News you can't leave work without:

Cubs rookie pitcher Randy Wells grew up an Illinois fan. On Feb. 6, the Belleville native will be surrounded by orange and blue as the marquee speaker at UI baseball's annual Hot Stove Banquet in C-U.

The Philadelphia Phillies. That's what former Illini Darrin Fletcher is thinking. The pride of Oakwood High School, who played for the Phillies during a 14-year major league career, weighed in on the World Series, which starts Wednesday night:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Former Illinois outfielder Brady Ballard was named general manager of the Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League. The minor league baseball team is a Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
Ballard, who played for the Illini in 2000 and 2001, was Daytona’s assistant GM the past four years. He succeeds Bill Papierniak, who left to become GM of a new Class AA Eastern League franchise in Richmond, Va.

News you can't leave work without:

When pitcher Phil Haig was dismissed from the Illini baseball team last week, it raises several questions about the makeup of the 2010 starting rotation. Who will succeed the junior left-hander as the No. 1 starter? And who will fill out a rotation that now has another hole?

News you can't leave work without:

Rosters for the annual Orange and Blue World Series, which starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, are set.

CHAMPAIGN – Pitcher Phil Haig, who won a team-high seven games last season, was dismissed from the Illinois baseball program.

Illini coach Dan Hartleb announced Wednesday the junior left-hander was removed for a violation of team rules. Hartleb declined to identify the violation and said his only comment would be through a statement released to the media by the UI.

Each week we'll rank our top three candidates for the 2009-10 Dike Eddleman Award, which annually goes to the top male and female athletes at the University of Illinois.

1. Scott Langley, golf. Junior stands No. 12 in Golfweek/Sagarin national ratings.

This week: Scott Spiezio