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. 
 

Hall-of-Famer Ferguson Jenkins will be the guest of honor at the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago’s 64th Annual Awards Banquet to be held on January 17, 2010 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL.  

Jenkins’ No. 31  will be retired by the Cubs in a ceremony at Wrigley Field on Sunday, May 3, 2009.  He was elected to the National Baseball Hall-of-Fame in Cooperstown, NY in 1991 and is also a member of the Pitch & Hit Club’s “Lou Boudreau Hall of Fame”.  In his 19-year major league career, Jenkins won 284 games, winning 20 or more games 7 times including 6 consecutive 20 win seasons with the Cubs from 1967-72.

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.