Fans on the Farm Get Happ-y Tonight

Okay, last night the C-Cubs made their 2017 home debut. Tonight the I-Cubs will.

No, there won’t be a World Series banner to unfurl or golden numbers on the jerseys. Nor is there a new fan plaza to unveil outside the stadium. Off-season tweaks were highlighted by the addition of a new ribbon scoreboard/revenue stream. And new LED field lighting will be installed in June. But there is also the triple play of extensions that were announced last week. The C-Cubs and I-Cubs officially stretched their affiliation through at least 2020. That arrangement is currently the third-longest one in effect.

"This agreement with the Iowa Cubs will extend our partnership to nearly 40 years since first working together in 1981," said Senior Vice President of Scouting and Player Development Jason McLeod. In other words, since he was a little leaguer.

In addition, local partnerships with the city and a corporate sponsor were extended even longer range.

I can be confident we’ll have a team here for the rest of my life, as there has been for 55 of my 63 years to date.

As for this particular edition, they opened by winning three out of five in Oklahoma City. Candelario and Happ, the promising pair of switch-hitters, both got off to fast starts. Jeimer drove in 10 runs in the first three games and Ian homered in the middle three games of the series to whet the appetites of fans who have gotten accustomed to ushering touted young prospects through to the big leagues in recent seasons (NOTE: seven of the Cub starting nine in Game Seven last November logged internships here). On the mound, Duensing has made two scoreless appearances and yesterday fanned five in two innings of work that required more than 30 pitches.

Tonight, by the way, the opponent is New Orleans. Nothing new there as they’ve been a fellow member of the Pacific Coast League for many years despite being further removed from that coast than Des Moines AND being situated along the coast of an entirely different body of water. But the name is new this year. No longer the Zephyrs, now it’s the Baby Cakes coming to town. The logo looks like an angry brat wielding a bat.

Des Moines reached Triple A in 1969 and has been there ever since. Though one of that level’s smallest markets, it’s currently the fastest growing city in the Midwest. I’m sure I will have, uh, long retired by the time the big leagues absorb us.

And awaaay we go!