Ok, this one goes back in the annals of Illinois baseball history…
The SouthTown Star just did a piece on their star that made it big from Evergreen Park High School, Donn Pall. Pall, of course, played for the University of Illinois. In 1985, he was drafted and went
on to play in the majors, primarily for the White Sox.
Says Pall in the SouthTown Star article:
"I went to the U of I for the education. I didn’t get one single scholarship offer from anyone, but I loved the game, and after a while, I really wanted to play again, so I tried to make the team at Illinois as a walk-on.
"I got cut, but I remember going to watch the team later that year and not being too impressed with what I saw. I mean they were all great players for sure, but I didn’t think they were all that much better than me. So I prepared myself, went back the next year and made the team."
Pall was 18-13 at the University of Illinois. In his senior year, he went 13-1 which warranted attention from MLB scouts.
Pall is now a VP at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
Great information :)