Midwest League 2001

Quad City River Bandits

Post-Season Profile

The Bandits put things back together in August and were the League's strongest team for the season's last month. This was accomplished mainly by their pitching staff, which had an exceptionally strong rotation and a fine performance from the short relievers. The team played nearly faultless defense, season-long, despite the travel hardships.

QC's rotation was very strong: Brian Wolfe, Ken Holubec, Jon Pridie, and Lucas Martin always kept the game close. Then Manager Jeff Carter could hand the ball to any of a half-dozen short relievers and expect the game to stay under control until Henry Bonilla would close the game down.

After Justin Morneau's promotion, the offense featured a mixed bag of talents, but no standout player emerged. Kevin West, Terry Tiffee, Luis Maza, and Rob Bowen provided a solid lineup core, but there was little depth, and the team's best baserunners proved poor hitters. Eric Sandberg's late-season return to the Bandits provided some much-needed power, and helped fuel the late surge.

Season Summary

• Second Half: 38-31, .551, 3rd place, 4.5 behind
• First Half: 42-26, .618, 2nd place tie, 5.0 behind (playoff qualifier)
• Pitching: 80-57, 3.59, 42 saves, 1010 strikeouts
• Hitting: .262, 666 runs, 85 HR, 114 steals (70% success)
• Errors: 154 (1.12 per game)
• April: 17-7 (.708)
• May: 16-10 (.615)
• June: 13-15 (.464)
• July: 12-15 (.444)
• August: 22-10 (.688)
• September: 1-2 (.333)

• Best Player on the Team: Relief Pitcher Henry Bonilla

• Best Starting Pitcher: Brian Wolfe (2.81, 13-8, 128 strikeouts)
• Bullpen Stopper: Henry Bonilla (2.39, 25 saves, 5-6)
• Strikeout Pitchers: Ken Holubec, Jeff Lincoln, Beau Kemp, J.C. Contreras, Brad Weis
• Control Pitchers: Brian Wolfe, Lucas Martin, Joe Foote

• Best Hitter: Kevin West (.271, 8 HR, 62 RBI; 74 runs scored)
• Home Run Leader: Rob Bowen (18)
• High Batting Average: Justin Morneau (.356), Terry Tiffee (.309)
• High On Base Percentage: Justin Morneau (.420)
• High Slugging Percentage: Justin Morneau (.597), Rob Bowen (.452), Eric Sandberg (.464)
• Notable Baserunners: Kevin West, Rob Bowen, Luis Maza, Rafael Boitel, Hector De Los Santos, Robert Guzman
• Notable Batting Eye: none notable

July Profile

It kinda looks like the team's paying for the stressful first half; they played a lot better as homeless waifs than they have since returning to John O'Donnell. Some of this is certainly due to the midseason player shuffles.

The Bandits still run a strong pitching rotation: Jeff Randazzo's having an exceptional summer, and the rest of the starters are not far behind. Closer Henry Bonilla's usually been successful at holding leads, but the rest of the bullpen is abysmal.

With Justin Morneau promoted, the QC lineup remains strong, but it's a lot less intimidating. Rob Bowen's got 17 homers, and several players run well. This team can chip a pitcher to death; before, it could blow 'em away.

Also worth watching: Relief pitcher Joe Foote (despite his record).

June Profile

The Bandits finally returned to John O'Donnell on July 2. Although the team slipped a bit in July, it was a remarkable run.

The Twins sent an excellent team to Quad City this season--the League's best player, a strong supporting staff on the field, and a deep pitching staff. The Bandits play good defense, they hit well; the pitchers are stingy.

With Morneau promoted, the Bandits' offense falls to Kevin West, Luis Maza, Terry Tiffee, Josh Rabe, Rob Bowen, and Brett Tamburrino. There's still a lot of strength there. They'll still play for the big inning; don't expect basepath fireworks from these guys.

The QC pitching staff is strong; they could carry a poor offense. The rotation is consistently capable, and there are few weak spots in the bullpen. Closer Henry Bonilla again deserves particular mention; he's a difficult pitcher to hit.

Notable mid-season losses: Justin Morneau, Willie Eyre, Jon Pridie, & Brad Weis.

May Profile

Despite the long road trip--they've only played five games in their home park--the Bandits are doing very well. They've got adequate hitting (a star and a supporting cast), very good pitching, and are playing fine defense. Although the pace has slowed, this is a very fine team.

Justin Morneau's a treasure: A disciplined, strong hitter. Terry Tiffee, Luis Maza, and Kevin West all contribute, though they're hardly in Morneau's class.

The rotation, with Josmir Romero, Jon Pridie, Brian Wolfe, and Jeff Randazzo pitching well, is the league's second best staff, while closer Henry Bonilla's been nearly unhittable. The rest of the bullpen has been valuable, with only a couple weak links.

April Profile

In case we doubted: Justin Morneau's Gulf Coast performance wasn't a fluke; he's doing it again....

Despite the flood and the ownership chaos, this team's playing extremely well. They could be something special. The defense has some weakness, but this is a solid team.

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

This will be Jeff Carter's second season as a manager. Last summer at Elizabethton Carter hardly ever issued an intentional walk and called for relatively few bunts. His base stealing success rate is quite high, but Carter is otherwise a conventional basepath coach.

First Round Draft Selection

• none

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 21.2
• Pitchers: 21.5
• Hitters: 20.9

• Oldest Player on the Team: Brad Weis (born 11/29/77)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Jeffrey Randazzo (born 8/12/81)

The average player in the Midwest League is 21.6 years old. Average ages were calculated from the opening day roster; age as of July 1, 2001.

This website has more information about team ages.

Where they played last season

This is a brief portrait of how the team was put together. These summaries are based on the team's opening day roster and will not be revised to reflect roster changes.

Most of this year's offense played for the excellent Elizabethton nine last summer; the pitchers are mainly returnees from last year's QC team.

Team            League             W/L     Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                          (Teams)
Fort Myers      Florida State (A+) 83/57   2(14)       0       0
Quad City       Midwest (A)        64/75 T10(14)       4       8
Elizabethton    Appalachian (R+)   46/18   1(10)       9       3
Twins           Gulf Coast (R)     33/23   4(13)       1       1

There was only slight movement in the Twins system last season, so only a handful of players are counted more than once in this table. One of these players did not play professionally last summer.