How Des Moines Became a Hub for Minor League Baseball

Dunn to appear on IPR show

Author and Golden K member Steve Dunn will talk about his latest book on Charity Nebbe’s weekly show, Talk of Iowa, on Iowa Public Radio soon. Dunn will be interviewed at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 10, at IPR’s studios in Des Moines.

‘Pug,’ ‘Fireball,’ and Company: 116 Years of Professional Baseball in Des Moines, Iowa, provides an in-depth look at the history of professional baseball in Iowa’s capital dating back to 1887. Several legendary figures have played in Des Moines, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Feller, Satchel Paige, Buck O’Neil, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays, Vida Blue, Rod Carew, Orlando Cepeda, Minnie Minoso, Rocky Colavito, Roger Maris and Sammy Sosa.

Nebbe, an Iowa native, has hosted Talk of Iowa since 2010. She also hosts the weekly cooking show, Iowa Ingredient, on Iowa Public Television. She is the author of a children’s book, Our Walk in the Woods.

Nebbe grew up near Cedar Falls and received a bachelor of arts degree in political science and biology  from Iowa State University in Ames. She lives outside of Iowa City with her husband and two children.

She is co-founder of Let Me Run Eastern Iowa Corridor, a character development and running program for boys.

Dunn will have two book signings in the next two months. The first will be held from noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, July 13, at Hidden Treasures Gifts & Book-Tea-Que, 511 8^th St. SE, Altoona. The second will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, at Barnes & Noble, 4550 University Ave., West Des Moines.

In 2020, Dunn collaborated with fellow Golden K Kiwanis member Pat Deluhery on Deluhery’s political memoir, Engaged: Pat Deluhery and the Golden Age of Democratic Party Activism. To find out more about Dunn’s latest book or order a copy, go to pugfireballandcompany.com.

Inauspicious start

Sunday, May 5, 2024

By Steve Dunn

The Chicago Cubs’ most-hyped pitching prospect since Mark Prior and Kerry Wood made his triple-A debut in Des Moines Saturday. Even though the temperature at game time was only 57 degrees, I went down to Principal Park to see whether Cade Horton is as good as advertised.

I’d describe the 22-year-old right-hander’s start as “inauspicious.” On the positive side, the Oklahoma City native struck out six batters in four innings and retired the side in order in the third inning on strikeouts. On the other hand, he allowed a single, walked three straight hitters, threw a wild pitch and gave up a sacrifice fly in the second inning, which produced two runs. Horton retired nine of the 11 batters he faced in the other three innings.

I wanted to see Horton pitch another inning, but he had thrown 77 pitches by the end of the fourth inning. Only 44 of those pitches were strikes. Omaha starter Jonathan Bowlan threw only 54 pitches through four innings and was able to pitch another inning to pick up his fourth win of the season.

Horton’s fast ball was consistently in the 92 to 93 mile-per-hour range. His off-speed stuff was in the mid-80s range. Horton’s successor, left-hander Brad Wieck, threw off-speed pitches as slow as 67 miles per hour and hard stuff in the upper-80s. Wieck’s wide disparity in pitch speeds didn’t help him result-wise, though. He gave up four hits including one home run, three runs and one walk in two innings of work. Still, I’d like to see Horton develop a little slower off-speed pitch so that the difference between his fast ball and off-speed pitches is at least 10 miles per hour.

Horton has had a meteoric rise through the Chicago Cubs’ farm system. Chicago drafted Horton in the first round of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft and signed him on July 23, 2022, for $4.45 million. Instead of playing for the Cubs in 2022, he threw bullpen sessions in Arizona.

Last year, Horton pitched for Myrtle Beach in low Single A, South Bend in high Single A and Tennessee in Double A. In 21 games across three levels, he posted a 4-4 record and a 2.65 ERA. He struck out 117, walked 27 and gave up seven homers in 88.1 innings. He was 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA in four starts and 16.1 innings with Tennessee this year before his promotion to the I-Cubs.

Considered one of the best two-sport athletes in the 2020 high school class as a right-handed pitcher, shortstop and football quarterback, Horton missed his first season at the University of Oklahoma after Tommy John surgery in February 2021. He started 2022 as Oklahoma’s third baseman and didn’t begin pitching until March 29, 2022. He compiled a 7.94 earned run average during the regular season. But he took off during the postseason, compiling a 2.61 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 31 innings as the Sooners finished second in the College World Series.

In his senior season at Norman High School, Horton passed for more than 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns, rushed for 1,149 yards and scored 15 touchdowns. He was named the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year in baseball as a result of hitting .375 in five games before the season was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the promotion of Pete Crow-Armstrong, Alexander Canario and Matt Mervis to the Chicago Cubs, the Iowa Cubs have had difficulty scoring runs lately. Rookie outfielder Owen Caissie, however, continues to perform at a high level. He had reached base in 15 straight games until Friday night, which tied him for the eighth-longest on base streak in the International League this season. On Saturday, he reached base three times on two walks and a single. He seems to have an advanced hitting eye for a 21-year-old rookie in Triple-A.

The Chicago Cubs obtained Caissie and three other prospects in the trade with the San Diego Padres for pitcher Yu Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini in December 2020. Caissie captured the Cubs’ attention this spring when he hit .333 in 16 games during spring training. He also belted two home runs (including one I saw at Peoria, Arizona, against the Seattle Mariners) and drove in 11 runs. The native of Canada is ranked third in the Chicago Cubs’ system behind Crow-Armstrong at No. 1 and Horton at No. 2.

Mervis is headed back to Des Moines after another disappointing stint in Chicago. The left-handed swinger hit only .115 in 26 at-bats with the big-league Cubs. Mervis appears to use a more cautious approach and take more pitches at the major-league level, thus putting himself in a hole against major-league pitching. This might have been Mervis’ last shot with the Chicago Cubs; one wonders if the latter will try to trade him before this season’s trade deadline.

Above photo: Cade Horton gets set to release a pitch against the Omaha Storm Chasers at Principal Park in Des Moines Saturday. Horton struck out six, walked four and gave up two runs in his triple-A debut. He is the most hyped Chicago Cubs pitching prospect since Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, both of whom pitched for the Iowa Cubs before reaching the major leagues.

Steve Dunn’s latest book, ‘Pug,’ ‘Fireball,’ and Company: 116 Years of Professional Baseball in Des Moines, Iowa, is available now. For more information or to order a copy, go to pugfireballandcompany.com. The May/June issue of the Iowa History Journal includes a review of the book. He has also written 12 bios and 12 game stories for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).