Joliet has announced their plans for their own baseball league for the 2020 season.

In addition to Joliet, Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres are making plans to have a season featuring some of the best players in Canada.

Earlier today, the Frontier League officially suspended the championship season. The announcement stated that any team was now free to make their own plans for the season.

Indy Ball Island will post updates from other teams as they become available.

Joliet’s press release:

BASEBALL IS COMING BACK TO JOLIET

June 24, 2020

by Kaitlyn Altmann

While the Frontier League announced earlier today that the Championship season is suspended for the remainder of 2020 due to ongoing travel and operating restrictions that exist in many of the League’s markets, the Slammers are pleased to announce that they will participate in the inaugural City of Champions Cup at DuPage Medical Group Field beginning July 16.

Four teams will compete for the Cup, all playing a 27 game schedule each at DuPage Medical Group Field from July 16 through September 6. The teams will be made up of players drafted from the ranks of Frontier League players unable to play for their current teams and free agents from MiLB affiliated teams.  “We are expecting a very high level of talent to be on the field for the Slammers and the other three teams,” said Nick Semaca, Slammers majority owner.

The names and more details on the three new teams, all of which will also be based in Joliet, will be released shortly.  Each team will play 3-4 home games per week in a schedule that generally will include night games on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with additional ticketed day games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  

Under the recently released guidelines from the State of Illinois regarding spectator sports, fans will be allowed to attend the games. The Slammers will be the first baseball team in the entire state to host professional baseball games with fans in the stands this year. A number of operating changes and new protocols will be implemented to minimize any potential risks from the spread of COVID-19. 

Under State guidelines, games are limited to crowds at a 20% capacity so tickets will be extremely limited. 27 game “Cup Pass” tickets are available now by calling 815-722-2287 and individual game tickets will be available for sale to the general public at a later date, if any remain, after the Cup Pass sales window has ended.

“We are proud and excited to be able to bring the baseball fans of the entire Chicagoland area an opportunity to see the sport we all dearly love, to enjoy a hot dog and cold beer on a summer night. We can’t wait to see our fans back in the stadium” said Semaca.

For up to the minute news, follow the Slammers on Twitter @jolietslammers and use #jailbreak2020.

About the Joliet Slammers:  

The Joliet Slammers play at DuPage Medical Group Field in downtown Joliet, Illinois.  They will play their 10th season in 2020.  Visit the Slammers online at www.jolietslammers.com or call the office at 815-722-2287 for more information.  Don’t forget to “Like” the Slammers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jolietslammers or follow them on Twitter at @jolietslammers and Instagram at @jolietslammersofficial 

Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres announcement:

QUEBEC CITY, TROIS-RIVIERES ORGANIZING QUEBEC PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

*UPDATE* The Capitales de Québec organization today (July 3rd) comes to the conclusion that the presentation of a baseball championship will not be possible in the summer of 2020. The Capitales de Québec and the Trois-Rivières Eagles would like to thank everyone stakeholders who have lent them a hand in the past few weeks in this ultimate attempt to present supporters with a high-level baseball project in a safe environment.

Due to the extended closure of the Canadian-American border, the Quebec Capitales and Trois-Rivieres Aigles will not be able to participate in the 2020 Frontier League championship season.  The Frontier League’s Board of Directors held an emergency meeting Wednesday morning following the announcement of the extension of the border closure on Tuesday afternoon.

Despite numerous efforts by the Frontier League’s Board of Directors and Commissioner’s office, any hopes to see the newly expanded 14-team league to play a full 2020 schedule came to an end today.  All teams are excited and optimistic to play a full 2021 season together.

However, the Quebec Capitales and Trois-Rivières Aigles are by no means giving up on baseball activities for 2020.  In fact, both organizations are proactively engaged in organizing a professional baseball championship during the summer in the province of Quebec.  This event would feature the best Canadian ball players.  Hopefully, the patience of the communities and the fans will be rewarded.

“With all of the excitement created by adding Quebec and Trois-Rivieres to the Frontier League last fall, we are disappointed that the extension of travel restrictions will prevent them from playing against the other Frontier League teams in 2020,” said Bill Lee, Commissioner of the Frontier League.  “Still, we are proud to have these two organizations as members of the Frontier League.  We fully encourage and support their efforts to provide quality baseball to fans at Stade CANAC and Stade Quillorama this summer.”

Further details on the Quebec Professional Baseball Championship will be available soon at capitalesdequebec.com and lesaiglestr.com.