The inmates are still gone but baseball is coming back to the Old Joliet Prison.
The Joliet Slammers will play on the historic grounds against the Gateway Grizzlies of Sauget, Illinois, in an exhibition game April 30 as part of an official Route 66 Centennial kickoff celebration.
“You only get one chance to do something like this … why not do it with something fun like a baseball game at a prison,” said William Night Train Veeck, one of the owners of the Slammers.
Joliet is one of six communities nationwide — and the only one in Illinois — selected as an official Route 66 Centennial Kickoff city. It joins Santa Monica, California.; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Amarillo, Texas; Springfield, Missouri, and St. Louis in hosting events on April 30, 100 years after Route 66 received its name.
“Joliet is a city with a remarkable history and a bright future, and the ‘Big House Ballgame’ brings both of those stories together,” Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy said in a statement. “As a destination city along historic Route 66, we’re honored to open our doors to welcome visitors and share the progress and possibilities emerging in our city.”
Starting just steps from Lake Michigan and stretching 2,448 miles across eight states and three time zones, Route 66 was designed to connect Americans. In its 100-year history, it has offered safe passage to Dust Bowl refugees, World War II transports and vacationing families.
Though the “Big House Ballgame” will celebrate the road’s debut, it will not be the first ballgame in the prison yard.
Former Warden Edmund Allen first organized baseball games on the grounds of the prison in 1914 as a way to build morale and encourage good behavior among inmates. The games continued at the prison until it closed in 2002.
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Inmates play baseball at the Old Joliet Prison, circa 1914, the year the sport was introduced there. (Joliet Area Historical Museum)
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Inmates play baseball at the Old Joliet Prison, circa 1914, the year the sport was introduced there. (Joliet Area Historical Museum)
“Every hour of the day from 8 o’clock in the morning until 5 o’clock in the afternoon … there can be found about two hundred men playing baseball,” Allen wrote in one of his reports, according to documents provided by the Joliet Area Historical Museum. “Not a single prisoner has been taken from the recreation field for a violation of the rules of the prison.
“I am more proud of this record than any other thing that has come into my life,” he continued. “It has vindicated my hopes; it has proved that the man inside, when given a chance, knows how to take advantage of it. It has done more than this — it has practically wiped out the punishment records of the prison.”
Noting that 1914 was the same year Wrigley Field opened, Joliet Area Historical Museum CEO Greg Peerbolte said the ball field at the old prison is one of the oldest in the country. The old backstop and chalkboard style scoreboard still remain.
“We’re eager to welcome Slammers fans and history buffs alike to the prison yard’s diamond, offering visitors a chance to experience both America’s pastime and our city’s remarkable heritage in a single, unforgettable event,” Peerbolte said.
Veeck said he would not be opposed to making the “Big House Ballgame” an annual event.
Ticket sales are expected to open in the coming weeks, but fans interested in getting on a wait list for tickets can email bighouseballgame@jolietslammers.com or visit the Joliet Slammers website at jolietslammers.com/bhbg.
The Joliet Area Historical Museum also offers tours of the Old Joliet Prison. Though closed for the winter, the prison reopens in March. For information about the tours or the prison, visit jolietprison.org.
