Quad Cities River Bandits

From BR Bullpen

QCRiverBandits.jpg

Team History[edit]

The Quad Cities River Bandits, of the High-A Midwest League and briefly in High-A Central, broke precedent by taking a regional name in 1960 - yet the area's cities using a regional brand was already nearly a century old. The Kansas City Royals farmhands play their home games at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, IA.

The wild success of MLB's 2021 Field of Dreams Game, played on the farm where the famous film was shot, generated at least one more on August 11, 2022. A few weeks into that season, MLB announced a precursor between eastern Iowa's two minor league teams - the Bandits and the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Although Cedar Rapids is 20 miles closer to the farm than the Quad Cities, the Bandits were designated the home team. Both teams used throw-back nicknames - the Bandits using the Davenport Blue Sox ID they used during three stretches between 1913 and 1937 with the Kernels using the Cedar Rapids Bunnies moniker of 1904-1932. The Sox won, 7-2, in front of 7,532 fans.

MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization raised the Bandits, and most of the Midwest League, one level. Originally listed for elimination, they squeaked through as MLB winnowed the MwL from 16 teams to 12 and switched the Bandits from the Houston Astros to the Royals.

The Bandits play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Bandidos del Rio de las Ciudades Cuádaruples, a straight translation of their full brand.

Year-by-Year Record[edit]

Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs Hitting coach Pitching coach Coach
2008 68-66 9th Steve Dillard Joe Kruzel Ace Adams
2009 61-78 9th Steve Dillard Joe Kruzel Ace Adams
2010 83-55 2nd Johnny Rodriguez Lost in 1st round Joe Kruzel
2011 81-56 2nd Johnny Rodriguez League Champs Joe Kruzel Tim Leveque
2012 68-71 9th Luis Aguayo Joe Kruzel Ace Adams
2013 81-57 3rd Omar Lopez League Champs Joel Chimelis Dave Borkowski Vince Coleman
2014 70-69 7th Omar Lopez Joel Chimelis Dave Borkowski Vince Coleman
2015 88-50 1st Josh Bonifay Lost in 1st round Joel Chimelis Dave Borkowski Tim Garland
2016 61-78 14th Omar Lopez Joel Chimelis Chris Holt Tommy Kawamura
2017 79-59 2nd Russ Steinhorn League Champs Ben Rosenthal Drew French Jason Bell
2018 81-59 2nd Mickey Storey Lost in 1st round Dillon Lawson Graham Johnson Rafael Pena
2019 79-57 4th Ray Hernandez Lost in 1st round Rafael Pena Erick Abreu
2020 Season cancelled
2021 77-41 1st Chris Widger League Champs Andy LaRoche Steve Luebber Mike Jirschele
2022 54-78 11th Brooks Conrad Andy LaRoche Steve Luebber David Noworyta, Kevin Kuntz, Eddie Rodriguez
2023 55-77 12th Brooks Conrad Ryan Powers Derrick Lewis Chris Nelson

Related Sites[edit]