Full Text of HR1242 98th General Assembly
HR1242 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Frank
Edward | 4 | | Thomas on his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame | 5 | | on July 27, 2014; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Frank Thomas was born on May 27, 1968 in Columbus, | 7 | | Georgia; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Frank Thomas starred in both baseball and football | 9 | | in high school; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, In 1986, Frank Thomas enrolled at Auburn | 11 | | University, where he played tight end on the football
team and | 12 | | also starred on the baseball team; he hit .359 in the 1986 | 13 | | season and was selected to play for the
United States team in | 14 | | the Pan-Am Games; in 1989, he was named the Southeastern | 15 | | Conference
Most Valuable Player in baseball; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, In the 1989 Major League Baseball draft, Frank | 17 | | Thomas was selected with the seventh pick in
the first round by | 18 | | the Chicago White Sox; and | 19 | | WHEREAS, Frank Thomas made his major league debut on August | 20 | | 2, 1990 against the Milwaukee
Brewers where he recorded his |
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| 1 | | first RBI; on August 28, 1990, he hit the first home run of his | 2 | | career
in Minnesota, against the Twins; he finished his first | 3 | | season hitting .330 with 7 home runs and 31
RBI in 60 games; | 4 | | and | 5 | | WHEREAS, In 1991, Frank Thomas's first full season, he | 6 | | established himself as a multi-talented hitter,
combining | 7 | | power with hitting for average, drawing walks, and driving in | 8 | | runs; he finished third in
Most Valuable Player voting with a | 9 | | .318 batting average, 32 home runs, 109 runs batted in, and 138 | 10 | | walks;
he won the first of 4 Silver Slugger awards, and led the | 11 | | league in on-base percentage, something
he would accomplish 4 | 12 | | times throughout his career; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, During the 1993 season, Frank Thomas would lead | 14 | | his team to the American League West championship by
hitting | 15 | | .317 with 41 home runs and 128 RBI; he would unanimously win | 16 | | the 1993 Most Valuable
Player Award by receiving all 28 first | 17 | | place votes; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In the 1994 strike shortened season, Frank Thomas | 19 | | became the sixth player in American League
history to win | 20 | | consecutive Most Valuable Player Awards; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Frank Thomas continued to pile up the numbers in | 22 | | the 1990s, winning a batting title in 1997 with
a .347 batting |
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| 1 | | average and by compiling a major league record of 7 consecutive | 2 | | seasons with at least
100 RBI, 100 walks, 20 home runs, and a | 3 | | .300 average; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Frank Thomas contributed to the 2005 Chicago White | 5 | | Sox team that won the franchise's first World
Series | 6 | | championship in 88 years; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, During the 2006 season, Frank Thomas helped the | 8 | | Oakland Athletics win the American League West
championship by | 9 | | hitting .270 with 39 home runs and 114 RBI; during the American | 10 | | League Division series he went 5 for 10 with 2 home runs as the | 11 | | A's swept the Minnesota Twins; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, On June 28, 2007, Frank Thomas, as a member of the | 13 | | Toronto Blue Jays, became the 21st person in
major league | 14 | | history to hit 500 home runs; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, On February 12, 2010, Frank Thomas signed a | 16 | | one-day contract with the Chicago White Sox and
announced his | 17 | | retirement; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Frank Thomas finished his career with 521 home | 19 | | runs with 5 seasons with at least 40 home runs;
1,704 RBI; a | 20 | | .301 career batting average; a .419 on-base percentage, | 21 | | including 4 seasons where
he led the league; 1,667 walks with 4 |
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| 1 | | league-leading seasons; 5 All-Star
Game selections; 4 Silver | 2 | | Slugger Awards; and 9 Top 10 finishes in the American League | 3 | | Most Valuable Player voting, including his
back-to-back wins in | 4 | | 1993 and 1994; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, On January 8, 2014, Frank Thomas was elected to | 6 | | the National Baseball Hall of Fame the first
year he was | 7 | | eligible by receiving 478 votes, 83.7% of the votes cast; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Frank Thomas gave an emotional speech where he | 9 | | thanked many of the people in his life
who have helped him make | 10 | | it into the Hall of Fame; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 13 | | we congratulate Frank Edward Thomas on his induction to the | 14 | | National Baseball
Hall of Fame; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 16 | | presented to Frank Edward Thomas and the
Chicago White Sox as a | 17 | | symbol of our recognition of his great achievements.
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