Joliet

On a Mission from God

Duly Health & Care Field, 2025

Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Quebec Capitales vs. Joliet Slammers
Duly Health and Care Field
Frontier League
Joliet, IL
10:30 AM

Outside the Game: 
I woke early this morning and starving, so it is good I was still waking up at 6 AM right as another breakfast buffet opened. This one was a little better than the day before, and I ate to my heart's content before slumping back up to my room to pack up, wash up, and then nap to the last possible moment (which was much earlier this morning).

I booked my hotel in Schaumburg for the night, as there was another early morning game tomorrow (though not this early). Outside of some problem with my rewards number that made the whole process longer than it needed to be, I finished up, packed the car, and headed the short distance to the stadium.

And found there was no where to park. There was an employee standing out in front of the park, and he said the stadium usually used the municipal lot next door, but because of the early start during work hours, it was still being used municipally. As he was new, he ran inside and came back with directions to the closest public lot, which I was able to find, park in, and walk back with minimal issues. The gates were already open at this point, but I bought a ticket and took my pictures outside before going in.

"We're ahn a mishon fram gahd."

The game being over at 1 PM, I looked for things to do. The famous prison was closed until Thursday, but there were a couple of local museums within walking distance of my parking lot. I barely made it inside the Joliet Area Historical Museum before I received the answer to the question, "Do they acknowledge the Blues Brothers at all?", as I was confronted with a "mission from god" diorama right in the lobby. I love me a good local museum, and this was certainly it, delving into the history of Joliet and its industries, as well as the jail and route 66. Right around the corner from that place was the in-progress Illinois Rock & Roll Museum of Route 66. A British couple that I had seen in the first museum had the same idea I did and were leaving this place just as I entered. The museum sold nifty stickers of Abe Lincoln with headphones on and "Illinoise" printed on them.

Cue the horn section.

Before I left, I headed just south of town, where the Blue Brothers car was mounted on a pole right next to a gas station, for some reason. Checking that off the list, I headed out to Schaumburg around 3:30 PM, reaching there after an uneventful drive though cloverleaf intersections. At the hotel, I was originally put in a handicapped room by accident(?), and the overworked attendant apologized profusely then put me in a correct room. It seems like they were short-staffed in a bad way.

I settled into my new room, unpacked, and got my paperwork in order. I went down and had dinner at the hotel restaurant (also short-staffed, but it was fine, despite what some Karens also dining at the same time would have you believe) before heading back up to my room to spend the rest of the night in the tub, watching the finale of Andor. I eventually showered up and went to bed, exhausted as the trip to this point caught up to me a bit.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, Duly Health and Care Field

The mellifluously named Duly Health And Care Field was pretty standard for the indie parks that I would run across during this trip, with some nice exceptions. There was a promenade around the entire park, with the seating bowl and two outfield berms extending down beneath it. There were different levels to the berm, serviced by a stairwell in left and an escalator in right. The concessions and stores lined the promenade, including notable ones like the Old Smokey Distillery in left, adored with a statue of steelworkers on top of it.

A second level of press and luxury boxes loomed above from first base to third base. The main video board sat in left-center, with a speed camera board in right. An very well-used play zone was in left field, and a Miracle League field (used for a modified version of baseball for disabled people) was in center. There was also a small local hall of fame near the home plate promenade, and a baseball player statue and some dedication plaques by the main entrance.

A recurring theme so far

The mascots were Spikes, the dog, and J.L. Bird, a crow-ish thing in an old-timey jail outfit (thus marking the second day in a row of criminal mascots). There were tons of minor-league level-games between the innings, most featuring some of the school group members who were filling the park this morning. The park staff were also inordinately proud of the netting around the seating area. Every time a foul ball hit the net, the announcer in the booth exhorted the crowd to say, "Thank you, Net!"

At the Game with Oogie:

"Breakfast"

Once I made it inside the park, I did my lap on the promenade taking pictures before hitting the team store ("The Clink") before getting... breakfast? Lunch? Brunch? It was a hot dog and a soda because I wasn't adventurous enough to get anything else. I joked about getting a beer with one of the concession ladies at 10 AM-ish, and to my horror, she didn't even imagine that I was kidding, and I had to stop her pouring me a morning beer. Are you okay, Chicago?

I found my seat, which wasn't quite in the shade, so I shuffled over the last rows of the first shaded area of the park and squatted successfully. There was one lady in the row ahead of me, and then three rows down of nothing until the rest of the area was claimed by a student group, who filled most of the entire park. The kids were incredibly loud, especially when the mascots showed up or there was a giveaway, or--god forbid--when the mascots did a giveaway.

The Game:

First pitch, Capitales vs. Slammers

Besides its ridiculous start time of 10:30 AM, this early season, "school day" matchup between the Quebec Capitales and the Joliet Slammers didn't have a ton of action. Perhaps both teams were tired from waking up so early.

The Capitales all struck out in the first, with a double in the middle, while Joliet went in order. Quebec kept it going by going in order in the top of the second, but the Slammers had a leadoff hit batsman, a single, and a walk to load the bases, all erased on a one-out double play. The Capitales got the scoring started in the third, oddly, with a leadoff single, two walks, and a passed ball, to make it 1-0. The bottom of the third was equally bizarre--if not as productive--for Joliet, with a walk, fielder's choice, another walk, a batter reaching on a strikeout that got away from the catcher to load the bases, and then an out to kill the rally.

Quebec scattered two walks in the top of the fourth, while the Slammers went in order. The top of the fifth saw the Capitales get their own hits batman and walk combo, but stranded both, while Joliet left a leadoff walk to die on the vine. Both teams spent the sixth inning meekly going in order.

In the seventh, The Capitales managed a two-out single only to have him quickly picked off, while Joliet just went in order. Quebec had a leadoff homer in the eighth and a stranded double to push their lead to 2-0, while the Slammers went in order again. The Capitales had a single to show for the top of the ninth, while the Slammers went in order yet again, sending the visitors home victorious, 2-0.

The Scorecard:

Quebec Capitales vs. Joliet Slammers, 5/13/25. Capitales win, 2-0.

Once again, I was continuing my erasable pen experimentation in the BBWAA scorebook.

And once again, there wasn't a ton going on out of the ordinary scoring-wise for this game. The Slammers had a knuckleballer starting the game, which was good enough for a note, and a "double" in the top of the eighth in reality fell between three fielders and hit the center fielder's glove.

A player did reach base on a strikeout in the bottom of the third. I noted that the ball caromed away and made it to the backstop.

Otherwise, nothing worth mentioning.

The Accommodations:

Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago Schaumburg

As I'd be spending some appreciable time in this room, I went a little bit nicer with the Hampton Inn & Suites Chicago Schaumburg, close to my early morning game the next day.

Another slightly nicer bathroom off the entrance with a big, well-enjoyed tub, and a slightly nicer bedroom with the king-sized bed, night tables, and easy chair on one side and a bench, dresser, TV, and desk on the other side.

No elevators or ice machines this time, and I spent a good deal of time in the room this evening watching my programs. 

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2025 Main Trip: Illi-noise

Avon

On Adequateness

All Pro Freight Stadium, 2015

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Joliet Slammers vs. Lake Eerie Crushers
All Pro Freight Stadium
Frontier League (Independent)
Avon, OH
7:05

Outside the Game: 

I had a slow morning, one of many on this trip, where lying around in bed seemed like a peachy idea, until it was almost too late for breakfast, which eventually drove me downstairs, and then back up to the room for more lying around, and perhaps a nap. The inevitable time for checkout arrived, and I had to shower, pack, and check out and hit the road.

My research showed me nothing much interesting near the Crushers stadium, which was deep in suburban Ohio. I decided to drive out and see if the locals had any better idea, so I made the two-and-a-half hour ride without much incident. My first stop was the stadium, where I bought a ticket and took my outside pictures. Getting in and out was a little complicated by some roadway work they were doing, which made finding a working entrance a little more difficult than it needed to be, but with the main highway literally right outside the stadium, it was pretty quick in and out.

I was at a hotel a suburb or so over, and I went over to check in, but even their wall of pamphlets couldn't suggest anything interesting in the area, just in nearby Cleveland, and when Cleveland is your big cultural draw, you know you aren't working with a lot of anything. I got into my room, unpacked, and got ready for the next day, and lacking anything better to do, I took a shower and a nap and then spent some more time looking for perhaps other ways to kill time. And I found there was literally nothing to do on a Thursday afternoon in this place.

It was eventually time to get out to the park, and I decided to get there really early, because it was the best option I had at the time. I showed up and parked, and took more pictures while waiting for the gate to open.

Leaving

After the game, studied up on the construction and how best to get out, I was quickly on the way back to my hotel room, where I soaked in the tub for the evening before finishing my scorecard and going to bed.

The Stadium & Fans: 

Home plate to center field, All Pro Freight Stadium

All Pro Freight Stadium sounds like a fine name for a football stadium, but it is less evocative of the national pastime. The stout brick building has two imposing towers by its entrance, which is where the military relevance ends, and a small ticket booth extrudes by the only main entrance. The park is located literally next to the highway, and there are even warning signs to prevent people from wandering too far into the embankment by the park to avoid accidentally falling into the highway.

The stadium follows a very familiar minor-league layout, with the entrance leading to a main promenade that rings the entire park above the seating areas, whether they be the seats in the main grandstand running to the short outfields, or the picnic hills in the outfield. By home plate, the top of the seating area has reserved table service in specials sections, along with sponsored floral arrangements. A second level runs nearly the length of the grandstand, hosting the press box, luxury boxes, and some party decks. All of the concessions and other concerns were on the promenade, facing the field, so fans can get food without missing the action. A single-tier of outfield fence runs the length of the outfield and covered in ads except for the batters’ eye that rises up n dead center. The digital scoreboard looms over right field, in front of the backdrop of some trees and a lot of blue skies.

A small picnic deck ends left field, and a small kids’ play area is on the picnic hill in right field. A small championship banner hangs by the press box, and there is a mascot-cut out picture stand on the promenade--and that is about the beginning and end of the frills at this indie park.

Uh, Stomper. Watch those fingers, mate.

Stomper the bear is the local mascot, and he and the human MC run the crowd through the minor-league standard paces of games, contest, and give-aways between innings. There was a decent crowd here for the game, though it wasn’t a sell-out by any means. Especially for indie-ball, they seemed engaged with the game instead of the other entertainment, so there is a positive for the local baseball fans in Avon.

At the Game with Oogie: 

Indie scoring

I got in and did my photography and shopping at a brisk pace. I was particularly hungry this evening, so I started with a brat, fries, and souvenir soda, and then followed it up with a Proper Pig pulled-pork sandwich when that didn’t fill me up all the way.

Pulled pork

My seat was right behind the dugout on the third-base side just to the left of home plate. The season ticket holders in my area weren’t there that night, so I had a small oasis to myself, although the other areas further down on either side were pretty packed.

The Game: 

First pitch, Slammers vs. Crushers

This contest between the visiting Slammers and the home-town Crushers was not a slugging contest by any extent. The home team didn't even manage a baserunner until the bottom of the third.

Both sides started the game going in order. Joliet opened up the second with three straight one-out singles to drive in a run for a 1-0 lead. The Crushers went in order again. The Slammers got a man on base with two outs thanks to an error in the third, and Lake Eerie got its first baserunner the same way.

The Slammers got the scoring working again with a one-out double in the top of the fourth, followed by two singles to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Lake Eerie had a walk and a single to kill the no-hitter, but they both got stranded in the bottom of the frame. Likewise, Joliet stranded a single and a walk in the top of the fifth, while the Crushers had back-to-back singles and a passed ball to make it second and third with one out, but a two-out grounder got the runner trying for home, and the score remained 2-0. The Slammers went in order in the sixth, while Lake Eerie got a man to third on a walk, stolen base, and groundout, but left him there again.

Joliet went in order despite a walk in the top of the seventh thanks to a caught stealing, while the Crushers just had a single in their half. The Slammers had a walk in the top of the eighth, while Lake Eerie went in order despite a leadoff hit batsman due to a double play. Joliet went in order in the top of the ninth, and the Slammers could only manage a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth, finalizing the 2-0 Slammer win.

The Scorecard: 

Slammers vs. Crushers, 09/03/15. Slammers win, 2-0.

The scorecards were free photocopies given away at the fan relations booth, separate from the free full-color program given out at the door. Copyright violations were front and center here, as the scorecard sheets were clearly twelfth-generation photocopies of original Score Right scorecards, as the copyright notice was still legible in the bottom left. The photocopies were off center, so some information on the edges were cut off, and after so many copies, all of the original information in each scoring box disappeared.

The scorecard was quite complex. While there was a space for a player and a replacement in each slot, the totals for each batter included At Bats, Runs, Hits, Doubles, Triples, and Home Runs. Originally, I think that there was supposed to be a second part of the line for strikeouts, stolen bases, sacrifices, RBIs, Put Outs, and Errors, but they were lost with the multiple photocopies. The top of the scorecard had a total score by inning for both team and final score. Underneath that but above the player lines were pitching statistics, and put outs, assists, and errors by position per inning. Because of the way the pitching lines were arranged, I wrote upwards for the Crushers, who used a ton of pitchers in the game. There were also only nine innings printed, which would have made extras interesting. Even though the data was smudged, I used the pre-printed text in each scoring box to record the plays.

Despite the complexity of the scorecard, there were few scoring plays of note. There was a 5-2t put out in the bottom of the fifth, and a CS 1-3 play in the top of the seventh as the catcher fired down to first to catch a napping runner. Everything else was pretty straightforward, except for a double-switch causing me to use a reference letter for the pitchers' line in the batting order.

The Accommodations: 

Comfort Inn & Suites

For the night, I was at the Country Inn and Suites in the next suburb over from Avon. I had a big suite for some reason, with the large bathroom right off the entrance. Next in was a sitting room with an easy chair and a couch, and then the bedroom, with the king-sized bed and night stand in one corner, and a dresser, TV, and two inexplicable dining chairs on the other wall.

It was quiet and comfortable, so I had no complaints.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2015 Ohio