Now, you can become a fan of the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago on Facebook. Keep in touch with the latest information regarding meetings, events and other news.

Plus, you can connect with other Pitch & Hit Club members. Click here to see the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago's Facebook page.
 

For the second consecutive year, a member of the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago will be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as Jim Hall will be honored in January, 2011. 

Last month, Terry Ayers received the honor. 

Hall most recently coached at Lockport High School, winning two football state titles and one baseball state championship in 2005. He is currently the Team Illinois Under 18 coach for the Great Lakes National Teams.


 

Pitch & Hit Club secretary Terry Ayers was recently inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was part of the 2010 Hall of Fame class which was enshrined at the annual ABCA Convention in Dallas, Tex. on Jan. 8. 

Ayers was the baseball coach at  Fenton High School in Bensenville, Ill. from 1972-1981 and produced over 300 wins during that span. In 2009, he was honored with the Pitch & Hit Club's Charlie Hum Club Service Award. 
 

Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins was the featured speaker and Ryne Sandberg (pictured above) joined Fergie atop the list of baseball royalty at the 64th Annual Awards Banquet held by the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago on Sunday, Jan. 17 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. Photo by Cliff Doll. More photos.

Click here for a list of this year's Award Winners and Presenters. The event was emceed by Dave Kaplan of WGN Radio. 

To purchase photos from this year's dinner or past dinner, click here. Thanks to Cliff Doll at Action Sports Photos for his great work. 

Upcoming Meetings
On Wednesday, February 10th at 6:30 p.m. we will have our members meeting.  The meeting will be held at the Home Run Inn pizzeria in Addison. 

1480 W. Lake Street
Addison, IL 60101
phone: 630-775-9696
fax: 630-773-6779 
Map

 
Henry Gigeous, who was honored with the Bo Jackson Courage award at this year's Pitch & Hit Club Awards Dinner, was featured recently in a story on MLB.com. He is a pitcher and infielder for H.D. Jacobs High School in Algonquin, Ill.

Gigeous is the younger brother of Nick Adenhart, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident last April following a great pitching performance for the Los Angeles Angels.
 

Longtime Chicago sportswriter and talk show host Bill Gleason died on Sunday at the age of 87. The Pitch & Hit Club's Sportswriter of the Year Award is named for Gleason, who emceed numerous Pitch & Hit Club dinners throughout the years. 

Gleason wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times for 60 years and later hosted the talk show "The Sports Writers" which began as a radio show in 1975 and later became  "The Sports Writers on TV" from 1985-1997. 

Rick Telander from the Sun-Times remembers Gleason.
 

Its time to sign up for membership for the Pitch & Hit Club for 2010. With your membership, you can:

- Rub elbows with the likes of current professional players, coaches and management as well as other local baseball personalities. 
Attend meetings at Wrigley Field, U.S. Cellular Field and other local ballparks (food included). 
- Have a chance to nominate players, coaches, scouts, front office staff and others for annual awards. 
- Receive monthly newsletter about club events and general announcements. 
- Work with the best high school players in the state at our annual showcases. 
- Know the area scouts and college coaches in a social setting. 
- Opportunity to network with other club members. 
- Gain special privileges at club's High School Showcases. 
- Receive discounts on club wearables

And now, you can sign up for membership online here.

The 2009 Pitch & Hit Club Showcase, which was scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 3 at Silver Cross Field in Joliet, Illinois has been CANCELLED due to inclement weather. The event will not be re-scheduled. 

Thank you for your interest in the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago. 





 

 Kevin Kozial and Justin O'Connor, both of whom took part in the Pitch & HIt Club showcase last fall will play in All-America games this summer. 

 
Click here for more photos of the 1st Annual Pitch & Hit Club Chicago Public League showcase. Scouts, click for 60-yard dash times for Red team and Grey team.  

 

Seventeen players who at one time participated in the Pitch & Hit Club Showcase were taken in last week's Major League Baseball first year player draft. 

2008 Showcase players drafted - 9

#168  Seth Schwindenhammer - Red Sox
#230  Blair Springfield - Cubs
#740  Gerardo Esquivel - Cubs
#920  Dan Sheppard - Cubs
#1068  Matt Milroy - Red Sox
#1076  Scott Firth - Orioles
#1093  Ryan Crowley - White Sox
#1222  Dane Opel - Nationals
#1435  Blake Brown - Pirates

Previous Showcase Players Drafted: 8

#213  Ian Krol - Athletics
#337  Connor Powers- Dodgers
#481  Dom Altobelli - Rockies
#487  Michael Pericht - Dodgers
#606  Adam Worthington - Diamondbacks
#692  Scott Kelley - Royals
#853  Robert Cummings - White Sox
#1393  Grant Monroe - White Sox

 The Pitch & Hit Public League Showcase took place on June 25 and 26 at Les Miller Field and was recognized by the city of Chicago with a resolution. 

Pete Caliendo, President of the Chicago Pitch & Hit Club pictured here with baseball legend Minnie Minoso, recently addressed the state of baseball around the world, developing young ballplayers and coaching.
Click here to read the Q&A article. 
 

John Vrablik, former minor league catcher and longtime member of the Pitch & Hit Club, has died.

A graduate of Schurz High School, Vrablik signed with the Cubs in 1942 and at one time caught his brother, pitcher Steve Vrablik with Janesville. The two are pictured in the newspaper photo to the left.

After serving in the Army, Vrablik was a catcher in the Cleveland Indians organization in 1947 and 1948 before joining the White Sox organization in 1949.

Visitation for John Vrablik is at the Skaja Terrace Funeral Home, 7812 N. Milwaukee Ave., Niles, Tuesday, Feb. 24 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

John's son Tom Vrablik remembers his father and the time they spent together at Pitch & Hit Club dinners through the years. 


 

The 64th Annual Pitch & Hit Club Awards Dinner will take place on Sunday, Jan 17, 2010, it was announced today. The dinner will once again be held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. Check back often for further details regarding the  2010 Awards Dinner.

 

The Pitch & Hit Club held its 63rd Annual Awards Dinner on Sunday, Jan. 25 at the Rosemont Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. Among the award winners were White Sox slugger Jim Thome (above) and Minnie Minoso. The emcee for the evening was Chicago Cubs radio announcer Pat Hughes. More Photos 

Click here to view and purchase photos from the 2009 Awards Dinner.

 

Charlie Hum, a fifty year member and someone who epitomizes the club passed away. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Charlie’s family. Many Pitch and Hit Officers, Board members and members attended the wake and funeral.

An award will be named in Charlie’s name, the Charlie Hum Pitch and Hit Service award. It will be presented  the evening of the 63rd annual dinner.

Wrigley           
January 21st       Wednesday,    6:30 pm

 

Club Member Len DiForte and Peter Caliendo meet State Representative and Member of the Pitch and Hit Club Patricia Bellock at her Hinsdale office to discuss club business.

 

Club member Len Diforte, who went through a quintuple bypass surgery nine months ago, visits the Hoosier Bat Company along with President Peter Caliendo and members Ron Kittle and Herb Forkenbrock.

They took a guided  tour given by owners Debbie and Dave Cook, two of the club's biggest supporters.  Visit the Hoosier Bat Company web site at: www.hoosierbat.com.

 

Letter from the President, 12/10/08 
 
Dear Members:
 
We hope that you and your families had a great Thanksgiving and that you are al looking forward to a great holiday season.
 
The club in the last 5 years has really progressed and we look forward in many more great years to come. We are proud to announce several new things going on with the club . Our annual 63rd awards banquet coming up in January highlighted by our MC, Pat Hughes voice of the Cubs and future Hall of Famer Jim Thome receiving the Pitch and Hit Club Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame award.
 
Since we keep the ticket prices extremely low and our goal of donating money to promote the game in the Chicago area are high, we really need your help in other areas to raise money. These areas are in selling tickets and tables for the annual awards dinner, ads for the booklet, memorabilia items for the silent auction and selling corporate sponsors packages. Please read below who to contact if you have any of the above sales for the club. Some of the charities we donate to are Cubs Care,  Chicago White Sox Charities and the Scouts foundation.
 
Membership drive is important to the continual development of the club and your help is needed in bringing new members to the meetings and increasing our memberships. We have a lot of people turn out for the meetings, they are fun and tailored around getting together and talking baseball, meeting new friends and having fun.
 
We are very proud to announce the progress of the club below and want to thank all our members and sponsors for all their help. There will be future announcements of the clubs growth along with award winners, so keep up with our constant contact newsletter and check out our web site for future information, www.pitchandhitclub.org
 
We look forward in seeing everyone at the meetings and annual dinner,
 
Yours for Better Baseball
Peter Caliendo
President

Club President Pete Caliendo with US President Bush at the 2008 Olympics

Check back often as we will be setting up our online store where members can purchase club apparel (hats, shirts, jackets, etc) as well as tickets to the annual dinner.