Quad Cities River Bandits

Quad Cities River Bandits Founded in 1960 Davenport, Iowa
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-level
Single-A (1960-present)
Minor league affiliations
Midwest League (1960-present) Western Division
Major league affiliations
St. Louis Cardinals (2005-present) Minnesota Twins (1999-2004) Houston Astros (1993-1998) California Angels (1985-1992) Chicago Cubs (1979-1984) Los Angeles Angels/California Angels (1962-1978) Milwaukee Braves (1960-1961)
Name
Quad Cities River Bandits (2008-present) Swing of the Quad Cities (2004-2007) Quad City River Bandits (1992-2003) Quad City Angels (1985-1992) Quad City Cubs (1979-1984) Quad City Angels (1962-1978) Quad City Braves (1960-1961)
Ballpark
Modern Woodmen Park
Minor league titles
League titles	1968, 1971, 1979, 1990, 2011
Division titles
Owner(s)/Operated by: Main Street Iowa
Manager: Johnny Rodriguez
General Manager: Kirk Goodman

The Quad Cities River Bandits are 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.

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 River Bandits play at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport

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 Quad City River Bandits and City of Davenport jointly unveiled plans for a $347,000 high definition video board which will be installed at Modern Woodmen Park in early June, shortly before the Bandits hosted the 2011 Midwest League All-Star Game.^[5] The 2011 Midwest League All-Star game was held here from June 20-21.^[6]

The team's attendance record of 260,471 was set in 1994.^[7]

Notable alumni

Major League Baseball players who have played in Davenport over the years include:^[8]

• Manny Acta (1997 MGR) current MGR AL Cleveland Indians
• Willie Mays Aikens (1975) MLB AS
• Sandy Alomar (1961) MLB AS
• Rich Amaral (1984)
• Garret Anderson (1991) MLB AS
• Rick Ankiel (2005)
• Damon Berryhill (1984)
• Dante Bichette (1985) 4 x MLB AS
• Thad Bosley (1975)
• Jim Bunning (1951) 7 x MLB AS; MLB Perfect Game; MLB HOF
• Rico Carty (1960) MLB AS; 1970 NL Batting Title
• Ray Chapman (1911 Davenport Team) MLB HBP died from injury
• Mark Clear (1976) MLB AS
• Henry Cotto (1980-81)
• Julio Cruz (1975)
• Dave Collins (1973)
• Keith Comstock (1976)
• Chad Curtis (1989-1990)
• Paul Dade (1970)
• Shawon Dunston (1983 "Prospect of the Year" MWL) MLB AS
• Damion Easley (1990) MLB AS
• Jim Edmonds (1989) 4 x MLB AS; 8 x Gold Glove.
• Scott Elarton (1994-1995)
• Chuck Finley (1986) 4 x MLB AS
• Freddie Garcia (1996) 2 x MLB AS
• Jaime Garcia (2006)
• Carlos Guillén (1996) 3 x MLB AS
• John Halama (1996)
• Mel Hall (1980)
• Brian Harper (1978 Record 24 HR with QC Angels)
• Paul Hartzell (1975)
• Bryan Harvey (1985) MLB AS
• Roberto Hernández (1987-1988) MLB AS.
• Richard Hidalgo (1994)
• Dane Iorg (1976)
• Darrin Jackson (1982)
• Jason Kubel (2002)
• Harvey Kuenn (1952) MLB AS; MLB MGR
• Carney Lansford (1976) MLB AS; 1981 AL Batting Title.
• Dave LaRoche (1968)
• Brad Lidge (1998) 2 x MLB AS
• Joe Maddon (1976) MLB MGR
• Carmelo Martinez(1980)
• Dave Martinez (1983)
• Joe Mather (2005)
• Joe Mauer (2002) 3 x MLB AS; 2 x AL Batting titles; 2009 AL MVP.
• Rudy Meoli (1970)
• Wade Miller (1997) MLB AS
• Sid Monge (1971)
• Mark Mulder (2006) 1 game Rehab; 2 x MLB AS
• Rance Mulliniks (1975)
• Pat Neshek (2003)
• Dave Owen (1979)
• Orlando Palmeiro (1992)
• Marty Pattin (1966) MLB AS
• Glen Perkins (2003)
• Colby Rasmus (2006)
• Jerry Remy (1973 .335 BA With QC Angels - Best All-time) MLB AS
• Juan Rincon (1999)
• Michael Restovich (1999)
• Rick Reuschel (1983 Rehab, 7 starts) 3 x MLB AS; 2 x Gold Glove.
• Johan Santana (1998) MLB AS; 2 x AL Cy Young
• Paul Sorrento (1986)
• Jim Spencer (1965)
• Mark Sweeney (1992)
• Frank Tanana (1972) 3 x MLB AS; 1975 AL Strikeouts Leader; 1977 AL ERA Title
• Chuck Tanner (MGR1963-64) WS Champion Manager 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Dickie Thon (1976) MLB AS
• John Verhoeven (1974)
• Billy Wagner (1994) 6 x MLB AS; MLB Rolaids Reliever
• Alan Wiggins (1978) .341 Post Season 1984

Roster

Quad Cities River Bandits rosterview · talk · edit
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 39 Andrew Benes -- Daniel Bibona 34 Seth Blair 32 Ryan Copeland 31 Hector Corpas 44 Angel De Jesus 27 Justin Edwards 7 Anthony Ferrara 41 Cale Johnson 16 Dean Kiekhefer 24 Aidan Lucas 29 Iden Nazarrio 22 Trevor Rosenthal 25 Zach Russell 19 Boone Whiting		Catchers -- Roberto Espinoza 11 Geoffrey Klein 35 Cody Stanley 23 Kleininger Teran Infielders -- Joey Bergman 4 Patrick Elkins 3 Ronny Gil 37 Luis Mateo 28 Jonathan Rodriguez 5 Victor Sanchez -- Jason Stidham 8 Colin Walsh 30 Kolten Wong Outfielders 36 Chris Edmonson 12 Nicholas Longmire 26 Mike O'Neill 10 Michael Swinson 15 Oscar Taveras		Manager 18 Johnny Rodriguez Coaches 13 Joe Kruzel (Batting) 21 Timothy Leveque (Pitching) 7-day disabled list * On St. Louis Cardinals 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated August 12, 2011 Transactions → More rosters

References

1. ^ Dinda, Joel. "Davenport, Iowa, in the Midwest League". http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/davenport/index.html. Retrieved 2007-01-01. 
2. ^ Quad Cities River Bandits (press release) (2007-12-13). "The Fans Have Spoken: 'River Bandits' Returns to the Quad Cities". http://www.swingbaseball.com/news/story/4317/. 
3. ^ Batterson, Steve (2006-12-29). "Florida Group Buys Swing of Q-C". Quad-City Times. http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/12/29/news/local/doc4594b96650622371753668.txt. 
4. ^ Swing of the Quad Cities (press release) (2007-11-29). "It's official: Main Street Iowa completes purchase of Swing". http://www.swingbaseball.com/news/story/4313/. 
5. ^ |url=http://qctimes.com/sports/baseball/professional/minor/midwest-league/article_8f5768ce-50c3-11e0-aa6f-001cc4c03286.html
6. ^ |url=http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110127&content_id=16518898&vkey=pr_l118&fext=.jsp&sid=l118
7. ^ "Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park". MWLguide.com. http://mwlguide.com/cities/davenport/park.html. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
8. ^ Swing of the Quad Cities. "From the QCA to the Big Leagues". 2005 Souvenir Program: p. 51–52. 

External links

• Quad Cities River Bandits' web site
• St. Louis Cardinals Minor Leagues at Scout.com