By Woodrow Carroll
The city of Joliet has a long history of minor league baseball. True, the Major League Baseball product in Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox probably is foremost in the minds of most Will County residents.
Still, pro teams at different levels have made their marks in and around Joliet down through the years to give the Joliet area a well-deserved reputation for baseball.
Today, the minor league team representing Joliet is the Slammers of the Frontier League. Be careful when describing the Slammers as a minor league team. The Frontier League is not a traditional minor league. Think along the lines of a an independent operation.
As a non-traditional minor league operation, the Joliet JackHammers were once a part of the Northern League that came into being in theearlt 1990s. Franchises came and went at an alarming rate as you might imagine! Among the 16 teams that presently make up the Frontier League only the Evansville Otters are still going. And Even Evansville didn’t come into being until 1995.
The Frontier League added the Joliet JackHammers in 2002. The venue for the JackHammers was called Silver Cross Field which was built in downtown Joliet.
Life in the Northern League was not all that great for the JackHammers in attendance. After the 2010 season, the team didnot exist when the JackHammers joined a long list of franchises that showed little staying power.
When you build a baseball stadium, you need an occupant. Enter the Joliet Slammers who joined the Frontier League in 2011. The team’s present name pays homage to the city’s location for the Stateville Penitentiary aka the state pen of legendary fame, or infamy. Again, keep in mind that the actual location of the lockup has not always been in Joliet.
Instant success! The Joliet Slammers in their first season of operation in 2011 captured the Frontier League championship. Another League chamionship was captured by the Slammers in 2018.
Times change. And, so do naming rights! The downtown Joliet edifice name that is home to Slammers’ games is no longer Silver Cross Field. We have Duly Health and Care Field.
Although Major League Baseball has a lone team in Canada in the Toronto Blue Jays, the Frontier League has three tea,s. Say hello to the Quebec Capitales, Ottawa Titans, and Trois Rivieres Aigles (Three Rivers Eagles for French translation). All three Canadian teams in the Frontier League are part of the eight-team East Division and Joliet is in the eight-team West Division.
There are four Illinois franchises in the Frontier League, all in the West Division. In addition to the Joliet Slammers, are the Schaumburg Boomers, Windy City ThunderBolts, the latter based in Crestwood, and the Gateway Grizzlies in Sauget, Ill., an enclave on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River near St. Louis.
Fun fact! The New England Knockouts are the Frontier League’s newest franchise. Part of the East Division, the team plays its home games in Brockton, Mass. at Campenelli Stadium. Old-time boxing buffs will instantly recognize the name Brockton and nickname Knockouts with boxing great Rocky Marciano who reigned as heavyweight champion in the early-1950s who hailed from Brockton.
The Slammers opened their 96-game schedule May 12. Those desirous of taking in a Slammers game might consider the coming weekend’s series with the Lake Erie Crushers. The two teams will face each other Friday and Saturday evenings with a 1:05 p.m. Sunday game to close the three-game series.