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Bandit Fans React to Astros

QUAD CITIES – St. Louis Cardinal fans are disappointed that the new parent club of the Quad Cities River Bandits will be the Houston Astros. Cubs fans tho...

QUAD CITIES - St. Louis Cardinal fans are disappointed that the new parent club of the Quad Cities River Bandits will be the Houston Astros.

Cubs fans though, say they are more excited to no longer have a rival here in the Quad Cities. Nonetheless, all River Bandit fans will have to get used to the Astros.

"Houston who?" Cardinal fan Tom Timm said. "They got a team there?"

The Houston Astros signed a two-year Player Development contract Monday. However, not too many Astro fans live in the Quad Cities. That's left some wondering whether the River Bandits' attendance will decrease in 2013.

"I really don't know too much about the Astros actually," Timm said.

Many say the majority of people in the Quad Cities are Chicago Cubs or St. Louis Cardinal fans because the Quad Cities is not far away from either town. Even though the Cardinals will no longer be the Bandit's parent team, others say they're just as likely to go to games.

"If it was a couple of guys getting called up tomorrow to play in the Majors, before the World Series, that would be a different story," Cardinal fan Jordan Garrison said. "But single A ball? It's just fun to watch the Bandits."

Cub fans have a different aspect on the deal with Houston. Some believe that Cub fans will be more likely to attend games because the Cardinals aren't their parent club.

"I really didn't go to a good amount of games because they were affiliated with the Cardinals," Cub fan Tyler Schamp said.

The move from the Cardinals to the Astros may take some time to get used to for fans. After all, the Cardinals have been in the Quad Cities since 2005. But it also means that the River Bandits will have to teach fans about the Houston Astros with the season starting again in April.

River Bandit's owner Dave Heller doesn't expect for attendance to drop because the River Bandits are changing big league teams. He also says he will be promoting the Chicago Cubs along with the Astros next season because the River Bandits are no longer affiliated with the Cardinals. The Astros by the way, are moving to the American League in 2013.

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