Iowa Cubs hold preseason open house, draw hundreds of fans

The Iowa Cubs, the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, welcomed hundreds of fans to their home ballpark, Principal Park, on Saturday for an open house event that offered free ballpark fare, photo opportunities and tours of the stadium.

The event was packed – even two-plus hours into the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. offering. Oftentimes, these open houses are as much for the employees of the organization as they are the fans, giving concession workers and ushers their first dry-run ahead of Opening Day, which, for Iowa, is slated for next Friday, April 17.

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Principal Park will also host a college game on Wednesday evening, with Grand View taking on William Penn. The seven-inning contest is slated for a 5 p.m. start and both admission and parking is free to the public.

According to the Iowa Cubs’ website, concession stands, as well as the team store and ticket windows will be open during that game.

After it was announced that Kris Bryant would open the year with Iowa, along with Addison Russell and Javier Baez, I-Cubs staffers said that the demand for tickets for Friday’s home opener skyrocketed – but as of the Saturday before, seats were still available for the matchup with the Oklahoma City Dodgers.

A full photo album from the event, including panoramic views of the downtown Des Moines stadium can be found on the Cubbies Crib Facebook page.

Next: Iowa falls to Memphis again; team now 0-2 on the year