Illinois Baseball Report

My first memory of Pete Cappetta was during a particularly one-sided loss against Penn State in 2008, his freshman year. Cappetta was our backup shortstop back then and wasn’t getting a lot of playing time yet. While Illinois lost that game 16-5, Cappetta’s three-run homerun in the seventh inning (seen right as he high-fives [...]

Filed under: Feature on February 13th, 2010 | Leave a Comment! »

Though it’s still freezing here in Central Illinois, we have to remind ourselves that opening day IS less than two weeks.  Let’s find out about the University of Illinois baseball by the numbers.
There are 34 players listed according to the roster.  I’ve sorted, filtered, and broken it down to get a sense of exactly what [...]

Filed under: Feature on February 9th, 2010 | Leave a Comment! »

I hadn’t even noticed this when I first glanced the 2010 Illinois schedule.   However, someone pointed out to me that in April, the team are in for a treat.  On April 7th, they will play at the St Louis Cardinals’ home field, Busch Stadium.  Outstanding!  They will play the University of Missouri Tigers. 
I’m [...]

Filed under: Feature on January 8th, 2010 | Leave a Comment! »

A streak of fire, a breath of flame Eluding all who reach and clutch; A gray ghost thrown into the game That rival hands may never touch; A rubber bounding, blasting soul [...]

Filed under: Feature on November 21st, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

All these times I’ve crossed the cemetery on Florida Avenue on my way to Illinois Field to watch the Illini play, I never realized I was passing by the gravestone of a former major leaguer. 
I learn from Kyle of the Chillini blog:
Big Jeff (Pfeffer) was born and raised in Champaign and attended the University [...]

Filed under: Feature on November 3rd, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

A little non-baseball yet Illini-related material stuff in honor of tomorrow’s football game versus Illinois State. 

For me, I can tell that it’s fall by the sound of a marching band.  You see, I have the privilege of hearing (and sometimes watching) the University of Illinois Marching Band practice right outside the building where [...]

Filed under: Feature on September 11th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

For my money, Brian DeCaussin knows more about Big Ten baseball than any of us “regular guys” and more importantly, doesn’t back down speaking out about some of the issues facing the game.
DeCaussin runs Big Ten Hardball, the “go-to” website for anyone who is interested in Big Ten baseball.  BTH acts as sort of [...]

Filed under: Feature on May 13th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I remember two years ago I was talking to a father of one of the players at the 2007 Big Ten Tournament.  He shared with me that he wouldn’t be surprised if then freshman Brandon Wikoff would set the hits record for Illinois provided he played all four years.
 
Fast forward two years to 2009.  [...]

Filed under: Feature on April 27th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Last year at about this time, I corresponded with an Michigan State baseball fan named Tom Tompkins.  He was nice enough to write a bit about the 2008 Illinois-MSU series that was happening in East Lansing.
Well, the 2009 MSU-Illinois series is almost upon us and Tom dropped me an email.  He tells me that [...]

Filed under: Feature on March 24th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »

Yes, we have some photos of last weekend’s series!
Morgan Gilman attended the Illinois series against LSU in Baton Rouge at the new Alex Box Stadium last weekend and snapped some photos while she was there.
Many thanks to Morgan for passing these photos on to me!

Here’s a good shot of the interior of Alex Box from [...]

Filed under: Feature on March 11th, 2009 | Leave a Comment! »