Quincy Gems Will Miss The Hannibal Cavemen

We are now 3 weeks and a day away from the home opener for the Quincy Gems. On May 31^st, the Gems will open up their home season with a game against the Danville Dans at historic Q.U. Stadium. It will also be Y101 Night at the ballpark as well. While the excitement of a brand new season will be felt in Quincy the disappointment cannot go unnoticed in Hannibal in that the Hannibal Cavemen will not be holding an opening night at historic Clemens Field this year. The Cavemen suspended the operations of their franchise at the end of last season with hopes of reviving it in 2018. There is a lot of baseball history in both cities and unfortunately without a team in Hannibal those conversations of past seasons just won’t be as plentiful.

The Cavemen’s demise not only affects Hannibal and its supporting fans, but also the Quincy Gems. It is  an expensive venture to own even a collegiate league team like the Gems and the Cavemen.  Road trips can be very costly to ownership and having a team 20 or so miles away was a positive for both teams over the years.  The cost savings was significant.

Hopefully, one day baseball will return to America’s Hometown and with it a renewed rivalry that was fun to witness over the past several years. While Hannibal Cavemen fans are facing a baseball-less summer, the Quincy Gems are gearing up for that first pitch on May 30^th. Hopefully, there will come a time again when those 20 mile road trips will take place again.