Jim Thome is born in Peoria, Illinois.

Thome will grow up to become a five-time All-Star in his 22-year career and one of the more prolific sluggers of his era and in the history of baseball. He ranks seventh in Major League Baseball history with 612 home runs. He is also second all-time in strikeouts and seventh in walks.

He spent parts of 13 seasons in Cleveland, including his first dozen MLB seasons from 1991 to 2002. He was a force in the middle of the order, hitting as many as 52 homers in the 2002 season, and few to this day could not mimic his trademark stance at the plate, now immortalized as a statue outside of Progressive Field.

Following his first stint in Cleveland, he made two stops in Philadelphia from 2003 to 2005 and against in 2012. He also played with his close-to-home Chicago White Sox from 2006 to 2009 before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After his short stay on the west coast, he spent parts of two seasons with the Minnesota Twins in 2010 and 2011, returned to Cleveland to end the 2011 season, and finished his career with 28 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2012.