x
Breaking News
More () »

Rain moves QC Bandits home opener to Friday

On Thursday, April 25th, the game will now be held in Clinton at 1 p.m.
promo380329244

DAVENPORT, Iowa  --  The Quad City River Bandits are returning to Modern Woodmen Park this Friday, April 26th, to play their first home game of the season.

Thursday, April 25th, the game will be held in Clinton at 1 p.m. Gates at Modern Woodman Park will open at 5:35 for the 6:35 game. Saturday's gates will open at Modern Woodman at 11 in the morning. The game will be at noon. Sunday's game is set for 5 p.m.

The Bandits have missed eight home games, because Canadian Pacific raised the railroad tracks.  The railroad raised the tracks to keep trains running during flood season. The tracks are now high enough to accommodate a 21 ft flood. But, these high tracks meant fans and employees could not get inside the stadium.

"The last three weeks have been a unique experience for our staff," River Bandits General Manager Jacqueline Holm said. "We've been trying to keep the momentum going considering we haven't been in the building. This past month has felt like it might have been two almost."

Holm said the team is ready to get back into their home stadium.

"They are ready to come home," Holm said. "They are ready to have a home base, they've been road warriors for the first month and it's been very challenging."

The City of Davenport and Canadian Pacific came up with a temporary solution to the team being displaced. The railroad company paid for a temporary walkway, so fans can safely cross the tracks without walking through flood waters. Construction on the temporary path began last week.

"It looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel," Holm said. "I'm glad that we are going to be able to start playing baseball inside Modern Woodman Park very soon."

Construction on the temporary path finished today, April 23rd. Rain earlier in the week set crews back one day, meaning the home opener is pushed back to Friday instead of the planned Thursday, April 25th.

Employees of Modern Woodman Park are now permanently back inside the stadium.

"It's nice to be back in the home office," River Bandits production manager Evan Wiseman said. "We treat these games kinda like we are playing in them too."

The city says they will have safety monitors out by the tracks for opening day.

Trucks will begin delivering concessions, equipment, and all the game day necessities.

Before You Leave, Check This Out