Chief to Unveil Statue of Pete Vonachen at OBF on Sunday

[ChiefsVoice]

PEORIA, IL— The Peoria Chiefs, have announced they will unveil a statue of Peoria’s Mr. Baseball, Pete Vonachen prior to the 2:00 PM game against South Bend on Sunday September 4th.

The statue was presented Wednesday night at Pete’s 80th birthday celebration in Peoria and will be permanently placed inside the front gate at O’Brien Field. The statue was commissioned by Peoria’s Lonnie Stewart and it depicts Pete bending over to hand a baseball to a young fan.

The unveiling ceremony will take place at 1:30 PM on Sunday and the statue will be inside the front gate by the first section of seats walking straight into O’Brien Field. Pete celebrated his 80th birthday on Wednesday August 31st with a celebration in Peoria that benefited Crittenden Center.

Pete Vonachen has long been associated with baseball in Peoria and helped bring the Chiefs to Peoria in the 1980s. He purchased the team in September 1983, renamed the team 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 was often 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 re-purchase 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 he son Rocky took over the day to day operations. Vonachen delivered the eulogy at the funeral for Harry Caray 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.