Cascade honors its hall of famer, baseball legend Red Faber

CASCADE, Iowa (KCRG) - Lee Simon, a lifetime Cascade resident and former semi-pro baseball player, first learned about Eastern Iowa’s only Hall of Famer in the 1980s.

His vision for a tribute to Urban “Red” Faber came to fruition decades later in 2007, at the Tri-County Historical Society in Cascade.

“I started digging in and trying to find more information about him,” Simon said. “I just wanted more people around to know exactly who this guy was, this citizen here in Cascade.”

Faber was a White Sox legend. His biggest moment came in 1917, when he pitched in four games of the World Series, winning three of them, including the clincher in game six.

“He was one of the spitball pitchers,” said Simon. “Everyone thought that was his main pitch it really wasn’t, his best pitch was the sinking fastball”

Visitors can listen to a replicated radio broadcast of Faber’s world series-winning ninth inning, voiced by Cascade-born broadcaster Gary Dolphin. They can also here Faber’s 1964 Hall of Fame speech.

Faber died in 1976. Simon is the man to call for stories about the Hall of Famer, like how to town of Cascade managed to “tune in” to the 1917 World Series before radio.

The only way to get the score was via the telegraph at the railroad depot.

“People that worked downtown they couldn’t sit out in the depot the whole time, so they’d send a kid out and get the score,” Simon said. “That’s what he did, he’d find out the score and run back downtown. He would get paid... he got a penny.”

Baseball in Cascade isn’t just a tradition in the history books. It can be seen at the high school level with the Cougars, who have made the state tournament two years running.

It can also be seen at Legion Field, where the semi-pro Cascade Reds play.

A century after Faber’s debut, Colin Rea is the next Cascade-born pro making his mark on the MLB.

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