The University of Illinois baseball team and the Fighting Illini Dugout Club will host the annual Hot Stove Banquet to kick off the 2010 season with second-year Chicago Cubs pitcher Randy Wells as the keynote speaker. Wells, who finished his rookie season in the top 20 of all National League pitchers in wins and ERA, will headline the banquet, which will be held Saturday, Feb. 6, at the I Hotel with cocktails at 3 p.m., and the banquet at 3:45 p.m. prior to that evening's men's basketball game against Michigan State.
Wells is an incredible story, as he was drafted by the Cubs in the 38th round in 2002 as a catcher, but switched to pitching in 2003 after hitting only .158 in 2002. He began pitching full time in 2004 and ascended to double-A West Tenn in 2005, but spent the next three seasons between double-A and triple-A before making his Major League debut on April 5, 2008, with the Toronto Blue Jays, who had acquired him in the 2007 Rule 5 draft. But only 11 days after his debut, the Blue Jays sent him back to Chicago, which assigned him to triple-A Iowa. The Cubs gave Wells a September call-up, though, bringing him out of the bullpen to work the late innings in three games toward the end of the season. The Cubs recalled Wells from Iowa on May 8, 2009, and he remained in the starting rotation the rest of the year.
A native of Belleville, Illinois., Wells is the younger brother of former Illini two-sport athlete Forry Wells, who played baseball and football from 1991-94.
Banquet tickets can be purchased by loggin onto the Fighting Illini Baseball website and filling out the PDF form at the top of the page and mailing it to Fighting Illini Dugout Club, P.O. Box 6777, Champaign, IL 61826-6777 prior to Feb. 1 or by calling the baseball office at 217-333-8605 until Feb. 5. A table of 10, including an Illini player, can be purchased for $500; or a table of eight, with an Illini player, can be purchased for $400. Individual tickets are available for $50 and an Illini player's meal can be sponsored for $50 each.
