Hall of Famer Jim Thome made visiting Limestone baseball team feel special

BARTONVILLE, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — The Limestone High School baseball field features a Jim Thome mural behind home plate.

It’s meant to inspire the Rockets to play like the 1988 Limestone grad and baseball Hall of Famer. Saturday, those current high school players met Thome.

“I don’t know if it was a better moment for Limestone baseball or Jim,” said Limestone baseball coach Tyler Christiansen. “I think it was a huge moment for the game of baseball.”

Christiansen helped set up a game between Limestone and LaGrange Park Nazareth Academy, the defending Illinois High School Association class 3A state champs. Thome is helps coach Nazareth where his son Landon is a sophomore second baseman.

Nazareth won the first game of the scheduled doubleheader, 6-0. The second game was expected to be a free-substitution game for the benefit of reserve players.

Christiansen had a little twist in game two of the doubleheader and asked Thome if he wouldn’t mind coaching with him. So pulled off his Limestone jacket and gave it to Thome and sent him over to be the firstbase coach.

“He was very appreciative of the offer,” Christiansen said. “I think it caught him off guard at first and he got a little choked up. He paused for a moment when I explained what was going on.”

Thome hung out in the Rockets dugout for game two as well.

“That was new. I never thought I’d have a Hall of Famer in the dugout with me,” said Limestone junior Gavin Kleist. “Never thought I’d be able to speak to a Hall of Fame before. He’s really nice. It was just nice to talk to him.”

One Limestone player asked Thome to sign his cap and then he signed all caps of every player.

“He talked to us a lot and told us about his high school career, his one year in college and how he went to the big leagues,” said senior Caleb Bieneman. “He told us his story.”

And a Limestone player had a memorable birthday Saturday.

“I had a bat that he signed “to Sebastien.” It was a once in a lifetime experience,” said junior Sebastien Meyers, who turned 17 on Saturday. “I never thought I’d meet a Hall of Famer. Especially on my birthday.”

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