The Joliet JackHammers were a professional baseball team based in Joliet, Illinois, in the United States. The JackHammers were a member of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From 2002 to 2010, the JackHammers played their home games at Silver Cross Field.

History

Their first season was the 2002 season and the Jackhammers had been preceded in Joliet by the minor league

Joliet Convicts Joliet or Jolliet may refer to: People * Louis Jolliet (1645–1700), French-Canadian explorer of North America * Oscar Joliet (1878–1969), Belgian scholar-priest and Catholic Auxiliary bishop of Ghent Places in the United States * Joliet, Il ...

, who began play in 1890. The Jackhammers first playoff appearance came in their first season. The 2008 Jackhammers were managed by one time Arizona Diamondback managerial candidate Wally Backman. The primary radio announcer was Jon Versteeg. The Jackhammers, in response to extremely low attendance in 2009, had a total makeover to start the 2010 season. Everything, from the roster and management, all the way down to the uniforms, was re-done. Their offseason advertising campaign was also very aggressive, and included everything from newspaper ads to billboards. The Jackhammers made the playoffs for the first time in 8 years, making the season a success performance-wise. They still lagged in attendance, averaging about 3,500 fans a game, 4th in the league. :Founded: 2002 :Playoff appearances: 2002, 2010 :Divisional titles won: 2002 :League Championships won: None The team was sold in December 2010 after months of negotiations to Steel City Baseball LLC. Steel City bought all assets to the team seeing as they owed $220,000 to the city. With the sale, none of the unpaid bills will be paid off. Steel City changed the team's name for the 2011 season, and the team joined the Frontier League. On January 12, 2011 GM John Dittrich announced for the 2011 season the new team would be called the Joliet Slammers. The team will continue to use Silver Cross Field as their home venue.

Year-by-year record

Final roster

References

yearly league standings & awards
nlfan.com
article on the sale
chicagoist.com

External links

Joliet JackHammers
official site
nlfan.com Joliet JackHammers' Guide
{{Illinois Sports 2002 establishments in Illinois 2010 disestablishments in Illinois Defunct baseball teams in Illinois Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010) teams Professional baseball teams in Illinois Baseball teams established in 2002 Baseball teams disestablished in 2010 Sports teams in Joliet, Illinois Defunct independent baseball league teams