Family Fun at Joliet's Silvercross Field: Bill Manner Bobblehead Night @JolietSlammers

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In typical mommy mode on the way to the game, I was coaching our youngest two of five on the upcoming evening's events.  "It's not every night your uncle is honored with his very own bobblehead at the local baseball stadium.  It's also not a regular occurrence that you know the guy given the prestigious position of tossing in the first pitch."  Truthfully I think the honor of throwing in that first ball registered as significant to my four year old twins, as our entire family of 7 had just two weeks ago flown to NYC to watch Eli Manning take his notable turn on the Mets mound at Citifield.


Our family and a great group of friends arrived at Silvercross Field in downtown Joliet last night to attend Bill Manner Bobblehead Night and watch the Joliet Slammers baseball team at work.  Bill (one of my 2 brothers) is locally know for his heavy involvement with several sports teams in our area.  He works with the Joliet Slammers team in the summer and works with the football and basketball teams at the University of St. Francis when baseball season comes to an end.  He's been heralded for years as a hard worker, in fact there is an award over at the college aptly named for him the "Mr. Hustle".

Photo of the twins credit: JOLIET SLAMMERS/MARK KUHLMANN

The pitch was a good one; I know I was impressed!  Other highlights included Declan helping J.L. Bird lead the Silvercross Field stadium in drumbeat cheers and Cormac playing "catch the tail" with Spikes the dog.  As one might expect, we also nibbled on plenty of ballpark treats and sipped lots of cold beverages in the 100+ degree heat.  Despite the added bit of extra perspiration, everyone I encountered seemed to have a wonderful time.


Looking for a bit of family fun this summer?  Keep your local minor league baseball field in mind.  Ball clubs like the Slammers offer plenty of "during the game" extra entertainment like bounce houses and mascots that really engage the kids.