There
was a bit of a stink a few weeks ago when the General Assembly managed to pass
the measure that declared corn to be the official state vegetable for Illinois.
Some from people who argue corn isn’t a vegetable (it’s a grain), while others
just think it is a totally pointless thing to do.
WILL
THESE SAME people come crawling out of the woodwork in coming weeks when the
state Senate will be asked to consider a measure designating a portion of U.S.
Route 24 in Peoria as the Jim Thome Highway?
As
in the same Thome who included a few seasons of his professional baseball
career with the Chicago White Sox and hit his 500th Home Run of his
career in the White Sox pinstripes – although the 600-home run milestone was
achieved while he wore the dingy and dumpy uniform of the Minnesota Twins.
The
measure already has come before the Illinois House of Representatives – where it
was approved without opposition earlier this week. Hey, the legislators had to
do something to justify their per diem payment to cover their living expenses
to be in the Illinois capital city to NOT approve a state government budget.
Unless
Chicago Cubs fans who serve in the Illinois Senate decide to get more ornery
and cranky than usual (that’s what a century of losing does to you) and refuse
to vote for anything that honors a White Sox player?
WHO’S
TO SAY!?! Although it should be noted that the general concept of the Thome
Highway was already in a separate measure the Senate considered – one sponsored
by state Sen. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap. He being the Republican nominee to
replace Aaron Schock in Congress.
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| Does anyone think Chief Wahoo looks better in bronze than Old English "Sox" |
I
doubt he wants to have his final Springfield act be a dissing of Thome’s
reputation. That could cost him big-time in the Sept. 10 Election Day.
Not
that this measure was meant to honor Chicago in any way. Thome is a Peoria-area
native who graduated from a Bartonville high school and played baseball briefly
for Illinois Central College before signing with the Cleveland Indians
organization where he played a significant portion of his career.
 |
| 600 home runs not enough for Hall? |
Which
means, sadly enough, that if Thome’s 600-plus home runs is good enough to get
him into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., someday, his bronze
plaque likely will depict him in a cap bearing that ridiculous-looking “Chief
Wahoo” head instead of the Old English “Sox” logo.
IF
YOU THINK I’m kidding that 600 home runs isn’t enough for recognition, keep in
mind that Sammy Sosa’s Chicago Cubbie glory days are no longer considered Hall
of Fame-worthy, even though he also achieved that immortal standard.
But
even if Thome doesn’t make it, he now will be able to say he has a highway
named in his honor in his hometown. It may even be an excuse for White Sox fans
to find an excuse to visit the city – if only to get their pictures taken with
a Thome Highway sign in the background.
Thus
far, Thome seems to have a reputation for being a ballplayer who didn’t use
anabolic steroids to bolster his strength and baseball career.
Unlike
people like Sosa and Mark McGwire, the one-time St. Louis Cardinals star who
back after his 1998 stretch of 70 home runs that season had the interstate
highway that leads from Illinois into downtown St. Louis named in his honor.
THAT
IS INTERSTATE 70 (Get it!), and I remember when St. Louis officials were
tickled pink (the same color that Cardinals uniforms turn once they fade due to
age and/or poor laundering) to have the McGwire Highway.
 |
| No longer worthy of a highway in St. Louis |
But
the steroid stories connected to McGwire caused that highway to become the “Mark
Twain Highway” back in 2010.
It
would seem that the “Thome Highway” will be longer-lasting in Illinois.
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