On Saturday night, the Chancellor Ballroom at the iHotel was filled to capacity with loyal Illinois Baseball fans for the 2020 First Federal Hot Stove Banquet. Three-time Manager of the Year Buck Showalter was the keynote speaker and Mike Namoff facilitated a successful live and silent auction for Illinois Baseball. …
Illinois baseball is starting out the year right. D1baseball.com has named Coach Dan Hartleb the Big Ten Coach of the Decade! According to D1Baseball.com’s All Decade award-laden post: There’s plenty of competition for this honor. Former Indiana coach Tracy Smith has a good argument but only coached half the decade…
The Illinois baseball recruitment team has been busy lately. Today, it was announced that seven high school athletes and two junior college transfers have signed national letters of intent to play for the Illini. According to FightingIllini.com, they are… Jack Crowder RHP Plainfield East HS Ryan Hampe C John A.…
This Friday is Opening Day! The Illini will take on Georgetown at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Last year’s team was young, no doubt about it. With one more year under their belt, they have a year’s worth of experience and the team is better off for it. While…
The Illinois Baseball community continues to amaze me. The annual Illinois Baseball Hot Stove Banquet co-sponsored by the Dugout Club, was scheduled for last Saturday night. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if attendance would be high. We had a nasty winter storm roll in on Saturday and roads were…
Saturday night is Illinois baseball’s annual Hot Stove banquet officially kicking off the 2019 season. And yes, there actually is a hot stove. It is lit at the beginning of the banquet. Rumor has it that the organizers of the banquet have to get special permission from the City Fire…
What a weekend for Illini baseball! A sweep of the Indiana State Sycamores is just what the team needed. Not only did Illinois win all three games against the Sycamores (12-12) but they did it in style with a fantastic pitching performance from Ty Weber as well as some offensive…
“It’s just good to be home. You get to play on your own field, we have great fans here, and I think that’s a huge plus for us.” Dan Hartleb via Daily Illini For the first time this season, local fans will get to see the Illini baseball team at…
Local media showed up at the Irwin Indoor Football Practice Facility where the Illinois baseball team was taking practice on Friday. It was Media Day and both Coach Dan Hartleb and designated player spokesperson Anthony Drago (above) took some time to speak to the press. Coach Hartleb’s crew is…
Last night, the Illinois baseball program celebrated at its annual Hot Stove Banquet. Sponsored by the Illini Baseball program and the Illinois Baseball Dugout Club, the Hot Stove is held every year in the offseason. Fans at the banquet were treated to a terrifically uncompromising speech by Hall of Fame…