Joliet Slammers played a historic game at the Old Joliet Prison on April 30, 2026, during the Bighouse Ball Game, a promotional exhibition for the nationwide celebration of Route 66’s centennial year.
“A lot of stars aligned for this to happen,” said Gregory Peerbolte, chief executive officer of the Joliet Area Historical Museum. The Joliet Slammers took on Sauget, Ill.’s Gateway Grizzlies before a crowd of nearly 6,000 fans, including Bill Murray.
The event turned the prison grounds into a community gathering space, drawing attention to its history with baseball. Peerbolte says, “The history of the prison is difficult, and that’s something we’ve embraced.”
Peerbolte shares the story of how baseball first came to the prison. Warden Robert Allen caught and reprimanded his son, Edmond Allen, for playing catch with an inmate. Edmond told his father that one day, he would be in charge, and let the prisoners play baseball.
This dream came to fruition in 1913 when Edmond became warden. “He implemented a series of progressive reforms,” Peerbolte shares. These reforms included the honor system, and dedicated recreation time.
Peerbolte said, “We look to the history of the prison to do this… I think we are really happy to find that there are some positive aspects, and baseball being this incredibly unique and positive story in an otherwise kind of dark and challenging history.”
The Old Joliet Prison officially closed in 2002 after opening in 1858, and now serves the Joliet area as a tourist attraction. “Touring the prison is very much not a new thing, very much like baseball,” said Peerbolte.
Although the Slammers lost 14-3, the Bighouse Ball Game was a win for the city of Joliet, and all who attended the game. The evening added a new chapter to the Old Joliet Prison’s rich history.
For more history about the Old Joliet Prison, visit https://www.jolietprison.org/history.html.
