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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives would like to congratulate Jake Arrieta of the
4Chicago Cubs for being awarded the 2015 National League Cy
5Young Award; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Jacob Joseph "Jake" Arrieta was born in
7Farmington, Missouri on March 6, 1986; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Jake Arrieta showed tremendous potential from a
9young age, having been selected in the 31st round of the 2004
10Major League Baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds as a senior
11attending Plano East Senior High School in Plano, Texas; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Jake Arrieta attended Weatherford Junior College
13in Weatherford, Texas instead of joining the Reds organization;
14after playing a successful season, he was again selected in the
15draft, this time by the Milwaukee Brewers, however, he
16continued playing at the college level, transferring to Texas
17Christian University (TCU) in Forth Worth, Texas; during his
18time at TCU, he won the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the
19Year award; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Jake Arrieta patiently timed his entrance to Major
21League Baseball; he was picked in the 5th round of the 2007 MLB

 

 

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1draft by the Baltimore Orioles; he made his major league debut
2with the Orioles in 2010 and played with the team (and their
3minor league affiliates) until 2013 when he was traded to the
4Chicago Cubs; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Jake Arrieta did not have a particularly stellar
6introduction to the majors during his time in Baltimore; but
7after joining the Cubs, his fortunes began to change; by the
8end of the 2014 season, the young right-hander had demonstrated
9that he could pitch impressively in the big leagues; he had a
1010 win, 5 loss season, with 1 complete game shut-out, 167
11strikeouts, and an earned-run-average of 2.53 in 156.2 innings
12of play; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Jake Arrieta did not lose any of his momentum
14going into 2015, where he compiled an extraordinary regular
15season marked by many feats; he started 33 games, completing 4
16of them, including 3 complete game shutouts; he pitched a total
17of 229 innings, allowing only 150 hits, 45 earned runs, 10 home
18runs, and 48 walks; he led the majors with 22 wins and only 6
19losses, and registered a 1.77 earned run average - second only
20to Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Perhaps there was no better example of Jake
22Arrieta's prowess than on August 20, 2015 when he pitched a
23no-hitter against the Dodgers, the 14th no-hitter in Chicago

 

 

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1Cubs history; and
 
2    WHEREAS, As a result of this and many other sensational
3performances in August, Jake Arrieta was named the National
4League Pitcher of the Month after having gone 6 and 0, with a
50.43 earned run average and one no-hitter; after the 2015
6All-Star break, he posted a 0.75 earned run average in 15
7starts, which now stands as the lowest in Major League Baseball
8history; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Jake Arrieta continued dominating batters in
10September, for which he was named National League Pitcher of
11the Month once again after going 4-0 with a cumulative earned
12run average of just 0.45; and
 
13    WHEREAS, On November 18, 2015, Jake Arrieta was named the
14National League Cy Young Award winner, becoming only the fifth
15Chicago Cubs ace to earn the prominent honor and the first
16since Greg Maddux in 1992; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The success that Jake Arrieta commanded this
18season played a major role in leading the Cubs to their first
19playoff appearance since 2008, and the first Cubs appearance in
20the National League Championship Series since 2003; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Jake Arrieta, along with Rookie of the Year, Kris

 

 

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1Bryant, Manager of the Year, Joe Maddon, and fellow teammates,
2brought a new sense of pride and joy to the North Side; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The victories of Jake Arrieta and the Chicago Cubs
4this season have fans across the country looking forward to
5continued success and excitement coming from the Friendly
6Confines; therefore, be it
 
7    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
8NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
9congratulate Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs on being named
10the National League Cy Young Award winner and wish him repeated
11success in the future; and be it further
 
12    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
13delivered to Jake Arrieta as a symbol of our appreciation.