DAVENPORT, Iowa – The Quad City River Bandits will be homeless for the next three weeks.
Floodwaters from the Mississippi River have forced the Midwest League baseball team out of John O'Donnell Stadium, which sits along the river. The Class A team hopes to return by May 15, providing the waters recede by then.
Three games will be played in Clinton, with the first one on Friday night. Eight other games, including an April 30 doubleheader, will be played at Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill.
The arrangements were worked out during three days of talks involving the River Bandits, officials from Clinton and Black Hawk College and the team's parent club, the Minnesota Twins.
``One of the great things about being in this area is that people really pull together to help each other out, and the folks in Clinton and Black Hawk have been great,'' River Bandits president Kevin Krause said. ``We're appreciative of the work they put into this.''
The last time the team was forced out of O'Donnell, some of the games drew fewer than 50 fans.
``We'd like to get more than that at Black Hawk, even if people just come over after work or school for a few innings,'' general manager Tim Bawmann said. ``The team's off to such a good start and we hope people will support them.''
The River Bandits won nine of their first 11 games.
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