Joliet Baseball Team Takes On A Prison Theme
JOLIET (WBBM) -- Joliet's minor league baseball team has a new name, and it embraces one of the city's historic industries: prison.
They are the now the Joliet Slammers. And, as Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports, the team's news release taps into the prison theme, saying the franchise "locks in" a new nickname.
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More than 1,000 fans suggested 300 names to replace the old Joliet Jackhammers.
One suggestion, the Joliet Jailbirds, was the most-suggested name, but it proved to be a bit too much for team executives.
A popular suggestion among online voters was the Joliet Jakes--a takeoff on John Belushi's character in the "Blues Brothers" movie. However, that name is copyrighted.
The former Joliet Jackhammers ran into financial trouble and were sold to a new owner, who wanted a new name for the team.
The old Joliet Prison housed inmates for more then 140 years until it closed almost 10 years ago. It is now a park that includes historical information about the old jail.
The Slammers play in the Frontier League of the Independent Professional Baseball Federation.
