We don’t tell you for whom to vote in elections. Nor do we take a stand in the heated Cardinals, Cubs, or White Sox baseball debates. But we can report that, as the Major League Baseball World Series approaches, nearly everyone in the LaSalle-Peru area — and certainly everyone at the St. Bede Academy community in Peru — is now cheering for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Two sons of the Illinois Valley region are members of the Phillies, including pitchers Chad Durbin, formerly of LaSalle, and J.A. Happ.

Happ, 25, is the son of Jim and Sue Happ, members of St. Joseph’s Parish in Peru. The tall and lanky left-handed pitcher is a 2001 graduate of St. Bede, where he not only played baseball but starred in basketball as well.

“I’m just so proud. He’s worked so hard,” Sue Happ told The Catholic Post on Wednesday as the Phillies prepared to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Philadelphia needed just one win in the next three games against the Dodgers to advance to the World Series.

John Bellino was Happ’s baseball coach at St. Bede. He also cited J.A.’s work ethic as well as academic success in a recent interview. Still, “who knew he would do this well?” asked Bellino regarding Happ, who was added to the Phillies’ roster late in the season.

The Happs are proud of all three of their children, including two older daughters now living in Chicago. And they are thrilled with how the community has embraced their son as he follows his dream. They have made trips to both Milwaukee and Philadelphia in recent weeks to watch their “wonderful” son.

No, we don’t tell you for whom to vote, nor for whom to root. But in this time of bad economic news, it might be therapeutic to cheer on local friends who are on the verge of achieving big dreams. Congratulations to Chad and J.A., and all who had a role in their successes. — Thomas J. Dermody, editor-in-chief, The Catholic Post