Award season

An award for a member of the Peoria Chief family will be presented soon:

Vonachen to get 'Dizzy' Trout Award

PEORIA, Ill. -- Former Peoria Chiefs president and general manager Pete Vonachen is set to be honored as the newest recipient of the Paul "Dizzy" Trout Award by the Pitch & Hit Club of Chicago at a banquet set for Jan. 28 in Rosemont, Ill.

The Paul "Dizzy" Trout Award is an ambassador award for excellence and commitment to the game of baseball. Past winners have included White Sox executive Roland Hemond, pitcher/broadcaster Steve Stone, and White Sox organist Nancy Faust.

Vonachen was nominated for the Trout Award by Roland Hemond and selected by the entire Pitch and Hit Club which consists of more than 150 members. The main requirement for the award is a long and outstanding contribution to the game of baseball. Pete joins his son, Rocky, as Pitch and Hit Club Award recipients. Rocky, the Chiefs president, was named Minor League Executive of the Year in 2002 after the Chiefs moved downtown to O'Brien Field and won their first Midwest League title.

Pete Vonachen has long been associated with baseball in Peoria and helped bring the Chiefs to town in the 1980s. He purchased the team in September 1983, renamed it the Chiefs and set up an affiliation with the Chicago Cubs. He made national headlines by sitting on top of the clubhouse during a 20-game suspension and often was talked about on Cubs broadcasts by good friend Harry Caray. In 1992, the stadium the Chiefs called home was renamed Pete Vonachen Stadium.

After selling the team in the late 1980s, Pete led a group to repurchase the Chiefs in 1994 and set up an affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals. He served as the Chiefs general manager and president until 1998, when his son, Rocky, took over the day-to-day operations. Vonachen delivered the eulogy at Caray's funeral in Chicago in February 1998, which was broadcast on WGN. The efforts of Pete, Rocky and the other Chiefs investors led to the opening of O'Brien Field in 2002, and the street in front of the stadium was renamed Pete Vonachen Way.

Good award for a good man.