The Joliet Slammers announced earlier this month that they will play an official pre-season exhibition game inside the walls of the historic Old Joliet Prison on April 30, 2026, marking a rare return of professional baseball to a former correctional facility.
Prison baseball has been documented globally for more than a century, including in wartime camps and long-running inmate leagues. (AP Photos)
Old Joliet Prison, where organized baseball was played by inmates for decades before the facility closed in 2002.
The event, titled “The Big House Ballgame,” will serve as the official kickoff to the Route 66 Centennial Celebration in Joliet, with a scheduled 3:05 p.m. first pitch. The game will take place entirely within the prison grounds, where organized baseball was once played regularly by inmates for nearly a century.
Baseball was first introduced at Joliet Prison in 1914 by Warden Edmund Allen as a way to improve morale and encourage good behavior. Games continued at the prison through multiple generations until the facility closed in 2002. The upcoming exhibition revives that history in a modern setting, placing a professional team back on a field once used for recreation behind bars.
Freeman Burkholder swings to hit the baseball during a farewell picnic in Bergholz, Ohio on April 9, 2013. A picnic was held for Burkholder and four Amish women who were sentenced to prison for their roles in a hair and beard cutting scandal against another Amish community. (AP Photo/Scott R. Galvin) and A statue outside the Joliet Slammers minor league baseball team’s stadium, stands in silhouette Monday, April 6, 2020, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Inmates with the San Quentin Giants line up before a game at San Quentin State Prison in California, where prison baseball has been played for more than a century. (AP Photo)
“The Big House Ballgame is exactly the kind of big idea event that gets us fired up as a team,” said Night Train Veeck, part-owner of the Joliet Slammers. “We love being a part of special moments that bring people together and give them a memory they’ll be talking about for a long time.”
The Slammers are members of the Frontier League, an MLB Partner League with 18 teams across the Midwest and East Coast. Their game at Old Joliet Prison will be one of six official Route 66 Centennial satellite events nationwide, alongside celebrations in cities including Santa Monica, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Springfield, and St. Louis.
The Joliet Slammers’ home ballpark in downtown Joliet. (Joliet Slammers)
Locally, the event is supported by Will County Government, Heritage Corridor Destinations, Sportsfields Inc., and the Joliet Area Historical Museum, which operates the Old Joliet Prison Historic Site. Officials have indicated the game will anchor a broader slate of community events throughout the city.
Tickets for the exhibition game are not yet on sale. Fans may sign up for free through the Joliet Slammers’ website to receive early access when tickets are released. Signing up does not guarantee a ticket, but provides priority eligibility.
The Joliet Slammers’ home ballpark in downtown Joliet. The team will play its 2026 exhibition game inside Old Joliet Prison.
The announcement arrives during baseball’s offseason, a time traditionally associated with reflection across the sport. As the calendar moves toward Christmas, the return of baseball to a former prison yard highlights a lesser-known but longstanding chapter in the game’s history — one where baseball served as structure, recreation, and connection in places far removed from packed stadiums.
The announcement arrives during baseball’s offseason, a time traditionally associated with reflection across the sport. As the calendar moves toward Christmas, the return of baseball to a former prison yard highlights a lesser-known but longstanding chapter in the game’s history — one where baseball served as structure, recreation, and connection in places far removed from packed stadiums.
Additional details regarding attendance, broadcast availability, and game logistics are expected to be announced in the coming months. Fans can follow updates on the Slammers’ official site at
jolietslammers.com, and sign up for early ticket access for “The Big House Ballgame” on the team’s official event page at jolietslammers.com/bhbg.
Photo: A stylized view of the Old Joliet Prison yard, where the Joliet Slammers will host an exhibition game on April 30, 2026, marking the Route 66 Centennial. (World Baseball Network graphic)
