Peoria Sunday Morning League Banquet featuring Jim Thome

The oldest amateur baseball league in America is kicking off its historic 107^th season with a special banquet on May 1^st at Par-A-Dice Hotel in East Peoria.  On Sunday, May 1^st at 2pm, the doors will open for a baseball celebration that will be a memorable event for baseball fans of all ages.  For the first time in history, Peoria’s very own Jim Thome will be serving as the keynote speaker at a Sunday Morning League Banquet.

The event will include cocktails, dinner, and socializing.  The highlights will be hearing baseball wisdom from the National Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Thome and welcoming another class into the Sunday Morning League Hall of Honor.

The event is being dubbed “From the Sunday Morning League to Cooperstown!”.  The story of Jim Thome is a special one that revolves around family and baseball.  Jim grew up in Bartonville and attended Limestone High School and Illinois Central College.  He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 13^th round of the 1989 MLB draft.  He went onto a 22-year MLB career, hit 612 home runs, and became the first Peorian ever inducted into a national sports Hall of Fame in 2018.  Before being drafted, Jim followed in the footsteps of his father, uncle, and grandfather by playing in the Sunday Morning League for three seasons.

The Thome name is synonymous with baseball.  And the Thome family was a trademark in the Sunday Morning League for a span of seven decades.  Jim’s grandfather (Chuck Thome Sr.) held the League’s career home run record for over 70 years.  Jim’s uncle (Art) and father (Chuck Jr.) also paved the way for Jim’s baseball career.

“It was great to grow up around here because the tradition of baseball followed pretty much not only our family but every other one around as well.  My uncle Art, my dad Chuck, my grandpa Chuck all had the opportunity to play in the Sunday Morning League.  The passion that they showed rubbed off onto me,” Jim stated in the 2016 Documentary There Will Be Baseball. 
To pay tribute to the Thome Family’s contributions to the Sunday Morning League, in 2018, the League permanently named their Championship Trophy as “The Thome Trophy”.  On May 1^st, Jim will share the stage with his namesake Trophy for the first time.

To order tickets or reserve a table for this event, visit WWW.PSML.NET.  This is a family-friendly event that will entertain baseball fans and local Peoria enthusiasts.

The 107^th season of the Sunday Morning League will officially begin later that same month on May 29^th.  An open tryout will be held at EastSide Centre on Sunday, May 22^nd.  Tryout sign-ups can be found on the PSML website (WWW.PSML.NET).  The Sunday Morning League is a competitive, wood-bat, amateur baseball league.  The talent is primarily college baseball caliber.  The ages in the league range from 17 to mid-40s, with the majority of the players in their 20s and 30s.

To stay updated throughout the season, visit: www.PSML.net or www.facebook.com/PSMLBaseball.  For more information, contact League President Tim Cundiff (tgcundiff@gmail.com) or Commissioner Doug McCarty (DougMcCarty@cityofeastpeoria.com).