HR0641 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0641 LRB095 12889 GRL 38398 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Rick Hummel on the occasion of his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, Rick Hummel was elected the 2006 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, receiving 233 votes from the 417 ballots cast by BBWAA members; and

WHEREAS, Rick Hummel grew up in Illinois; he was hired by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1971 and started covering the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973; he covered his first major-league game in 1973 and was the Cardinals' beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for 24 years, from 1978 through 2001; he was named the newspaper's national baseball columnist in 2002; he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 and named Missouri Sportswriter of the Year four times by the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association in Salisbury, North Carolina; he is a past recipient of the Jack Buck Award at the annual Multiple Sclerosis Dinner in St. Louis and the Bob Broeg-Jack Buck Award at the Missouri Athletic Club Dinner; he was national president of the BBWAA in 1994; he served on the Spink Award Committee for 10 years and is a member of the BBWAA's Historical Overview and Screening Committees, which help devise the Veterans Committee ballot for the Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, Rick Hummel is affectionately known as "The Commish" among his fellow sportswriters; by his own estimate, he has attended more than 5,000 baseball games; he has covered 28 All-Star Games and 29 World Series, most recently the Cardinals' five-game victory over the Detroit Tigers; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Rick Hummel on the occasion of his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and wish him continued success and happiness in the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Rick Hummel as a symbol of our esteem and respect.