Bizarre ballpark giveaway: Joliet team to hand out prison replica

Baseball is known to treat its fans to game-day freebies all season long.

Teams can never go wrong with handing out free hats, T-shirts and star-player bobbleheads.

But sometimes, the giveaways can be a stretch.

Chicago sports business reporter Danny Ecker announced Wednesday that the Joliet Slammers plan to hand out 1,000 replicas of the Joliet prison at the Frontier League All-Star Game in July.

The Joliet Slammers aren’t the only team to give out a bizarre gift to their fans. The Seattle Mariners gave their fans a garbage handout in 2011, literally. The Mariners gave fans free compost as a reminder for them to be eco-friendly.

The Lowell Spinners, a minor-league team affiliated with the Boston Red Sox, also handed out a gift that belongs in the trash. The Spinners gave fans bubble wrap sheets before a game in 2010. During the game, the team went on to break the world record for most people to simultaneously pop bubble wrap at one place.