Quad Cities River Bandits
Where can you ride a 110-foot-high Ferris wheel during a ballgame? At Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa, home of the Quad Cities River Bandits.
Our final Minor League stop of the road trip was one of our most-anticipated: Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa, home of Quad Cities River Bandits, the Midwest League High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.
Opened in 1931 as Municipal Stadium, the ballpark had lighting ready for night games on Day One. Its first minor league tenants were the Davenport Blue Sox of the Mississippi Valley League, who were the second incarnation of the Blue Sox name dating back to 1913. (Earlier names included the Brown Stockings, Onion Weeders, Hawkeyes, and Pilgrims.) Teams from Davenport frequently faced clubs from other Quad Cities towns, such as the Moline Plowboys and the Rock Island Islanders. The old brand was revived for the 2022 Minor League Field of Dreams game, in which the River Bandits, playing as the Blue Sox, faced their upstream rival, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, appearing in their old-timey garb as the Bunnies.
The Blue Sox later moved to the Western League and folded along with it in 1937. Nine years later, minor league baseball returned to Davenport with a succession of teams — the Cubs, Pirates, Quads, Tigers, and DavSox — playing in the Class B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League.
The current franchise dates back to 1960 and the Davenport Braves of the Midwest League (where the team still plays today), switching to the Quad City Braves the following year. The “Quad City” toponym stuck as the club’s affiliation shifted to the California Angels and Chicago Cubs.
In 1992, the team demonstrated foresight by abandoning their parent club’s name for a wackier moniker. Fans chose the Quad Cities River Bandits — this time with “Cities” pluralized — in a “name the team” contest. All was well with the world. But in a fit of absolute madness, the club held another contest to rename the team in 2004 and ended up with "Swing of the Quad Cities” — a welcome salute to the town’s jazz heritage but awkward and terrible name for a baseball team. After significant backlash, the franchise held a third contest in 2008, with the River Bandits winning out over The Swing, The Current, Channel Cats, River Eagles, and Talons. Merchandise sales rose 400% that year. Sanity was restored.
In 2025, Modern Woodmen Park was named the best Minor League ballpark in America for the third time, and the second year in a row, in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. It’s easy to see why: The ballpark juts out from shore onto the Mississippi River, with a skyline dominated in right field by the Rock Island Centennial Bridge, a steel-arch bridge built just before World War II; and in left field by a 110-foot-tall carousel that runs — along with several other amusement park rides — during games.
The ballpark’s location on the Mississippi is what helps make it special, but it hasn’t been easy. Floods in 1960, 1962, and in particular the “Great Flood of ‘93” — when the river crested near Davenport at a record-breaking 22.63 feet — forced renovations at the stadium that included a raised playing field and a nine-foot berm acting as a flood barrier. Even then, another record flood in 2019 — at 22.7 feet — forced the River Bandits to play games at the University of Iowa more than 50 miles away in Iowa City.
Photo: Iowa City Press-Citizen
The capacity at Modern Woodman Park has fluctuated over its 96-year history, from as high as 8,500 to the current count of 4,024 fans. The River Bandits averaged 2,319 fans per game in 2025, ninth-best in the 12-team Midwest League.
Quad Cities has been affiliated with the Houston Astros (1993-1998 and 2013-2020), Minnesota Twins (1999-2004), St. Louis Cardinals (2005-2012), and, since 2021, the Kansas City Royals. As such, the celebrity alumni roster includes — in alphabetical order, no less — Alex Bregman, Matt Carpenter, Carlos Correa, Josh Hader, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Brett Phillips, Johan Santana, George Springer, and Billy Wagner.
Since joining the Midwest League 66 years ago, the franchise has won eight league championships — the most recent in 2021.
We made our prompt acquaintance with the River Bandits team store, which had a large selection of merch in every category.
Options included the team’s Copa de la Diversión persona, Bandidos del Río de las Ciudades Cuádruples (literally, Quad Cities River Bandits). The branding features “Pícaro" (Spanish for "rascal," referring to team mascot Rascal the River Bandit) sporting a sombrero and a version of his bandana that looks like a woven blanket.
I went with a traditional black home hat with Rascal, whose blue bandana and hat band were red when the River Bandits were affiliated with the Astros.
I walked down the left-field line and soon found Rascal the River Bandit, the Quad Cities mascot who debuted with the team in 1994. I also found Modern Woodmen Park’s mini-cornfield.
Quad Cities entered the game with a 34-25 record, battling with the Cedar Rapids Kernels for the first-half title in the West division. The Kernels would edge out the River Bandits by a single game, and Quad Cities dropped further in the standings in the second half.
Their opponents for the night, the Beloit Sky Carp, were a game below .500 but would rally in the second half of the season to win the West. The Kernels beat the Sky Carp two games to one in the division series of the playoffs before being swept in the championship by the juggernaut that was the West Michigan Whitecaps in 2025.
We were excited to be joined for the game by Minor League minor celebrity and Iowa baseball enjoyer Lynn Smith, who sat with us in 2024 at our July 4th game with the Peoria Chiefs and had seen us on the first game of this trip with the Kansas City Monarchs. It’s always fun catching up with Lynn, sharing baseball travel stories and hearing about her latest jersey acquisitions. (She’ll have 100 soon!)
There was a lot happening at the ballpark: It was Bark in the Park night, with a collection of fine dogs on display; and Easy Eddy pint glass giveaway night. To celebrate, I sampled an Easy Eddy on the third-base side in a room that contained a packed bobblehead display case.
Abigaille Batu-Tiako, the reigning Miss Iowa, sang a skilled rendition of the national anthem, and it was time to play ball.
River Bandits right-hander Josh Hansell delivered the first pitch of the game. Beloit first baseman Michael Snyder fouled it back off the press box — and it fell directly into my hands. On the first pitch!
Hansell walked a runner who was later thrown out at the plate for the third out. Sky Carp starter Thomas White didn’t fare as well, allowing a single and a double to give the home team an early 1-0 lead.
My next priority was getting on that Ferris wheel, which was added to Modern Woodman Park before the 2014 season. I bought a ticket and stepped up to find out that I needed to ride with at least one companion. Dad and Lynn were still back at our seats, so I would need to rely on the kindness of others to let me board their car.
A group of three teens approached, and the ticket-taker asked if I could join them. I’m sure they weren’t excited about riding with a 50-something who might put a damper on their fun. But they were nice about it, and I shared the story of my baseball road trip with Dad as we soared into the sky. (Watch the episode!)
The ride provided panoramic views of the ballpark, the river, Centennial Bridge, and Davenport beyond. It’s just one of several amusement park rides in the left-field corner of the ballpark, and kids kept them busy all night — the coaster, the carousel, the pendulum ride, the Frog Hopper, and the spinning Double Play ride.
I was a couple of innings behind schedule for dinner and shifted my focus to fixing that immediately.
I typically avoid burgers at ballparks, which are often stale and disappointing. But when I saw the Bandit Burger — a big patty, pulled pork, bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce, and coleslaw — I knew I had to try it. Coupled with another Easy Eddy IPA, it was fantastic.
The ballgame had hummed right along. Sky Carp catcher Garrett Forester led off the top of the fourth with a solo shot to left field, tying the score 1-1.
It remained that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Sky Carp reliver Ike Buxton allowed two walks to start the inning — never a good omen. A sacrifice bunt and a single brought them both home and gave Quad Cities a 3-1 lead.
Late in the game, I looked behind us to see the John O’Donnell Press Box. In 1971, the ballpark itself was named after O’Donnell, who covered Davenport sports for more than 40 years for the Davenport Democrat and Times-Democrat.
A trio of River Bandits relievers put in a stellar performance for the final 4 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit between them. Quad Cities cruised to a 3-1 win.
As we headed for the exit, I found River bandits owner Dave Heller shaking hands with fans and thanking them for coming out to the ballgame — a classy display that typifies the unique connection between Minor League Baseball and the communities it serves. It’s a big reason we will keep coming back for more.
