About ten years ago, when my son Tanner was 9 years old, the Minnesota Twins were having "Michael Cuddyer Bat Day" at the Metrodome. He begged me to take him to the game just so we could be one of the first 1,500 fans to get a wooden baseball bat that was signed by one of his favorite players.

Reluctantly we went; I figured there'd be no chance that we'd get there early enough to get one, but I was proven wrong. After standing in line for two hours, in the rain, my son got his bat and it was one of the best days ever.

Now, had he asked me to go so he could get a prison replica, I'd easily say, "What? No way."  I wonder if Joliet Slammers fans will say the same thing when they learn that that's exactly what they're going to get at an upcoming game in July.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, the Slammers plan on giving away 1,000 replicas of the Joliet prison at the Frontier League All-Star game.

Um...ok?

One fan speculates that it makes sense when you consider that the team name is the Slammers and a piece of Joliet's history was recently destroyed by arson.

They've got a point; but all I'm seeing here is a somewhat nice paperweight.

Catch Mandy James on “The Steve Shannon Show with Mandy James” on 97 ZOK from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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