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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, James Howard "Jim" Thome played for 22 seasons
3from 1991 to 2012 for Major League Baseball 6 teams, including
4the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White
5Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, and Baltimore
6Orioles; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Jim Thome was born to parents Joyce and Charles
8Thome and raised in Peoria County; he began playing baseball
9with the West Peoria Little League and then moved on to
10Limestone Community High School in Bartonville, where he
11achieved All-State honors as a baseball shortstop; following
12his high school graduation, he played baseball at Illinois
13Central College in East Peoria for one season before being
14drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1989; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Jim Thome officially retired from the Cleveland
16Indians in 2014, accumulating a .276 batting average, 2,328
17hits, 612 home runs, and 1,699 runs batted in; he is the 8th
18player in baseball history to reach 612 home runs; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Jim Thome accumulated the following career
20highlights: 5-time All Star in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2004, and
212006, the Silver Slugger Award in 1996, American League
22Comeback Player of the Year in 2006, the Roberto Clemente Award

 

 

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1in 2002, and the National League home run champion in 2003; he
2was inducted into the Greater Peoria Area Sports Hall of Fame
3in 2015; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Jim Thome is known for his positive attitude and
5outgoing personality as well as his philanthropic activities,
6which have earned him 2 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Awards
7and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award; he was also known for his
8willingness to sign autographs for fans; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Jim Thome now works in an executive position with
10the Chicago White Sox; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
13SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate Illinois Route 24,
14beginning at the intersection of South Adams Street and
15Illinois Route 24 in Bartonville and ending at the intersection
16of Griswold Street and Route 24 in Peoria, as the "Jim Thome
17Highway"; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, The Illinois Department of Transportation is
19requested to erect at suitable locations, as designated by the
20James Howard Thome Committee and consistent with State and
21Federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs giving
22notice of the name of the "Jim Thome Highway"; and be it

 

 

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1further
 
2    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
3presented to the Secretary of the Illinois Department of
4Transportation and James Howard "Jim" Thome.