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We "packed the park" at our January membership meeting Thursday evening!  "Cork at the Park" that is. 

Incoming President Ken Miller is seen here visiting with members as a full house jammed the Sox park pub to elect Bill Kellens as our new President Elect. 

Thanks to the friendly staff at Cork & Kerry for great job as our hosts!

Pitch & Hit Calendar
Date - Location

66th Annual Pitch & Hit Club Banquet
Jan. 29 - The Carlisle in Lombard

Hall of Famer Andre Dawson will be the featured guest atop the list of baseball royalty at the 66th  Annual Awards Banquet held by the Pitch and Hit Club of Chicago. The gathering will take place Sunday, Jan. 29 at the Carlisle Banquet Hall at 435 E. Butterfield Road in Lombard, IL

The Pitch and Hit banquet is the longest running and only industry-wide winter baseball banquet in the Chicago area.

Award Winners
Guest of Honor - Hall-of-Famer Andre Dawson
Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame Inductee -David Dombrowski, President and General Manager, Detroit Tigers
Chicago Area Major League Player of the Year - Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees
Jerome Holtzman Award presented by The Chicago Baseball Museum - Minnie Minoso, Chicago White Sox
Dizzy Trout Baseball Ambassador Award - Roland Hemond, Arizona Diamondbacks
Mary Frances Veeck Woman of the Year - Mrs. Jenny Dempster, Chicago Cubs and Dempster Family Foundation
Harry Caray Sportscaster of the Year - Dan Roan, WGN Television
Nick Kamzic Scout of the Year - Kris Gross, St. Louis Cardinals
Bill Gleason Sportswriter of the Year - Scott Merkin, MLB.com
Major League Executive of the Year - Doug Melvin, Milwaukee Brewers
Minor League Executive of the Year - Bill Waliewski, Joliet Slammers
Chicago Area Minor League Player of the Year - Casey Crosby, Detroit Tigers
Chicago Area College Player of the Year - Jeff Holm, Michigan State University
Chicago Area Amateur Coach of the Year - Justin Fleener, Teutopolis Wooden Shoes
Bo Jackson Courage Award - Jack Deheer, Roy Hobbs Baseball
Len DiForte Amateur Baseball Service Award - Al Budding
Charlie Hum Club Service Award - Jim Hall
Pitch & Hit Club President's Award - Old Timers Baseball Association of Joliet

In addition to a silent auction of sports memorabilia and other prizes,  current and former professional athletes will be on hand to sign autographs prior to the dinner. The evening will also include a raffle of items signed by Andre Dawson.

TICKETS
Tickets for the dinner are $100 each or $1,000 for a table of ten and can be purchased by mail, phone or email as indicated below:

E-mail:  Bridget Venturi-Veenema, Ticket Chair, bventuri@aol.com
Phone:  Bill Motluck, Club Treasurer (708) 805-1928
Mail:  Pitch & Hit Club -  P.O. Box 1047 – Lombard, IL – 60148
(Mail orders must be postmarked after January 23 will be held at will call)

Full Press Release

Frank Eccles, a longtime Pitch & Hit Club member, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 15 in his Crown Point, Ind. home. 

Frank was best known as "Coach". He loved baseball and coached many in the Sullivan/Turnball League in Clarendon Hills and Harvey, Thornton High School, Calumet College and many in between. Frank had more than 800 career wins. He took the 1974 Thornton High School baseball team to the Illinois High School Association final four.

He retired from teaching in 1993, after 31 1/2 years. He was very active in the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) and received the "Les Miller" Man of the Year Award in 1984 and 1994, the President's Award in 1997 and was inducted into the IHSBCA Hall of Fame in 1991.

 He is survived by his wife, Lynda Eccles, two sons, a daughter, two stepsons and six grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 7:00pm at Fagen-Miller Funeral Home, 8580 Wicker Ave. in St. John, IN with cremation to follow.

Pitch & Hit Club President John Dittrich (right) with Hall of Fame outfielder Dave Winfield at Wrigley Field. Winfield was a speaker at "Chicago Ideas Week".

 

Both showcase squads were coached by Pitch & Hit members.  Thanks to our team sponsors - Do It Right Baseball and Play Ball USA!  
More Photos

 

Congratulations to Roland Hemond,  the Pitch & Hit Club's Honorary Chairman of the Board, on being awarded the Buck O'Neil LIfetime Achivement Award this weekend in Cooperstown.

Asked about where the award ranked among his career accomplishments, Hemond told MLB.com, "I would have to place [Saturday's award ceremony] No. 1, because I got to know Buck O'Neill and what he meant to baseball," Hemond said.

"He was one of the great ambassadors of our game and his history and the person that he was, and then for me to be the recipient."

The Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award is presented by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors at the most often, once every three years.

The award is given in honor of an individual who enhanced baseball's positive impact on society, broadened the game's appeal, and whose integrity was comparable to O'Neil's.

 

Congratulations to Pitch & Hit Club member Mike Wieda on his perfect game thrown while pitching for a team in Slovakia. Below is a translated article about the game.

Baseball Rarity: Wieda pitched a perfect game!
Author: John King

Baseball player Mike Wieda again proved to be a great reinforcement for the Trnava Angels. American stars in a Saturday match against Hungarian team, Budapest – Érd Aeros. The Angels won both games and Wieda disposed a perfect game in the second game!

 The opponent on Saturday could not get anything, Hungarians were unable to target any of Wieda’s pitches. An accomplishment like this in both Slovakia and in America is rare. It's like a hole in one in golf. In baseball, it happens only once every few years. The opponent was not the strongest ballclub in Europe but to throw a perfect game is not easy against anyone. The pressure is always on the pitcher as the last innings intensify.

“I appreciate it even more so after I had the opportunity to make substitutions in the field allowing our recent call-ups to make a couple critical plays to help our pitcher," says manager and president of the Angels Maros Jančovič on Wieda’s performance.

Wieda retired every batter faced and in nine of the at bats did not throw a single ball; all strikes! Wieda said that it was his first perfect game of his entire career.

"The match was similar to many we have played earlier this season. In many aspects of the game we played very well and did what we expect from our team. In other cases, we still have work to do in some areas to avoid mistakes in the playoffs. We need to continue to get better each week and not focus simply on our winning streak.

This game was definitely a boost for us but we have to prepare for the teams that we will be contending with for championship,” remarked Mike Wieda, native of the Chicago area and Angels pitcher.

Congratulations to long-time Pitch & Hit Club member, Coach George Ushela and his LTHS (LaGrange) ballclub on winning the Illinois Class 4A State Baseball Championship this evening in front of over 4,000 fans at Silver Cross Field in Joliet.

And congrats to Providence Catholic (New Lenox) on a great season, too.

Above, Peter Caliendo, Mike Veeck, Roland Hemond and Jerry Krause talking baseball before Sunday's 65th Annual Awards Banquet. Veeck was the keynote speaker as his late father, Bill Veeck, along with the late Phil Cavaretta, was inducted into the club's "Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame".

Check out more photos from the event from Cliff Doll's Action Sports Photos

2011 Award Winners

Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame Award- Bill Veeck & Phil Cavarretta
Bo Jackson Courage Award-Dave Clark (see video below)
Harry Caray Sportscaster of the Year Award-Len Kasper
Mary Francis Veeck Woman of the Year Award- Dutchie Caray
Bill Gleason Sportswriter of the Year Award-Sean Duncan
Paul “Dizzy” Trout Ambassador Award-Peter Caliendo
Charlie Hum Club Service Award-Chip Sobek
High School Coach of the Year-Jeff Moeller
College Coach of the Year-Mark Kingston & Dennis Martel
Chicago Area Major League Player of the Year-Luke Gregerson
Chicago Cubs Minor League Player of the Year  Award-Jeff Samardzija
Chicago Area Minor League Player of the Year Award-Ryan Copeland
Minor League Executive of the Year- Rocky Vonachen
Meritorious Service Award-Jay Adamski
Len DiForte Amateur Baseball Service Award-Joe Marshall
College Player of the Year Award-Kevin Tokarski
President's Award- Kane County Cougars
Jerome Holtzman Award-Gary Moore
High School Baseball Lifetime Achievement Award-Jerry Szukala
Special Recognition Award- Chicago Blackhawks
Special Award- Nancy Faust