Home opener is Saturday, April 9, and the annual Bandits Race to Home 5K is Saturday, April 23
DAVENPORT, Iowa (August 27, 2015) - The Quad Cities River Bandits on Thursday announced their 140-game schedule and home game times for the 2016 Midwest League season, including the six-time Midwest League Champions' home opener on Saturday, April 9, against the Cedar Rapids Kernels to begin a schedule of 70 home games at Modern Woodmen Park.
After playing their first two games of the 2016 season in Cedar Rapids Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8, the River Bandits will return to Modern Woodmen Park to host Cedar Rapids for two games Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10, with both starting at 1:15 p.m. That will mark the first of 13 weekends the Midwest League club will have a home game at the ballpark voted the Best Minor League Ballpark in a nationwide vote at 10Best.com and USA TODAY.
The River Bandits' first two Saturday home games, April 9 and April 16, will each start at 1:15 p.m. The following Saturday, April 23, will be the annual Bandits Race to Home 5K and Kids Fun Run to benefit the Bandit Scholars Program. The race will begin at 9 a.m., and the Kids Fun Run will begin at 10 a.m. Registration is available at getmeregistered.com/bandits.
The River Bandits will have a home game on the Fourth of July - a 6 p.m. game against Beloit Monday, July 4 - and home games on three holiday weekends in 2016. On Memorial Day Weekend, Quad Cities will host Peoria for a four-game series Friday, May 27, through Memorial Day Monday, May 30. The River Bandits play a four-game Father's Day Weekend home series with Cedar Rapids Thursday, June 16, through Sunday, June 19. The River Bandits will play their regular season home finale against Kane County at the start of Labor Day Weekend on Friday, Sept. 2.
In their 2016 schedule, the River Bandits have three different homestands of seven games or more, including a season-long nine-game, 10-day homestand Wednesday, July 20, through Friday, July 29. The team's longest road stretch is eight consecutive games Thursday, Aug. 11, through Thursday, Aug. 18.
During the 2016 season, weekday (Monday through Friday) home games will normally begin at 7 p.m. Three 11 a.m. weekday games will be Wednesday, April 27, Monday, May 9, and Tuesday, May 17 - when the River Bandits host schools participating in the Book Buddies reading program. The Memorial Day game will begin at 5:15 p.m. on Monday, May 30. The Monday, July 4, game will be at 6 p.m., and the Monday, July 25, game will start at 1 p.m. All other weekday games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Modern Woodmen Park.
After the first two Saturdays - April 9 and April 16 - have 1:15 p.m. home games, all following Saturday home games will again begin at 6:00 p.m. during the 2016 season. Sunday home games will be at 1:15 p.m., with the exceptions of 5:15 p.m. games on three Sundays - June 5, July 10 and July 24. On game days at Modern Woodmen Park, gates will open 60 minutes before each scheduled start time.
Quad Cities will host four Eastern Division opponents in 2016. The River Bandits will host the South Bend Cubs (April 26-28), West Michigan Whitecaps (April 29-May 1), Dayton Dragons (July 20-22) and Bowling Green Hot Rods (July 23-25). Every Western Division team will play at least seven games at Modern Woodmen Park in 2016.
The 2016 Midwest League All-Star Game will be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The regular season concludes Monday, Sept. 5. The Midwest League playoffs are scheduled to begin Wednesday, Sept. 7. A full schedule of home and road games for 2016 is at www.riverbandits.com.
