Quad Cities River Bandits
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| Quad Cities River Bandits Founded in 1960 Davenport, Iowa |
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| League titles | 1968, 1971, 1979, 1990 | ||
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| Owner(s)/Operated by: Main Street Iowa | |||
| Manager: Keith Mitchell | |||
| General Manager: Kirk Goodman | |||
The Quad Cities River Bandits is a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals, that plays in the Midwest League. Its home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa.
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[edit] Franchise history
The club became part of the Midwest League in 1960 and was affiliated with the Milwaukee Braves for its first two seasons before joining the farm system of the new Los Angeles (later California) Angels for the 1962 season. Except for a five-year affiliation with the Chicago Cubs (1979-84), the Angels stayed in the Quad Cities through the 1992 season. The team was affiliated with the Houston Astros from 1993 to 1998 and the Minnesota Twins from 1999 to 2004 before joining the Cardinals' farm system for the 2005 season.[1]
The team used the nickname of its major-league parent through the 1991 season. It was known as the Quad City River Bandits from 1992 through the 2003 season. On October 20, 2003, the team was renamed the Swing of the Quad Cities; the nickname, like the previous one, was chosen as the winning entry in a "name the team" contest. On December 13, 2007, the team announced it would return to its earlier moniker, becoming the Quad Cities River Bandits. More than 48 percent of voters in a contest sponsored by the franchise's new owners preferred the River Bandits name over the Swing and four other finalists: the Channel Cats, the Current, the River Eagles, and the Talons.[2]
The non-profit Quad City Baseball Fans Association operated the franchise from 1960 to 1986. In 1986 Chicago businessman Harry Semrow purchased the team but sold it after the 1987 season due to poor health. Richard Holtzman, another Chicago businessman who owned as many as five minor league teams, owned the franchise from 1987 until 1998. In 1998, Holtzman sold the team to Seventh Inning Stretch, a company owned by Kevin Krause, a businessman out of Mason City, Iowa, and son of Kum & Go co-founder William Krause. On December 28, 2006, Krause agreed to sell the team to Florida-based Main Street Baseball for an undisclosed price; the sale was completed on November 29, 2007.[3][4]
The team's attendance record of 260,471 was set in 1994.[5] All games are broadcast on WKBF (AM).
[edit] Ballpark
The club's home ballpark is Modern Woodmen Park (formerly Municipal Stadium and John O'Donnell Stadium), located on the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport. The park has undergone several renovations since opening in 1931, most recently undergoing a major renovation prior to the 2004 season that brought the facility to professional baseball standards. The renovations included a nine-foot-high berm that provides a lawn seating area for fans, which also acts as a floodwall around the entire stadium. Before, the stadium had no flood protection from Mississippi River flooding. At times the team had to play home games at other parks - such as the one located in Clinton, Iowa - whenever the river flooded. During the Great Flood of 1993, photos of water creeping across the playing field at John O'Donnell made national publications and became one of the symbols of the flood. John O'Donnell Stadium was renamed on December 12, 2007, after Modern Woodmen of America, an insurance company based in nearby Rock Island, Illinois, purchased the stadium's naming rights.[6]
[edit] Notable alumni
Major League Baseball players who have played in Davenport over the years include:[7]
- Garret Anderson (1991)
- Rick Ankiel (2005)
- Dante Bichette (1985)
- Rico Carty (1960)
- Chad Curtis (1989-1990)
- Shawon Dunston (1983)
- Damion Easley (1990)
- Jim Edmonds (1989)
- Scott Elarton (1994-1995)
- Chuck Finley (1986)
- Carlos Guillén (1996)
- Brian Harper (1978)
- Bryan Harvey (1985)
- Roberto Hernández (1987-1988)
- Richard Hidalgo (1994)
- Jason Kubel (2002)
- Carney Lansford (1976)
- Brad Lidge (1998)
- Joe Mauer (2002)
- Mark Mulder (2006 1 game coming from DL)
- Pat Neshek (2003)
- Orlando Palmeiro (1992)
- Jerry Remy (1973)
- Michael Restovich (1999)
- Johan Santana (1998)
- Mark Sweeney (1992)
- Frank Tanana (1972)
- Dickie Thon (1976)
- Billy Wagner (1994)
[edit] References
- ^ Dinda, Joel. Davenport, Iowa, in the Midwest League. Retrieved on 2007-01-01.
- ^ Quad Cities River Bandits (press release). "The Fans Have Spoken: 'River Bandits' Returns to the Quad Cities", 2007-12-13.
- ^ Batterson, Steve. "Florida Group Buys Swing of Q-C", Quad-City Times, 2006-12-29.
- ^ Swing of the Quad Cities (press release). "It's official: Main Street Iowa completes purchase of Swing", 2007-11-29.
- ^ Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park | MWLguide.com
- ^ Batterson, Steve. "JOD has a new name", Quad-City Times, 2007-12-12.
- ^ Swing of the Quad Cities. "From the QCA to the Big Leagues", 2005 Souvenir Program, p. 51-52.
[edit] External links
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| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Memphis Redbirds | Springfield Cardinals |
Palm Beach Cardinals Quad Cities River Bandits Batavia Muckdogs |
Johnson City Cardinals GCL Cardinals VSL Cardinals |
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