There’s been an interesting but probably not surprising development in the case to bring a minor league team to Champaign-Urbana. Among other points, investors are saying that the sale of beer would be critical to the financial success of the team. From the AP artcle via WBBM: “It is a…
Ben Reeser coming off a lights-out summer, started for the Orange team. I stopped by the first game of University of Illinois’ Orange and Blue series. Stop by The Baseball Zealot photo gallery and see the photos I took. 2B Ryan Hastings takes third on a fly ball. If you want to…
Big news in the local sports section today… a group is in negotiations with the University of Illinois to get the use of Illinois Field for a minor league team. Very exciting news, indeed. From the News-Gazette: “We’re always interested in looking for new markets for a professional baseball franchise,”…
The schedule for Illini’s Orange and Blue series has mostly been set. Sept 28 – 4pm Sept 29 – 10am Sept 30 – 10am Oct 5 – 4pm Oct 6 – TBA This split squad series is a good chance to see the Illinois team in action! In other Illini…
Congrats are in order for University of Illinois’ Joe Bonadonna. He was awarded the Rawlings Silver Glove for his play at second base while playing second base for the Duluth Huskies in the Northwoods League. In addition to his fine work with the glove, Bonadonna broke the league record with…
Throughout the summer the Illini baseball program has been keeping us informed of what’s was happening in the player’s own words with Summer Diamond Notes. I found them very useful and entertaining. Now it turns out they will continue the series with Fall Diamond Notes. Presumably, they will detail how…
Monday was the first day of practice for the University of Illinois baseball team, I showed up to watch and take a few photos. Thanks to Coach Hartleb and the staff for the privilege. I was the only non-team member there so I felt like I had quite an exclusive.…
In their respective collegiate summer leagues, Illini players Ben Reeser and Nick Stockwell won post season awards before heading back to the University of Illinois for classes. Reeser was dubbed Coastal Plain League Defensive Player of the Year after winning a Fayetteville Swampdog team record 8 games with a 1.61…
Chris Basak, an Illini product, was acquired by the off waivers by the Twins from the Yankees. Basak has spent most of his time at Scranton-Wilkes Barre but did see 5 major league games for the Yanks. /thanks to Teddy Ballgame for the tip
Casey Crosby waited and waited… and for his time, he was rewarded with a $748,500 contract from the Detroit Tigers. In addition, he got college tuition money for eight semesters. One of the top pitchers from Illinois, Crosby had committed to the University of Illinois but was drafted in the 2007…