Kurt Shillinger
It鈥檚 Saturday. Let鈥檚 talk baseball - specifically, highlights from a season still green with hope. Bronx outfielder Aaron Judge became the first reigning MVP to earn a 鈥済olden sombrero鈥� when he struck out four times on opening day. In Detroit, Spencer Torkelson homered in five consecutive games, tying a team record. And just down the road from us in Providence, Rhode Island, last Saturday, Brown University鈥檚 Olivia Pichardo became the first woman to pitch in an NCAA Division I game.聽
No other sport is quite so well-suited to tales of trial and redemption. Harry Bruinius has one today. The Old Joliet Prison on the industrial outskirts of Chicago once housed gangsters like Baby Face Nelson. On a cool spring Illinois afternoon, Harry followed the Joliet Slammers through the front gates Thursday for what they call The Big House Ballgame 鈥� a nine-inning tip of the cap to Route 66 and the forgotten towns that dot America鈥檚 past.聽
鈥淲e were known for being a hardscrabble place,鈥� one resident told him. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 not a bad thing. ... A lot of great athletes have come from here, a lot of people who鈥檝e gone on to do remarkable things.鈥�
