim Thome's | 3 | | personality has been the subject of
much praise across the MLB; | 4 | | a former teammate called him the "nicest, gentlest, kindest guy
| 5 | | you will ever meet ... " and his positivity was cited as one of | 6 | | the main reasons for his resigning in
2012 with the Phillies; | 7 | | he was known for frequently signing autographs for fans and for | 8 | | his endless patience; in Philadelphia, magazine sportswriter | 9 | | Stephen Silver wrote of Thome: "It's not just the
numbers. | 10 | | Thanks to his gregarious personality, Thome is the rare athlete | 11 | | who played in several
cities and was beloved everywhere he | 12 | | went. I saw the Twins and Phillies play each other in
| 13 | | Philadelphia when Thome was with the Twins, and the same two | 14 | | teams in Minnesota two years
later when Thome was a Phillie, | 15 | | and the opposing crowd cheered Thome both times, even when
he | 16 | | hit home runs for the road team. Thome was similarly loved in | 17 | | his long stints in Cleveland
and Chicago, as well as shorter | 18 | | runs in Los Angeles and Baltimore."; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome and his wife, Andrea, have three | 20 | | children, Lila, Grace, and Landon, and currently reside in Burr | 21 | | Ridge; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Jim Thome is known for his many philanthropic | 23 | | works to help provide help to
communities in the cities where |
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| 1 | | he played; in recognition of his efforts, he was given the | 2 | | Marin
Miller Man of the Year Award in 2001 and 2004 and the Lou | 3 | | Gehrig Memorial Award in
2004; he and his wife are avid | 4 | | supporters of Children's Home & Aid, a child and family service | 5 | | agency, which raises money for the Children's Hospital of | 6 | | Illinois; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 8 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 9 | | recognize Jim Thome and
everything that he has accomplished | 10 | | throughout his distinguished career, and we respect and
admire | 11 | | his continued philanthropic efforts towards the sport and | 12 | | communities he loves; and be it further | 13 | | RESOLVED, That we declare May 9, 2018 as "Jim Thome Day" in | 14 | | the State of Illinois as a sign
of our esteem and respect; and | 15 | | be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 17 | | presented to Jim Thome as a symbol of our respect and esteem.
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