The Thomeinator Comes Home

Jaxson Jason

September 27, 2021

Jim Thome, a former baseball player for the ICC Cougars in 1988, came home for a field dedication ceremony Wednesday night. The college named the baseball and softball fields in his name to honor the 2018 first-ballot Hall of Famer. Thome was a member of the Cleveland Indians most notably but was also a member of the Phillies, White Sox, Twins, Orioles, and Dodgers. He now serves as a special advisor to the White Sox and as an MLB analyst for MLB Network.

Jim Thome came home to a warm dinner reception outside of the CougarPlex in the East Peoria campus and a lot of excitement from people from the area. When talking about ICC, Thome talked about “having that comfort level at home was no doubt the best part of my journey.” He also said that his coaches and family were very supportive of his rise from playing for a junior college to the MLB in 1991.

Thome threw out the first pitch of the ICC inter-squad scrimmage game that took place after the dinner ceremony and spoke a few words to the crowd about how much this honor meant to him. “It was incredible… you don’t play baseball to get a field named after you but when it happens, it’s really cool.” The ICC Cougars baseball team plays their first game after the ceremony on Thome Field on Saturday against Carl Sandburg College at 10 AM.  Be sure to check out the ICC Harbinger Soundcloud for the weekly SportsCast! Go Cougars!

Profile Photo Credit: Donn Frizzi