MWL1 Burlington Bees

Baseball and the Flood

by Marc Viquez
Published on August 19, 2008 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Burlington Bees


The recent flooding this summer throughout Iowa made catching a baseball game a little difficult compared to past summers. There are six stadiums that host baseball, but after finally making it out there I quickly learned that all of these ballparks were in some way affected by The Great Flood of 2008.

"Everyone was affected in some way by the recent floods here in Iowa," said Burlington Bees' GM Chuck Brockett who greeted customers to Community Field on a hot summer day recently.

The Midwest League affiliate's home field is about three miles away from the Mississippi River, but when a levee broke and closed down The Great River Bridge things were a little different at the ballpark according to Brockett.

Burlington Bees"We lost about 30% of our attendance during that thirty-day stretch; a core of our fan base comes over from Illinois. It would normally take twenty-minutes to come to a game, but with the bridge closed it turned into an hour and half drive. Also, people who had been working all day helping flood victims were just too exhausted to come to a game at night. A lot of people have other things on their minds."

The Bees offered free admission to a couple games to anyone who was affected by the floods or had helped with flood relief. The bridge reopened by the end of July and a small gathering of fans were in the stands the day I visited. Brockett grabbed a water hose to cool off a few young kids in between innings and a near bench clearing brawl almost took place in the quite little town of 30,000 people.

Up the river in Davenport another ballpark was battling the floods as well. Modern Woodmen Park , home of the Midwest League's Quad Cities River Bandits, had dealt with flood waters in 1965, 1993 and 2001; the iconic shot of the flooded stadium, then known as John O'Donnell Stadium, became a symbol of The Great Flood of 1993. The stadium went under intensive renovations in 2004 that resulted in a flood protection system between the river and the outfield berm; however, this did not stop the water from surrounding the ballpark. The River Bandits staff did come up with a novel idea to get fans into the ballpark.

A city-built pedestrian bridge was erected to bring fans into the front entrance of the stadium from River Drive. The water had created a moat around the ballpark, but fans were able to enter the game high and dry for a weekend contest; the first two nights saw crowds over 4,000, but potential cresting water cancelled the Sunday game.

Burlington Bees"I was on my way to the game that Sunday, but when I entered downtown a police officer told me that the game was cancelled," said one fan who spoke with me about crossing over the bridge during the first two nights.

No other park in Iowa was greatly affected than Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo, home to the Northwood League's Waterloo Bucks. The Bucks had to move 16 of their home games this summer to other venues around the league and city. Their home field was engulfed in water from the nearby Cedar River and even as the team return back to the stadium they are still without power down the first base side, the original party deck had floated away and office supplies are somewhat scattered. This did not dispel a crowd of close to 2,500 in enjoying a night of dollar hot dogs, beer and fireworks.

The Cedar River also flooded an hour south in Cedar Rapids, home to the Kernels of the Midwest League; however, Veterans Memorial Stadium was not structural damaged by the flood waters. The stadium sits up top high ground and served in various ways for the city. The parking lot served as home for city maintenance vehicles; such as, street sweepers, busses and trucks. The National Guard also set up camp at the ballpark. The Kernels did not miss or have to postpone any games during the flooding

Burlington Bees"The city did not have too many places to keep their busses, so they used every part of our parking lot," added Kernels' PR Director Andrew Pantini.

In the middle of the state the Iowa Cubs of the Pacific Coast League had to play a game in front of an empty stadium during the flooding of both the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers. The city of Des Moines had mandated a temporary evacuation of its downtown. The two rivers crested at a height of 26.68 feet and dumped a little bit of water in the outfield area of the stadium. The Cubs had to cancel one home contest, but staff and volunteers worked long hours to sandbag around the exterior of the stadium. You can still see the sandbags outside the outfield walls.

I was able to see some of the damage left by the floods in Waterloo and Cedar Rapids. Life in many of these 93 counties that were hit hard by the flood waters is getting back to normal; however, it will be a summer that they will remember for a long time. The humanity and resilience will be remembered for a lifetime.

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Midwest League Stories from August 19, 2008


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