DAVENPORT, Iowa — The awards keep coming for the River Bandits, this time it's Chris Widger earning Baseball America's Minor League Manager of the Year.
It's the second honor for Widger who was already named the 2021 High-A Central Manager of the Year after leading the River Bandits to the league's best record (77-41) and the 12th championship victory in franchise history.
The 2021 campaign presented many challenges for Widger and the team who did not play any games in a cancelled 2020 season.
Operating in the new norms of the pandemic combined with the restructuring of minor league baseball wasn't easy, but the River Bandits still put together a dominant season, winning or splitting all but one series, posting a winning record against all division opponents, and finishing with a 40-19 record at Modern Woodmen Park where they never lost a series.
Widger told Baseball America that the players, who did not have one positive Covid test all season, used discipline off the field which translated to the success during games.
“A lot of that, I guess, is luck with the way things go,” Widger said, “but a lot of it is because our guys did things the right way. They followed protocols. They did things the right way away from the field. They stayed away from certain situations that they shouldn’t have been in.”
The 2021 season was the first for the River Bandits under the Kansas City Royals after MLB overhauled their minor-league system.
Quad Cities was able to keep their team major-league affiliated, bringing in a new group of players and coaches who previously had experience with each other in the Royals' pipeline.
Widger began his managerial career with Kansas City's Rookie-league affiliate Burlington (North Carolina) in 2019, leading that team to an Appalachian League Championship Series where they were defeated in a deciding Game 3.
Many of the River Bandits' 2021 core players were a part of that 2019 Burlington team. The losing experience is something Widger said the team used as motivation heading into their championship season.
"Coming into spring training, that's what they started talking about," said Widger after the River Bandits won the 2021 High-A Central Championship. "And they started getting their Bandits handshakes and what they were gonna do and when they hit home runs, I mean, they bonded from probably the first week of spring training."
A former MLB catcher, Widger spent 10 seasons in the big leagues as a catcher with six different teams, including the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox.
More wins and success in the minors should ultimately pave the way for Widger back to the major-league level to coach in some capacity, maybe as a manager. But for now, Widger says he's focused on the tasks at hand with the River Bandits.
“I’m happy with what I’m doing,” Widger said. “I like working with the younger guys. I like watching them grow. I like seeing them get better. I like trying to keep a little bit of the old school and history involved with these players, so that they know where the game was and where it’s been, and why we keep certain values in the game.”
