Day trippers: River Bandits to make plenty of 1-day trips

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By Steve Batterson | Tuesday, May 20, 2008 |

Members of the Quad-Cities River Bandits board a bus at Modern Woodmen Park for a recent trip to Peoria. (Jeff Cook/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

Tired of sitting through another backup on the I-74 bridge?

Always seem to hit the Government Bridge when the world’s longest barge works its way through the Quad-Cities?

Do those lights on Kimberly Road seem to switch from yellow to red whenever your car approaches?

Don’t sweat it, the commute could be worse.

Just ask the Quad-Cities River Bandits.

Their daily commute to work this week includes trips to Peoria on four consecutive days followed by three straight one-day trips to Burlington.

“Welcome to the minor leagues,” River Bandits manager Steve Dillard said.

Life on the bus and the road is a part of life for players whose major league aspirations bring them to the Quad-Cities and other minor league stops around the country.

Over the course of a 140-game season, the River Bandits will log 10,025 miles on the bus.

That’s typical for all teams in the Midwest League.

Even among their peers, what is unusual is the number of commuter trips the Bandits make each season.

According to the Professional Baseball Agreement — the contract that ties minor and major league baseball — any trip of more than 100 miles requires an overnight stay when a multi-game series is played. Trips of 100 miles or less are considered commuter trips, and teams shuttle back and forth from their home city to the game site on a daily basis.

For the River Bandits, that covers games at Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton and Peoria. No other team in the league has more than two regular commuter trips.

Quad-Cities travels 4,720 miles to play 34 road games in those four cities this season — and simply put — it can be a grind.

“Our bus is good, but it’s a lot of time on the road,” pitcher Matt Spade said.

“The toughest part is the turnaround. We’ll get back into town after midnight, then the next day we’re up and on the road again right away. The night game to day game turnaround is toughest of all, but it’s what we do.”

On Monday, the bus left for a 6:30 p.m. game at Peoria at 1:30 p.m. Players understand that the bus leaves with or without them, and most have settled into their seats more than 30 minutes before the bus leaves the ballpark.

The trip home typically begins 90 minutes to 2 hours after the game.

Spade watches the miles pass by either listening to music or playing with a hand-held video game. Other players sleep or break out a deck of cards before turning their attention to the day’s game, batting practice and field work.

Trainer Brian Puchalski coordinates the transport of the team’s gear from the clubhouse at Modern Woodmen Park to the playing site.

For commuter trips, most equipment is hauled to the site on the first day of the series and stored at that venue until the last game of the series is played.

Game uniforms, batting practice jerseys, training room supplies, bats, helmets and other gear, however, are hauled back and forth on a daily basis.

Once the team returns home, clubhouse manager Sam Salabura washes the game and practice uniforms so they are ready for the team’s return to the road the next day.

“The commutes create some long days,” Puchalski said. “Essentially when we go to Peoria, we’re adding 3 to 4 hours to the day. The travel can wear on guys, especially if they don’t get the nutrition and rest they need, and we talk to them about that. Guys have to be smart about things.’’

Dillard is cognizant of that, too.

“It can wear on you physically and mentally,’’ he said. “Especially when you get a stretch like we’ve got with seven straight commuter trips, that is about as tough it gets.

“It would have been nice if we could have split them up a bit. When you’ve got seven straight, you feel like you’re not getting anything done other than getting up, getting on a bus, spending the day on the road and going to bed when you get home late that night or early the next morning.’’

During the current stretch of commuter trips — the longest of the season for Quad-Cities — Dillard will vary the routine a bit.

The team might forgo batting practice a couple of times, allowing for a later departure time and additional rest.

“We’ll get through it, but I know we’ll be glad when we’re back home,’’ Dillard said.

Short road trips

Commuter opponents for Midwest League teams:

Team	Day Trips
Beloit	Kane County
Burlington	Peoria, Quad-Cities
Cedar Rapids	Clinton, Quad-Cities
Clinton	Cedar Rapids, Quad-Cities
Dayton	None
Fort Wayne	South Bend
Great Lakes	Lansing
Kane County	Beloit
Lansing	Great Lakes, West Michigan
Quad-Cities	Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Peoria
Peoria	Burlington, Quad-Cities
South Bend	Fort Wayne
West Michigan	Lansing
Wisconsin	None