MiLB at Field of Dreams: Quad Cities newcomer Chandler Champlain masterful in win over Cedar Rapids
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DYERSVILLE — Tuesday's Minor League Baseball game at the "Field of Dreams" movie site between the Cedar Rapids Kernels and Quad Cities River Bandits was an opening act to the big show. Two days before the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds took the field for a big-league showdown at the specially constructed stadium located near the movie site diamond, the two Iowa teams took center stage.
From there, Chandler Champlain put on a show.
The new River Bandits' starter delivered the best start of his young career with the Kansas City Royals' farm team. Champlain pitched into the seventh and guided his team to a 7-2 victory over the Kernels before a packed stadium surrounded by corn in rural Dyersville on Tuesday evening. Champlain, one of the biggest stories of the game after he was acquired by the Royals in a trade with the New York Yankees for Andrew Benintendi, stuck out seven in 6 ⅓ innings of work.
"In my baseball career, it was the best day of my life," Champlain said.
The day turned out well for a few other River Bandits players. River Bandits designated hitter Juan Carlos Negret went 2-for-4 with a homer and drove in three runs. His two-run bash, which came in the first inning, landed in the left center field corn to give the River Bandits a 2-0 lead. Peyton Wilson added a homer and Negret chipped in with an RBI double, all part of a three-run third inning.
"A moment I'll never forget," Wilson said.
The star was Champlain who allowed just two runs on six hits and walked none in his third outing with the River Bandits and just his second start with the team since being traded.
"It was a good day to have a good day," Champlain said.
River Bandits shortstop Tyler Tolbert finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored in the huge night for the two Iowa minor league teams that were playing in a nationally televised game on MLB Network. For many, it was the closest they'd experience to playing in the major leagues. For others on the two High-A teams, the picture-perfect Iowa evening was just a special opportunity.
The two teams arrived in Dyersville early Tuesday and walked around the diamond from the 1989 movie about an Iowa farmer who plows over his corn to build a baseball field for ghosts of the banished Chicago White Sox 1919 team to play on. Both farm clubs wore throwback uniforms.
More on the Field of Dreams: Inside the numbers that it takes to create Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa
The River Bandits became the Davenport Blue Sox, their name from 1913-1916, 1929-1933 and 1934-1937. The Kernels became the Cedar Rapids Bunnies, their name form 1904-1932.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," Wilson said. "A lot of us will never get to do this, probably."
Urbandale native Matt Mullenbach, who played at Waukee High School, was one of the players that took advantage of the opportunity. Mullenbach struck out one and worked a scoreless inning in relief for the Kernels.
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468. Follow him on Twitter @TommyBirch.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: River Bandits pitcher Chandler Champlain cruises at Field of Dreams
