Early Quad City baseball history Quad Cities River Bandits

1 quad city baseball history

1.1 post-world war ii davenport teams
1.2 midwest league:1960–present
1.3 franchise team names

early quad city baseball history

beginning in 1879, quad city area professional baseball has history includes 3 teams. davenport, moline (moline plowboys) , rock island (rock island islanders) have hosted minor league baseball teams. 1879 davenport brown stockings played in northwestern league. other davenport teams (onion weeders, pilgrims, hawkeyes) played before turn of 20th century in various minor leagues.

in 1901, illinois–indiana–iowa league or three-i had davenport river rats , rock island islanders charter members. davenport team set foundation of franchise exists today. other charter members of three-i league were: terre haute, bloomington, cedar rapids, rockford, evansville , decatur. davenport franchise changed names in years: river rats (1901–04), riversides (1905), knickerbockers (1906), prodigals (1909–12) , davenport blue sox (1913–1916). davenport won first three-i championship in 1914.

there third quad city area team added in july, 1914, when moline gained franchise. danville speakers relocated moline , moline plowboys established. plowboys win three-i championships in 1915, 1921 , 1937.

the plowboys class d affiliates of detroit tigers (1922), st louis browns (1931–32), chicago cubs (1937–40) , philadelphia s (1947–48). 1920-22 plowboys managed player-manager earle mack, son of connie mack. rock island islanders class d affiliates of st. louis browns (1932) , cincinnati reds (1933). in 1922, rock island left three-i join mississippi valley league (mvl), followed moline year later.

unable sustain teams, rock island s stopped play in 1937 , moline last played in 1948. moline played home games @ browning field , rock island played @ douglas park. in exhibition on april 12, 1920 plowboys defeated chicago white sox 7-1 @ browning field. both douglas park , browning field still in existence today.

on may 26, 1931, davenport began play in newly built municipal stadium, nicknamed muny. on muny field, rock island , davenport played each other in championship series in 1932 , 1933. rock island won 32 series , title in 6 games. davenport rebounded win mvl title in 1933 (the final season of mvl). 1933 team led ed hall s 151 rbi , como cotelle s .407 average. davenport blue sox played in western league 1934–1937 class affiliate of brooklyn dodgers. 1936 team continued strong decade , claimed western league championship. 1937 team managed player-manager john eagle beak fitzpatrick. noteworthy fitzpatrick returned 25 years later manage angels in 1962

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post-world war ii davenport teams

after 9 season baseball hiatus during world war ii, baseball returned davenport in 1946, when davenport cubs rejoined three-i league class b affiliate of chicago cubs. led future mlb players roy smalley , rube walker, 1946 team started new era winning regular season three-i title. davenport pirates (1948-1949) affiliate of pittsburgh pirates. future mlb starsbob purkey, frank thomas , future cy young award winner vern law on 1949 pirates, swept evansville, 3-0, win three-i championship. in 1949 davenport drew 133,505 fans, franchise record stand until 1981.

after 1950 davenport quads operated independent team, davenport tigers (1951-1952) affiliate of detroit tigers. harvey kuenn played 1952 team, hitting .340 called detroit. kuenn won 1953 major league baseball rookie of year award. after 1952 season, davenport without team 4 seasons. in 1957, davenport davsox began three-i league play affiliate of chicago white sox .

midwest league:1960–present

the davsox moved lincoln, nebraska after 1958 season, leaving davenport without team 1959 season. result, local businessman hugo hooks kohn started drive bring new team davenport. kohn local baseball enthusiast , leading pioneer/player of diamond ball , davenport game led today s softball. kohn heading quad city baseball fans association, team secured 1960 season milwaukee braves affiliate, , davenport has had team every year since. quad city baseball fans association oversee operation 1960 through 1986.

the 1960 davenport braves became member of fledgling midwest league (mwl), partnership has operated uninterrupted in subsequent decades. 1960 team joined waterloo hawks; keokuk cardinals; dubuque packers; clinton c-sox; kokomo dodgers; quincy giants , decatur commodores form 8-team league. davenport franchise has remained continual member of midwest league. creation of midwest league ended three-i, folded after 1961 season. in long history, three-i had hosted teams in 31 cities.

in 1961 franchise permanently dropped davenport , became quad city braves. in 1962, quad cities became farm team of expansion los angeles (later california) angels. affiliate change forced when cedar rapids (also braves affiliate) 1 of 6 three-i teams joined midwest league in 1962 after three-i dissolution. began lengthy affiliation angels. quad city angels of 1963 , 1964 managed chuck tanner , 1964 angels first mwl team draw more 100,000 fans in season. angels won 1968 , 1971 mwl titles , quad cities cubs won mwl title in 1979.

the angels affiliation ran 1962 through 1992 season, minus six-year affiliation chicago cubs (1979–84). quad cities affiliate of houston astros (1993-1998), minnesota twins (1999-2004), st. louis cardinals (2005-2012), before partnering again houston (2013-present).

the river bandits play @ modern woodmen park in davenport



us navy parades colors during opening ceremonies 2011 all-star game


franchise team names

the modern era franchise had been called davenport before permanently changing quad city in 1962. modern franchise had used nickname of major-league affiliate through 1991 season. changed in 1992, when team created own nickname in name team contest. contest winning name was: quad city river bandits , 1992 through 2003 team kept name. on october 20, 2003, team renamed swing of quad cities; after name team contest held. however, on december 13, 2007, returned quad cities river bandits after voters in third contest chose river bandits name on swing , 4 other finalists: channel cats , current , river eagles , , talons.

the renaming of bandits has proven 1 of sports’ successful rebranding campaigns – merchandise sales after 2008 rebranding increased more 400% (and additional 34% in 2009), sponsorships jumped more 64% in first season, , cnbc named team s logo 1 of top 8 in minor league baseball.