Bill Murray Will Be Your Next Joliet Slammers Owner, Veeck Confirms

JOLIET, IL — Joliet Slammers owner Nick Semaca introduced the new majority owners of the minor league baseball franchise to Joliet City Council members at Monday night's meeting, and two of three were present: Mike Veeck and his son Night Train. The third person was not present, but everybody in the world knows his name: actor and comedian Bill Murray.

On Tuesday night, the Joliet City Council will vote to approve the ownership sale. Semaca will remain with the Joliet Slammers as a minority owner.

Mike Veeck and his son Night Train are also world-famous and the feature of a new Netflix sports movie that came out in September, "The Saint of Second Chances." Mike Veeck's father, the late Bill Veeck, was owner of the Chicago White Sox during the 1970s.

"I'm 72 and I wanted to come home," Mike Veeck told the Joliet City Council Monday night. "Ever since I blew up those disco records, I've never really been welcomed. So I thought I could come and apologize, make a mass apology.

"Bill Murray and I have been partners for 32 years in numerous clubs and my son Night Train and I have been affiliated and associated for 37 years ... he's worked seven and a half years for the White Sox, he's done 1,000 minor league games and I wanted to end my career being able to work with and for my son. It would be an honor, and so we talked to Nick (Semaca) and Bill and I will be the lead investors. We have a really interesting, kind of eclectic group that we've put together, but, we just want to be here. That's the long and short of it."

Mike Veeck then went on to say, "We will do anything that we can. We wanted Nick to stay in. It was very important to me personally that he stay in because it will be a great deal of continuity, which is something that I think will benefit all of us, the community. Our approach is pretty simple, we try to make people laugh. We take care of your kids and the only people we throw out of the ballpark are people who complain about the kids. You know, a ballpark's supposed to be for kids and that's the place where we can kind of forget all the serious things that we have to deal with so I hope that you will approve us affirmatively.

"I'd like to thank whoever leaked the fact that Bill Murray was part of the group because it's gotten us some coverage. And I'd like to introduce for the second time to the world my son, Night Train, who is still mad at me for giving him that great name."