(Cooperstown, NY) — One of Peoria’s best baseball players is now, officially, one of the best baseball players in the world. Baseball writers yesterday voted Jim Thome into the Hall of Fame. Thome grew up in Peoria, went to Illinois Central College, then played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball. Most notably Thome was a slugger for the Cleveland Indians, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Chicago White Sox. Thome ended his career with 612 home runs, and that’s the eighth-most of all time.