Late to this super fun one from @bensbiz trip to the Joliet Slammers' prison game. Best part: Probably first Mlb dot com mention of SNL's Jim Downey
https://t.co/9Pitdd8jkc
Spent some time inside the walls and behind bars for pro ballpark #158. The Big House Ballgame between the Joliet Slammers and the Gateway Grizzlies inside the Joliet Correctional Center. Baseball was played here starting in 1914. Slammers did a really nice job with this event.
I interned with this team as a sophomore back in college.
The Slammers got their name from the Joliet Prison using baseball as a rec activity for inmates, including John Wayne Gacy.
Really cool to see them dive back into their history!
POV: You crush one in the Big House Ballgame… it clears the entire prison wall… and the ump calls it a double anyway 😂⚾
Bill Murray in the stands, inmate throwbacks, 230ft porches, and Night Train Veeck actually pulling this off?
This wasn’t just a game — it was straight-up cinema. Independent ball eating the big leagues alive again.
More prison yard baseball IMMEDIATELY. Who’s with me? 👀🔥 #BigHouseBallgame
Would you go to a prison to watch a baseball game? 👀
The @JolietSlammers, a pro baseball team in Illinois, turned an old prison into a ballpark for their exhibition game against the Gateway Grizzlies.
They finally locked us up in the Big House!
What a special day for baseball and the Joliet community at Old Joliet Prison.
If you’re not having fun in this business. It’s never too late to mend. 🎙️