No doubt, Hudson has been busy talking to the media since he got picked up by the Rangers organization in late January.  Not only that, he will join another former Illini, catcher Chris Robinson.  Both have an invite to spring training. 

Good luck to both!

If you’re interested in supporting the baseball program, you can purchase tickets to the banquet by filling out the registration form (pdf).  The base price is $50 but there are plenty of options to buy a full table (including with an Illini baseball player). 

Don’t forget to bid for the presence of former Illini and current Baltimore Oriole Kyle Hudson at your table.  By the way, that’s a great idea for a promotion, Dugout Club!! 

Tyler Hamer throwing from the mound at last year’s Orange and Blue World Series

It’s time for some October baseball.  Yes, Cardinals fans, I know your team is in the playoffs but I’m talking about Illinois Baseball Orange and Blue World Series.  Once again, the annual split squad series is upon us.  Here’s your chance to come see a game at Illinois Field and be guaranteed that the Illini will win… or at least half of them.

And if you’re wondering, the weatherman is being nice to us.  The forecast is fantastic!  Sunny and high in the mid-70s for all three days.

Monday is the first game.

Mon., Oct. 3 – 3:30 PM (Orange & Blue World Series Game 1)
Tues., Oct. 4 – 4 PM (Orange & Blue World Series Game 2)
Wed., Oct. 5 – 3:30 PM (Orange & Blue World Series Game 3)

It’s a good chance to see what the 2012 Illini will look like and you’ll see all of the new freshman recruits getting some time.

So go ahead, take off work early.  The boss won’t mind.

Hudson makes a memorable exit

Former Illini Kyle Hudson made a difference in the final game of the year for the Baltimore Orioles in which the Red Sox were eliminated from postseason.

With the Orioles down a run and staring at their final out, third baseman Chris Davis kept the game alive with a double off Papelbon, and Reimold’s scorcher, which was ruled a ground-rule double, scored pinch-runner Kyle Hudson to tie the game at 3. Andino, whose heroics helped the O’s win Monday’s game, dug in against Papelbon hitless in his all four of his previous at-bats. But all it took was a 1-1 splitter with just enough of the plate to change his night and alter the Red Sox’s fate, sending Boston packing in a historical September collapse.

Congrats Kyle!  It’s the last impression of the season that’s the lasting one.

Joe Bonadonna (left, with the Illini) and the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins Single-A) are seeing playoff action for the first time in 12 years.  They did in style too.  They won 13 of their last 15 games to win their South Atlantic League division.

Tanner Roark and his Harrisburg Senators (Nationals Double-A) clinched the earlier this month.  They won the Western Division of the Eastern League on September 1.  They had the help of big star Stephen Strasburg who pitched the clinching game.

The Missoula Osprey and Josh Parr (Diamondbacks, Rookie)are in the midst of a playoff series against the Great Falls Voyagers for the Pioneer League North Division title.  Josh is still in rehab from his injury from earlier in the year so it’s doubtful he’ll get in the game but I’m sure he’s in the dugout doing everything he can.

Good luck to all!!!

In other news, Kyle Hudson got his first stolen base the other day.  The first of many to come, I’m sure.  And don’t starting counting now but he has a three game hitting streak going.

The Baltimore media ran a photo with him in it a few days ago.

Earlier in the second, Hudson, also drove in his first rbi.  Teammate Robert Andino scored on his fielder’s choice.

Hudson had a odd game Sunday for his career first game in the majors.  Hud, known for his speed, hit into two double plays.  He got razzed about it by his new teammates.  No doubt, Hudson feels good to get that first hit out of the way.

“It’s been a pretty wild couple of days for me but it’s been exciting,” Hudson said. “To get my debut out of the way is nice. Today was pretty unbelievable going into Yankee Stadium with all the tradition.”

Congratulations, Kyle!  Keep ‘em comin’!

Robbie gets 100

Hud wasn’t the only one with a milestone.  Former Illini catcher Chris Robinson reached 100 rbis for the year in the Iowa Cubs’ season finale.  Robbie went 2-4 for the game and finished with a .316 batting average for the year.

Good news for former University of Illinois outfielder Kyle Hudson.  The fleet-footed centerfielder been called to the bigs!  The Baltimore Orioles called up Hudson yesterday to the parent organization to meet the September 1 deadline.

He had been playing for the AAA Norfolk Tides and doing quite well.  For the year, Hudson hit .296 with 38 stolen bases 57 runs scored.

If I’m correct, the Orioles’ 1998 4th round pick will be the first Illini player to make the majors since infielder Chris Basak who spent some a little time with the New York Yankees in 2007.

Hudson was obviously known as a speedster in his years at Illinois, ranking third all-time among Illini with 66 steals.  We sometimes forget what he could with the bat.  He was second all-time among Illini in career hitting with a .376 batting average.  In his last year with the Illini in 2008, he hit an astounding .398.

Good luck to Hud!  Illini fans are all rooting for you!

Hudson was promoted to Norfolk the second time on July 17.  For the year, he’s hitting .288 with 46 runs and 29 steals.  You can find out more about Hudson at the Tides’ website.

Good luck, Kyle!

Yep, Pete Cappetta seems to be on a roll (arggh, there aren’t any more games left).  Today, he hit his second homerun of the series and his third in four games.  These were the first three homeruns of the year for Pete.

Craig Lutes and Casey McMurray also hit homeruns (#3 and #6 respectively).  Christian Cummins was 2 for 4 with a run. 

Wille Argo is called safe on a steal against Purdue. 

Argo Watch:  There’s at least one thing to celebrate for the Illini.  From today’s boxscore:

SB – Argo, W.(41);

Willie Argo passed Illinois baseball legends Shawn Roof, Kyle Hudson (I’ve seen them play… ‘legends’ is not a stretch) on the Illini single season stolen base list. 

1.  Willie Argo (2010) 41

2.  Kyle Hudson (2008) 40

     Shawn Roof (2007) 40

4.  Todd Schmitke (1981) 35

Congratulations, Willie!!!!!

Random Ramblings

This will be the first time I’ll be viewing the Big Ten Baseball Tournament bracket and not see Illinois anywhere on it.  I’ve been covering them since 2005 when they won their last Big Ten championship and the Tournament was held here in Champaign.  Since then, I’ve been to every Big Ten Tournament with the exception of 2006.  It will certainly be a different postseason especially for the players. 

Am I too much of a traitor if I’m a little glad that #3 seed Northwestern made it in?  Not only are they our geographic buddies but I like seeing the underdogs make it.  It’s been a few years since they’ve been in.  I suppose so. 

Kudos to Minnesota and Michigan who are the #1 and #2 seeds in the tourney respectively.  Especially, Minnesota who we all wondered what was going on with their miserable early pre-conference start.  They won when it mattered. 

Good luck to the Tournament teams and more importantly…

Thanks to the Illinois Baseball team for a great year!!

Long story short, I didn’t know about Illinois’ 2-1 series win till I got back to Champaign-Urbana.  Mom, Happy Mother’s Day!  I was more than happy to do it for you. 

That said, on any other weekend, I wish I could have been at Bill Davis Stadium during those games.  Looks like Kevin Johnson (right), who seems to be getting stronger as the season wears on, pitched a humdinger.  It’s his fourth win of the season. 

Friday’s game must have been the most exciting.  A three-run ninth inning rally to put the good guys up for good.  Not sure if anyone noticed but the Bucks got 12 hits that game but could only score three runs. 

Sunday, they couldn’t quite pull it off and lost 8-4.  Willie Argo managed to get three hits in the process, though.

Here are the current standings in the Big Ten:

I’ve never seen such a tight race in Big Ten baseball before.  A four-way tie for first, a two-way tie for fifth and a four-way tie for last… and only two games separating everyone.

This is true every year but so much more this year;  the last couple weekends will be VERY important. 

Stat Stuff

Willie Argo continues to steal bases and is within reach of breaking the Illinois single season record.  With three thefts on Sunday, Argo is at 37.  The record is held by Kyle Hudson (left) with 40.  No doubt, that will be broken. 

Bryan Roberts is cruising as Illinois’ closer.  He racked up two more saves against Ohio State giving him nine for 2010. 

And I’m not sure what to make of this but… Illinois has outscored their opponents 298-293 but trails in rbis 269-262. 

Next up

No midweek games this week.  I don’t know if that helps us or not.  I can’t help but think that the 19-0 win over Butler influenced Illinois’ outlook going into Ohio State.  It certainly didn’t hurt.

Our next game will be against the Purdue Boilermakers this coming weekend.  It will be our last home conference series.  Friday’s game is at 6:05pm.

Great job, Illini!

On Tuesday, Illinois will take on Illinois State University at their place in Normal.  ISU is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference where they are currently second in this early season. This will be the first of two meetings between the two teams this season.  In less than a month, the Redbirds will come visit us. 

Then on Wednesday, it’s our first home game of the year!!!  I encourage all Illini baseball fans to come out and cheer on the guys.  They’ll be taking on the Chicago State Cougars.  Gametime is 6:05pm. 

Welcome back to the North guys… here are your two opponents this week:

Tokarski leads the team in batting (.479), runs scored (25) and OBP (.591) and slugging (.863).  He also has plenty of gap power with 15 doubles.

Overall, ISU’s offense has been a bit better than their opponents (.304 to .290, .463 slugging to .402 but most importantly 166 runs to 146). 

The biggest question here is will we see one of top two starters, Kenny Long or Corey Maines?  Both have been exceptional this year.  Long has just been honored as the MVC pitcher of the week.

Chicago State Cougars
March 31, 2010			6:05 pm ct
Illinois Field			Champaign, IL
Program website link			Record	1-8
Head Coach:	Michael Caston		Key player:	Kevin Hussey

Hussey is hitting .370 and leads the Cougars in rbis and runs. 

The Cougars’ 1-8 record really doesn’t tell the whole story.  Their opponents have outscored them three times over (119-39).  CSU’s power isn’t there (2 HR and 15 total extra base hits) and their ERA is a mite high at 13.57. 

Is this a gimme win for the Illini’s opening home game?  Maybe.  But I know the Illinois players will be taking the just as seriously as any other.  That’s just how they are.  Part of it is just their mentality.  And part of it is the fact we’ve lost some “gimme” games in the recent past. 

Random Ramblings

Former Illini centerfielder Kyle Hudson (left) is making good with the pro team while in last stages of spring training.  He’s been playing for the Baltimore organization since drafted a couple years ago. 

Today, Hud took advantage of a pinch hitting opportunity and singled and drove in a run in a game against Boston.  Here’s the box score of  the game.

Good Luck Illini!!!