History Unpublished: Chicago Cubs Lost to In-State Semi-Pro Team

Two weeks before the 1907 World Series, the Chicago Cubs decided to go on a barnstorming tour, in which they stopped in Quincy, Illinois. The semi-professional team there, the Quincy Buds were part of the Illinois-Iowa League and finished their season with a win percentage of .500.

The Buds are otherwise known as the ancestral team to the single-A Quincy Jets (the New York Mets' minor league team from 1962 to 1963 in the Midwest League) and the present-date Quincy Gems, formerly of the NCAA-sanctioned Central Illinois Collegiate League, which was absorbed into the Prospect League starting in summer 2009.

The Cubs came from a 116-36 season in 1906 (which has been matched by the 2001 Seattle Mariners with a 116-46 record) and emerging toward the 1907 World Series with a 107-45 record prior to this David and Goliath showdown.

To think that Chicago would succeed may have been certain, but Quincy proved them wrong. In mid-September 1907, the Buds upset the mighty Chicago Cubs 5-2. If it weren't for a couple of Quincy errors, the game might have been a shutout. Two articles about the game can be seen at http://www.adamscohistory.org/quincybuds.html

The Cubs would go on to win the 1907 and 1908 World Series against the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs have not won a single World Series in 100 years (as of 2008 season end). This event is what the Cubs franchise is afraid to publish.

The history of the Buds beyond 1907 has not been certain with Adams County, but they have been known as:

• Gems (Three-I League: 1946-56; Midwest League: 1964; Central Illinois Collegiate League: 1996-2008; CICL/Prospect League: 2009-future)
• Giants (San Francisco Minor League -  Midwest League: 1960-61)
• Jets (New York Mets Minor League - Midwest League: 1962-63)
• Cubs (Chicago Cubs Minor League - Midwest League: 1965-73)

One unlisted is actually a collegiate team through the Great Lakes Valley Conference: the Quincy University Hawks.

Writer Note: Thanks to the Quincy Herald-Whig (formerly the Quincy Daily Herald, owned by Quincy Newspaper, Inc.) and the Adams County Historical Society for research materials. Here are some pictures that I was allowed to share with you:

Quincy Buds - 1907

Chicago Cubs - 1907