This will be worth a visit: the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s traveling “We Are Baseball” tour will make six stops across the United States this summer, and the first exposure to the public is at Modern Woodmen Park, home of the Quad Cities River Bandits (Low A; Midwest League).
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Famer John Smoltz were on hand yesterday in Dyersville, Iowa at the Field of Dreams movie site to announce the tour.
“We wanted to bring the Hall of Fame to the fans, and what better place to do that than in the Midwest,” Manfred said.
Here’s the itinerary for the tour:
- July 3-10: Davenport, Iowa, Modern Woodmen Park, Quad Cities River Bandits
- July 15-31: Miller Park, Milwaukee, home of the Milwaukee Brewers
- August 5-21: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, home of the St. Louis Cardinals
- September 16-29: Mall of America, Bloomington, the former site of Metropolitan Stadium, longtime home of the Minnesota Twins
- October 7-23: Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas
“What a beautiful day for baseball and especially the Midwest League,” said Midwest League President Dick Nussbaum. “I am so proud of [River Bandits owner] Dave Heller and [River Bandits GM] Andrew Chesser, who have the great honor to be the very first hosts of ‘We Are Baseball,’ the traveling Baseball Hall of Fame. It is proof of how highly regarded the Midwest League and the River Bandits are by those in authority in Major and Minor League Baseball.”
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“A lot of planning has gone into making this a reality and with the history of our ballpark, the river and the overall setting, I think they found what they were looking for as a good starting point,’’ Chesser said.
Heller believes Modern Woodmen Park’s selection as the “best ballpark in America,’’ and the Quad-Cities’ selection as the top minor-league market in the nation benefited the chances of the tour coming to Davenport.
“When you earn those types of honors as a community, it opens up opportunities like this,’’ Heller said. “For Major League Baseball to decide that Davenport was where they wanted this to begin, that’s a big deal and I couldn’t be happier for the community, the Quad-Cities and the entire region. This is baseball history coming to our backyard.’’