The Chicago Cubs World Series Trophy tour is making several stops in Iowa this week.

The Cubs won the World Series last fall for the first time since 1908.

It’ll be at the River Music Experience in Davenport between noon and 1:30 today and at the University of Iowa Memorial Union between 5:00 and 6:30 tonight. More tour stops are scheduled Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, and Mason City before the trophy arrives on Wednesday morning in Des Moines at Principal Park, home of the Cubs’ top minor league affiliate.

The trophy is also scheduled to be in Omaha/Council Bluffs on February 10.

Iowa Cubs general manager Sam Bernabe doubts fans in Des Moines will see star prospect Kris Bryant play. Bryant won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season if the parent Chicago Cubs wait until Friday to call him up.

The I-Cubs home opener is Friday night against Oklahoma City. Bernabe says he doesn’t think the parent club will keep him in Des Moines as they want to move him up as soon as possible to help them out.

Bernabe says if fans in Des Moines get a chance to see Bryant play it most likely will only be for a day or two. “You never know, and the Cubs are holding their cards pretty close to the vest,” Bernabe says. Either way, he says they will have a lot of good prospects playing in Des Moines this year, and the same thing will happen next year.

The I-Cubs are 3-3 on the season after Wednesday’s 3-2 loss in ten innings at New Orleans.

An infielder for the Iowa Cubs is leaving Des Moines for Chicago. Javier Baez has been called up to the big leagues. The 21-year-old slugger will be on the Chicago Cubs’ roster for tonight’s game at Colorado.

Baez had a terrible start to the season, hitting just .172 in April, but in the past 20 games with Iowa, he hit .342 with nine home runs and five doubles. For the season at the triple-A level, Baez has 23 home runs.

Manny Ramirez had three hits, including a two run homer in his Des Moines debut as the Iowa Cubs beat Omaha 7-6 in ten innings. The 12 time Major League All Star was out of baseball before being contacted by Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein about being a player-coach for the triple-A affiliate.

“I always wanted to come and help, Theo was really honest with me,” Ramierez says. Ramirez says he has been told there is no chance of playing in the big leagues and he may only play once a week for the I Cubs. “It’s different, but I like that challenge, I’ve always got to be prepared for when they need me,” he says.

Ramirez is with the I Cubs to help mentor some young stars and help them avoid the mistakes he made. Rameriz was suspended twice for violating MLB’s ban on performance enhancing drugs. He says the key is to have a routine and have a goal of where you want to be, as he says you sometimes take things for granted until you lose it.

Kris Bryant belted a grand slam home for the I Cubs and Josh Vitters won it with a single in the bottom of the tenth as the Cubs moved into first place in the PCL American North division race.

The Iowa Cubs begin their 33rd year as an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs on Thursday night when they host the Memphis Redbirds in their Pacific Coast League opener. It is one of the longest running affiliations in all of minor league baseball. “It’s been a great relationship and certainly geographically it fits pretty well,”  I-Cubs general manager Sam Bernabe says. Bernabe believes Des Moines provides a facility for the team that is “second to none.”

Only two triple-a franchises have been with their parent club longer. Omaha has been affiliated with the Kansas City Royals since 1969 and Pawtucket has been with the Boston Red Sox since 1973. The Chicago Cubs have one of the top ranked farm systems and Bernabe says fans in Des Moines should see the results this season. “I belive we are ranked in Baseball America’s top five minor league systems right now out of the 30 teams,” Bernabe says. He says this year they will start to see top young prospects start to move through the system and impact the look of the Chicago Cubs over the next five or six years.

As the city of Des Moines changes day baseball is becoming more popular. The I-Cubs have six weekday noon games on the slate in the month of April. He says there are a huge number of people working and now living in the downtown area and he says it’s a benefit to have day games.

Bernabe says success at the minor league level is a combination of marketing and promotions. “The business model here is safe, clean and fun. If it’s not safe and it’s not clean, then you don’t have to worry about it being fun because the fans aren’t going to come anyway,” Bernabe says.

There is one franchise change in the PCL this season. The San Diego Padres have moved from Tucson, Arizona to a new stadium in El Paso, Texas and will be called the Chihuahuas. Bernabe says Nashville is getting ready to build a new ballpark, but that is the only other big change on the horizon in the league.

Iowa Cubs team members warm up.

Micah Hoffpauir hopes his stay in Des Moines is a brief one. The outfielder batted .239 for the Chicago Cubs in 2009 but did not make the team coming out of spring training.

He is back with the Iowa Cubs and was 0-3 in their season opening loss to Nashville on Thursday night.

Hoffpauir says he’s glad to still have a job, but Des Moines is not where he wants to end up in his career. He says the first time he came to Iowa was in 2004 and he says you don’t want to stay for a real long time.

Hoffpauir says he hoping to fill a role in Chicago, he says there are parts of the game you have not control over and the last roster spot went to a guy who backs up at third base and has a good bat. Hoffpauir says when he gets another chance in Chicago he will try to do what it takes to stay there.

He says he has proved that he can hit in the big leagues and says he came in with a new role of coming off the bench and says it wasn’t something he was prepared to do. Hoffpauir says that’s something he has to work on.

The I-Cubs and Sounds continue their series in Des Moines this evening.

Ryne Sandberg

The Iowa Cubs open the Pacific Coast League season with a hall of famer as manager when the host the Nashville Sounds tonight.

Ryne Sandberg begins his fourth season as a manager in the Chicago Cubs organization and says while his job is getting players ready for the majors, winning is part of that.

Sandberg says once the game starts it’s about winning the ballgame, so he has just a few rules: be on time and play as hard as you can when you are out there.

 Sandberg says the players are becoming familiar with his style of play. He says they have a feel coming out of spring training what he will expect, and that it is for their own good, and the team comes first.

Sandberg says he like to focus on fundamentals on a daily basis and that’s what he looks for from players. Sandberg’s first job as manager was in Peoria back in 2007. He says he dedicated himself the same way he did as a player and says he loves baseball and wants to ultimately manage at the major league level.

Bobby Scales

I-Cubs second baseman Bobby Scales likes having Sandberg as a manager. Scales says once you are around Sanberg you realize why he is a hall of famer. He says he looks forward to learning more as the season goes on.

Scales played 51 games with Chicago in 2009 and while he did not stick with the big club he is looking forward to the season. He says there are a lot worse place to be and play triple-A baseball.