I love attending the Illinois Baseball Hot Stove Banquet!
Mostly, because it signifies the beginning of the Illinois baseball season. Our eyes start paying more attention to the sport after a long winter. With the first game of the season only a month away, the media is picking up and we can look forward to seeing the boys on the field.
But the Hot Stove Banquet is a lot of fun too! A record 550 people attended last Saturday and I was lucky to be in attendance, seated at the program’s staff table.
The featured speaker was Illinois alum and former MLB player Scott Spiezio. We heard about the highlights of Spiezio’s rise to the majors and his big part in two World Series wins. Spiezio also spoke from the heart and shared his trials and tribulations. It was something that I’m sure it resonated with many in the crowd and his eventual recovery is a great example for all.
Sitting at the staff table, I got to talking to Caleb Frank who works in video production for the team. While I don’t do a lot of video myself, I know enough to talk shop to Caleb and we nerded out a bit about the incredible work he and his team does. I recognized Shari Clapp at my table and introduced myself. Shari is the Assistant Director of Academic Operations. We had a nice conversation about the program keeps our student-athletes on track for academic success.
Of course, I was curious to see if big leaguer Michael Massey was going to attend again this year. He did and was very generous with his time, talking to many of the staff.
Michael spent a lot of time at our table speaking with Shari, Facilities Attendant Matt Wright and broadcaster Scott Beatty. This year, Massey is going to start his third season with the Kansas City Royals.
The Hot Stove Banquet wouldn’t be complete without the live auction courtesy of Mike Namoff and his team from Mega Events. They pull off a very spectacular show and raise plenty of money at the same time.
More of my photos from Saturday are in the IBR photo gallery.
Many thanks to Scott Spiezio for sharing his story! Also, I know Coach Dan Hartleb puts in a ton of time to pull off the Hot Stove Banquet. From my perspective, it was an unqualified success!