Bicentennial moment: Quincy Buds earn place in baseball history by beating World Series champion Chicago Cubs

This is the first in a series of stories highlighting the greatest sports moments in Adams County history as it celebrates its bicentennial.

QUINCY — Some of the names have been lost to history, some were misspelled or misinterpreted in history, and some never became part of baseball’s history.

Collectively, though, their place in Adams County history is undeniable.

A spot in baseball history belongs to them, too.

The day the Quincy Buds turned the 1907 World Series champion Chicago Cubs into a “tame little bunch of Cubs,” according to the first sentence from a story in the Quincy Daily Herald, is one that still rivals any game ever played in the Gem City or Adams County more than a century later.

It happened Sept. 16, 1907, at Sportsman’s Park, which was located at the corner of 18th and Cherry, not far from where QU-Stadium exists today. And it occurred less than a month before the Cubs beat the Detroit Tigers in five games to win the World Series.

And the final score that day — Quincy Buds 5, Chicago Cubs 2.

Before the Cubs played two exhibition games following the end of the 1907 regular season — the first in Quincy, the second in Portland, Ind. — the Chicago Tribune wrote a story saying the teams would be “easy picking” for the Cubs, who had won a Major League Baseball record 116 games in 1906 and 107 games in 1907.

There was nothing easy about this one.

In full disclosure, the Cubs’ lineup for the exhibition did not resemble the lineup that won the World Series. Only one-third of the famous double-play combination of Tinkers to Evers to Chance played in the game, and Johnny Evers played third base instead of primary spot at second base.

Also, Frank Olis was the Cubs’ starting catcher that day, and he never played in a MLB game in his career.

However, the Buds did face two pitchers who won the first two games of the World Series. Jack Pfeister, who fashioned a 17-4 record during the 1907 season, was the Cubs’ starting pitcher against the Buds, and Ed Reulbach, who had a 14-9 record and 1.15 ERA, relieved Pfeister.

Pfeister won the first game of the World Series, throwing a complete game with three strikeouts in a 3-1 victory. Reulbach won the second game, allowing just six hits in a 5-1 complete game victory.

Yet neither could beat the Buds.

Chicago led 2-0 after scoring twice in the top of the first inning, but the Buds fashioned a four-run rally in the third inning.

A writer for the Quincy Daily Herald wrote in a story that appeared Sept. 17, 1907, noted that “The third inning did the everlasting business for Quincy and taught their Cubships a lesson or two.”

It started with catcher Andy Walsh leading off with a single to center field and Joseph McGuire reaching safely on a fielder’s choice when Pfeister fielded a comebacker and threw to second base but didn’t get the force out. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Fischer, who was referred to as “the mighty man from Burlington” delivered a “nice long safety to left field” that scored two runs.

After a James Dalton infield single put runners at the corners, Raleigh Johnson smacked a two-run double to left field for a 4-2 lead.

The writer for the Quincy Daily Herald noted that on Johnson’s hit, “Fischer and Dalton came home to mother and the fans went straight up in the air.”

Neither scored until the eighth inning when the Buds added an insurance run.

Thomas Plummer led off with a single to left field and was sacrificed to second base. McGuire was next to bat, and according to the Daily Herald, he “grabbed the stick, planted his feet good and firm and the ball bounded just right for him into right field.” That allowed Plummer to score.

What the Daily Herald reporter wrote next, summed up the day.

“Yes, verily, the Cubs rolled over and played dead,” was the final sentence of the game story.

Walter Rouse was the winning pitcher for the Buds and received a tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals the next week. However, he never pitched in the big leagues. He played for the Freeport Pretzels for one season before returning to Quincy to play in 1909 and 1910 for the Quincy Vets in the Central Association.

The Daily Herald listed Rouse as “Slats Rause,” but research shows his name was Thomas Walter Rouse and he pitched for several independent teams. He is buried in Battle Creek, Mich.

Neither the Daily Herald nor the Quincy Daily Journal used first names for many of the players in its stories, and Fischer is not found on any historical roster. He’s also not included in the team photo that ran in the Daily Herald and listed all the players by last names only.

However, Fischer has his own unique place in Adams County and baseball history.

All of the Quincy Buds do.

The day they beat the World Series champion Chicago Cubs will never be forgotten.