I went to the Triple-A Indianapolis-Toledo game Friday night.  Admittedly, the main reason was to see my friend and former Illini Shawn Roof play.  It’s the first time he’s played close to this area so I couldn’t pass up the chance. 

But the idea of going to Indianapolis’ Victory Field thrilled me too.  It’s been a while.  The last time I went the Indians were the Brewers’ farm team.  Victory Field is one of nicest Triple-A minor league parks I’ve been to.  I’m not the only one to think so… Baseball America named it Best Minor League BallPark in America.

The banners along the runway of former Indian player like you see above (I know a couple readers who might appreciate my choice of Minnie Minoso) were a nice touch and very well designed. 

Look out!  Indian mascot Rowdie looks angry.

I thought the scoreboard designed like a Facebook page was kinda hokey but I bet it goes over pretty well. 

Not a particularly great photo but it does show how many people show up at games.  Over 12,000 were at Friday’s event. 

No one left after the last out.  It was Fireworks night. 

The Mud Hens won 8-2.  Shawn Roof helped the cause by going 1 for 3, scoring a run. 

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Posted in: Minor Leagues by nelshopp
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A week or so ago, I did an interview of Ben Taylor who’s an assistant Sports Information Director at the University of Illinois.  He is responsible for coordinating publicity for the U of I baseball team.  The resulting article is posted at the Illinois Baseball Report. 

I correspond with Ben fairly regularly especially during the college baseball season and we have a pretty good relationship.  So I threw him this slightly hard ball question.

IBR:  As SID for college athletics, you act as a public relations guy for the team.  Is there a fine line between providing as much information as possible about the baseball program to the public yet at the same time keeping the program in a good light?  For example, we don’t hear too much about injuries and the like in official press releases.  Is that University AD policy?

BT:  Yes, there definitely is a fine line.  Fans have become much more adept at sniffing out spin in the last decade, so most of them can tell when they aren’t being given the whole story.  But as the official spokesperson for the athletic department, our office doesn’t release much in the way of injury updates unless it’s of the season-ending variety.  Even then, it’s often up to the head coach because it can be construed as a competitive advantage for opponents.  We realize that it is our job to portray the program and the university in the best possible light, so we try to focus on the positive aspects rather than injuries, suspensions, etc., but we also realize that in order to have credibility with our constituents (i.e., fans) we sometimes have to provide the less positive side of things.

All things considered, I like how Ben handled the question.  He at least recognized that folks out are becoming more media savvy and recognizing “spin” when they see it. 

You can read the whole interview at IBR.

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Posted in: College Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
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Last Saturday, I had the privilege of meeting former MLB players, Donn Pall (left) and Darrin Fletcher.  They’re both University of Illinois alums and they showed up for Alumni Weekend at Illinois Field.

They got a good show.  Illinois starter Kevin Johnson shut out Purdue and Illinois won 7-0.  See the full report at the Illinois Baseball Report.

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Posted in: College Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
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Ozzie Smith has nothing on University of Illinois shortstop Josh Parr.  Parr exhibits his own pre-game acrobatics last week before the Illini game against Butler by doing a full back flip. 

The confidence must have been contagious. Illinois went on to defeat the Butler Bulldogs 19-0 that night.

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Posted in: College Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
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The University of Illinois baseball team is now in the throes of the Big Ten play and this weekend, they’ll be playing the University of Michigan.  Any time Illinois plays Michigan in any sport, it’s a big deal.  I can vouch that baseball is certainly no exception.

In anticipation of this weekend’s upcoming series, Michigan sports website, MGoBlog did a Q&A interview of me.  I did the same, interviewing their baseball expert and posting the results on Illinois Baseball Report. 

Illinois is a quite improved team.  After losing six of their first seven games, they have an overall record of 15-13. 

Go Illinois!!

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Posted in: College Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
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Last night I went down to St Louis to see the University of Illinois baseball team play at Busch Stadium.  They were playing the University of Missouri Tigers.  The game was billed as “The Battle at Busch”.

Despite a quick 4-1 lead after two innings, Illinois ended up losing 7-4.  The experience was fun though.  And I got to see an excellent example of a delayed double steal by the Illini.  Woo!

I posted a quick summary and a few photos at the Illinois Baseball Report.

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Posted in: College Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
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The University of Illinois baseball season is underway.  All right, the season is over a month old but the Illini just had their home opener last night so I’m very excited. 

Illinois crushed Chicago State 18-2 for their first game at Illinois Field.  I have a wrap-up and photos of game over at Illinois Baseball Report.  Matt Milroy, who was chosen by the Red Sox in the 2009 MLB draft, got his first win for the Illini.

Interesting note:  Chicago State came in with a 13.57 ERA.  Illinois still managed to increase it significantly.

The one thing more fun than a home opener is the first Big Ten series at home.  Penn State comes to visit this weekend.  At IBR, I did an interview with Larry Fall who blogs about Penn State baseball at Happy Valley Hardball in anticipation of the big series. 

Go Illini!

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Posted in: College Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
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The University of Illinois baseball is on the cusp of its 2010 season so I’ve been busy getting ready for their season. 

But first and foremost a little catchup.  Our own Teddy Ballgame is branching out and is blogging at Tedd’s Sports Shorts.  He’ll be covering sports in general and most likely from a Chicago perspective if I know Teddy.  He started only last week but already has a goodly amount of reading material for us plebes.  Get on over there and say hi. 

Speaking of University of Illinois baseball, there may be one or two of my readers who are fans that don’t know of my site, Illinois Baseball Report, dedicated to covering the team.  For those on Facebook, IBR now has a Facebook fan page, too.  Stop on by and become a fan.  We twitter as well @illbaseballrpt. 

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Posted in: Baseball Blogs and Web Sites by The Baseball Zealot
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On Sunday night, the Chicago Cubs beat the Reds 5-2 thanks to some timely hitting by some part-timers, Koyie Hill. 

But Derrek Lee had a solo shot, too.  And for those Illini baseball fans who were paying attention, they might have noticed who attempted to catch the ball. 

None other than former Illini thirdbaseman, Dominic Altobelli.

Alas, Lee’s homerun ball bounced off the wall out of Altobelli’s grasp and went back in to the outfield grass. 

Here’s the video of Lee’s homer and Dom just missing the catch.

Nice try, Dom!

Altobelli just finished his first season with the Casper Ghosts, the A affiliate for the Colorado Rockies.

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Posted in: Cubs by The Baseball Zealot
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I got a chance to see the University of Illinois baseball squad take full team practice today.  This was the first full team practice of the fall.

You can see the update and some photos I took over at the Illinois Baseball Report.

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Posted in: College Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
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