TheCardinals–Cubs rivalry, also called theRoute 66 rivalry andTheI-55 rivalry, refers to the rivalry between theSt. Louis Cardinals andChicago Cubs of theNational League (NL), one of the most bitter rivalries inMajor League Baseball and in all of North American professional sports. The Cardinals have won 19NL pennants, while the Cubs have won 17. However, the Cardinals have a clear edge when it comes toWorld Series success, having won 11championships to the Cubs' three. Games between the two clubs see numerous visiting fans in either St. Louis'sBusch Stadium or Chicago'sWrigley Field. When the NL split into two divisions in1969, and later three divisions in1994, the Cardinals and Cubs remained together.
The Cubs lead the regular season series 1,281–1,226–19. The teams' lone MLB playoff meeting occurred in the2015 National League Division Series, which the Cubs won, 3–1. The two teams previously met in the pre-modern1885 and1886 World Series, which ended in a tie and Browns (Cardinals) victory, respectively, when the then Chicago White Stockings of the NL played against the then St. Louis Browns of theAmerican Association (AA).
In his book,Before They Were Cardinals, Jon David Cash speculates that the economic trade rivalry between the cities of Chicago and St. Louis led to the formation of the St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1875 to compete with the Chicago White Stockings.[3][4] The Brown Stockings would later fold and reemerge in 1882 when the Cardinals (as the Browns), met the Cubs (as the White Stockings), in a pair ofpre-World Series matchups between AA champion St. Louis and NL champion Chicago.
The first series meeting between the two teams was actually played in four cities — not only St. Louis and Chicago, but alsoPittsburgh andCincinnati. On October 15, Browns managerCharles Comiskey pulled his team off the field in the 6th inning in protest of umpire Dave Sullivan's call. The White Stockings were in the lead at the time 5–4 and were declared a winner on forfeit. Behind pitcherDave Foutz, St. Louis defeated Chicago 13–4 in Game 7. The Browns claimed the Game 2 forfeit didn't count and therefore claimed the championship. The two clubs split the $1000 prize.[5]
The first series played in 1885 ended in dispute with no winner making the rematch a year later more heated. Game 2 saw the Browns win in a 12-0 romp.Bob Caruthers pitched a one-hitter, and left fielderTip O'Neill smacked two inside-the-park home runs. It was the first two-home-run game by a player in a World Championship game. Despite the win, the White Stockings had won Games 1 and 3 and took the series lead into St. Louis. Oddities happened in Game 5. WithJim McCormick andJocko Flynn lame and John Clarkson tired‚ Chicago tried to use a minor league recruit in the pitcher's box‚ only to be refused by the Browns. ShortstopNed Williamson and right fielderJimmy Ryan ended up having to pitch. The Browns won easily 10–3. The sixth and final game began at an earlier time of 2:18 PM, so the full nine innings could be played. Pitching his fourth game in six days‚ Clarkson held St. Louis hitless for six innings as Chicago built a 3–0 lead. However, in the 8th, the Browns finally got to Clarkson to tie the game at 3, withArlie Latham hitting a 2-run triple. In the 10th,Curt Welch scored on the "$15‚000 slide" after a wild pitch to win it in front of a fired-up St. Louis home crowd.
After the dissolution of the American Association, the Browns franchise moved to the National League in 1892 and become known as the Cardinals in 1900. (The Browns name was later used by an AL team that had previously been known as theMilwaukee Brewers, and is now theBaltimore Orioles.) St. Louis would not achieve much success in its early years in the NL. On the other hand, the Cubs won three straight pennants from 1906 to 1908 and two World Series during that time. The Cubs would also go on to win seven more pennants from then until 1945.
The Cardinals would eventually put together a team to win the pennant and World Series in1926. It would be their first National League pennant and first championship since defeating the White Stockings. Although the Cubs would also win a few pennants, their championship run stopped in1908. Eventually, the Cubs' pennant wins would also stop in 1945, and they did not win another until2016, when they also won the World Series. The Cardinals have won the World Series 11 times, the most of any National League team and secondNew York Yankees (27) in all of MLB.
Cubs' SluggerHack Wilson had a combative streak and frequently initiated fights with opposing players and fans. On June 22, 1928, a riot broke out in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field when Wilson jumped into the box seats to attack a heckling fan. An estimated 5,000 spectators swarmed the field before police could separate the combatants and restore order. The fan sued Wilson for $20,000, but a jury ruled in Wilson's favor.[6]
One game in particular was cited for putting Cubs second basemanRyne Sandberg, as well as the1984 Cubs in general, "on the map", anNBC national telecast of a Cardinals–Cubs game on June 23,1984.[7] The Cubs had been playing well throughout the season's first few months, but as a team unaccustomed to winning, they had not yet become a serious contender in the eyes of most baseball fans.
Sandberg had played two full seasons in the major leagues, and while he had proven himself to be a top-fielding second baseman and fast on the basepaths (over 30 stolen bases both seasons), his .260-ish batting average and single-digit home run production were respectable for his position but not especially noteworthy, and Sandberg was not talked about outside Chicago. TheGame of the Week, however, put the sleeper Cubs on the national stage against their regional rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams were well-established franchises with a strong fan base outside the Chicago and St. Louis area.
In the ninth inning, the Cubs trailed 9–8, and faced the premier relief pitcher of the time,Bruce Sutter. Sutter was at the forefront of the emergence of the closer in the late 1970s and early 1980s: a hard-throwing pitcher who typically came in just for the ninth inning and saved around 30 games a season. (Sutter was especially dominant in 1984, saving 45 games.) However, in the ninth inning, Sandberg, not yet known for his power, slugged a home run to left field against the Cardinals' ace closer. Despite this dramatic act, the Cardinals scored two runs in the top of the tenth. Sandberg came up again in the tenth inning, facing a determined Sutter with one man on base. As Cubs' radio announcerHarry Caray described it:
There's a drive, way back! Might be outta here! It is! It is! He did it again! He did it again! The game is tied! The game is tied! Holy Cow! Listen to this crowd, everybody's gone bananas!
The Cubs went on to win in the 11th inning. The Cardinals'Willie McGee (who hadhit for the cycle that day) had already been named NBC's player of the game before Sandberg's first home run. AsNBC play-by-play manBob Costas (who called the game withTony Kubek) said when Sandberg hit that second home run,"Do you believe it?!" The game is sometimes called "The Sandberg Game". The winning run for the Cubs was driven in by a single off the bat ofDave Owen.
In early September the teams met for a two-game series in St. Louis. In the first game, McGwire hit his record-tying 61st home run off pitcherMike Morgan in the first inning as part of a 3–2 Cardinals victory. The following day, McGwire broke the record with #62 offSteve Trachsel in the fourth inning as part of a 6–3 victory. In a show of sportsmanship, Sammy Sosa embraced and congratulated his rival and on-field opponent after McGwire rounded the bases. McGwire would finish the year with 70 home runs and Sosa with 66. However, the Cubs won the National League wild card, making the playoffs for the first time in nine years, while the Cardinals missed the playoffs. Sosa eventually became the NL MVP that season.
Sosa dedicated each of his 66 home runs that season to the memory of Cubs (and former Cardinals) broadcasterHarry Caray, who died in February that year.[11]
A somber showing of acknowledgment between the two teams happened in2002 when Cubs catcherJoe Girardi addressed the fans at Wrigley Field in a choked up way that the game between the two teams had been cancelled and that the fans should pray for the St. Louis Cardinals family.[12] However, there were fans who booed.[12][13] Later, a press conference was held where an emotional Girardi addressed the death of Cardinals pitcherDarryl Kile. Girardi, who played for both the Cubs and the Cardinals, addressed the fans in a regional broadcast onFox.[12]
In 2005, Cubs first basemanDerrek Lee and Cardinals first basemanAlbert Pujols were locked in an MVP race. Lee led the NL in hits and batting average and bested Pujols in home runs. For his part, Pujols led the league in runs scored and had the edge on Lee in RBIs. Lee was awarded both theGold Glove andSilver Slugger as the best NL first baseman on both defense and offense, respectively. However, with the Cardinals winning 100 games and the division and the Cubs finishing 21 games back in fourth place, Pujols won the MVP honors.
On June 4 and 5,2011 Pujols won back-to-back games against the Cubs with walk-off home runs.
In recent years, tragedies in the Cardinals organization have caused two games between these teams to be postponed. In 2002, after Cardinals pitcherDarryl Kile was found dead in a Chicago hotel room, a game between the teams in Wrigley Field was postponed.[12][14] Then in 2007, another Cardinals pitcher,Josh Hancock, was killed in a car crash while driving intoxicated, causing a game in St. Louis to be postponed.[15][16][17]
Former Cubs shortstopRyan Theriot, who was acquired by the Cardinals on November 30, 2010, told a St. Louis radio station that he was "finally on the right side of the Cardinals–Cubs rivalry" and that he was happy to be with an organization that emphasized winning World Series championships instead of being "an afterthought". Cubs pitcherCarlos Zambrano called him "the enemy now".[18] The Cardinals won the World Series that season.
The rivalry was further heated afterJohn Lackey andJason Heyward signed with the Cubs after the 2015 season andDexter Fowler signed with the Cardinals after the Cubs' 2016 championship season.
In a pivotal series that determined each team's chance for the playoffs, the Cardinals played the Cubs at Wrigley Field in a four-game series from September 19–22, 2019. The Cardinals went into the series three games ahead of the Cubs with the opportunity to clinch the division title, while the Cubs had the opportunity to overtake the Cardinals for the division lead. After the Cardinals won the first two games, the September 21 game was ranked the 5th most exciting game in top 10MLB games of 2019.[21] In the bottom of the 7th with the Cardinals leading 7–6, Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos committed a no-stop balk while striking outTony Kemp. The call was seen as controversial to some. AnnouncerTim McCarver noted that Gallegos had done that the whole game and that the umpire who called it was the furthest away from the pitcher. Given a second chance, Kemp hit a two-run home run giving the Cubs an 8–7 lead. Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel was called in to close the game for a Cubs win. However, Kimbrel gave up home runs toYadier Molina andPaul DeJong to give the Cardinals a 9–8 lead. The Cardinals would win by that score.
The Cardinals completed the sweep the next day — their first four-game sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field since 1921[22] — to clinch a playoff spot.[23]
Pre-modern championship. Browns claim game 2 forfeit didn't count and therefore claim the championship, though $1000 price is split. Games 5 through 7 of the 1885 World Series were played in Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, away for both teams.
MLB changed to an unbalanced schedule in 2001, resulting in 15-19 meetings per year. Cardinals win 13 straight home meetings from October 1999 to June 2001
Season shortened to 60 games due toCOVID-19 pandemic. The August 7–9 series in St. Louis was postponed as a result ofan outbreak among the Cardinals. All three make-up games were played atWrigley Field, with St. Louis batting as the home team.
Wrigley Field and the Cubs play host to the rival St. Louis Cardinals 9-10 games a season
In his bookThree Nights in August,Buzz Bissinger compared the Cardinals–Cubs rivalry to another famous rivalry in MLB:"TheRed Sox and Yankees is a tabloid-filled soap opera about money and ego and sound bites. But the Cubs and Cardinals are about... geography and territorial rights."[61]
One of the "territories" in question iscentral Illinois. The region is well within the daytime footprint of Cardinals radio flagshipKMOX, and has also been within the footprint of the Cubs' numerous radio outlets–WGN until 2015,WBBM for the 2015 season, thenWSCR since 2016. All four radio stations are traditional "clear channel" AM radio stations that blanket most of the Midwest and beyond at night.
The Cardinals were the southernmost team in the National League for most of the first half of the 20th century, and traditionally claimed huge parts ofthe South and lower Midwest in their territory before Major League expansion. The Cubs claimed most of theUpper Midwest as their home territory. This was the case even when theBraves played inMilwaukee from 1953 to 1966, and has continued after theBrewers, were placed in Milwaukee, and theTwins inMinnesota, as those teams then played in the American League. Before the majors expanded westward in the 1950s and 1960s, the two teams fought for fans in theWestern states. While the Cardinals were the westernmost team in the National League, the Cubs drew on the large numbers of Midwestern expatriates who either lived or vacationed in the West.
Loyalties to the two teams divided friends, families, and co-workers, and shaped the locals in various ways, asGeorge Will noted in a 1998 commencement address atWashington University in St. Louis:"I grew up inChampaign, Illinois, midway between Chicago and St. Louis. At an age too tender for life-shaping decisions, I made one. While all my friends were becoming Cardinals fans, I became a Cub fan. My friends, happily rooting forStan Musial,Red Schoendienst, and other great Redbirds, grew up cheerfully convinced that the world is a benign place, so of course, they becameliberals. Rooting for the Cubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I became gloomy, pessimistic, morose, dyspeptic andconservative. It helped out of course that the Cubs last won the World Series in1908, which is two years beforeMark Twain andTolstoy died. But that means, class of 1998, that the Cubs are in the 89th year of their rebuilding effort, and remember, any team can have a bad moment."[62]
The rivalry between the two teams is an important regionalism in theNetflix showOzark. In order to establishJason Bateman's character, Marty Byrde, as aChicago native who moved toLake Ozark, Missouri, the show writers included several references to the rivalry through the first season. This often manifests as negative comments from Byrde to a southern Missouri Cardinals fan. One says to him "I was raised to hate the Cubs," to which he fires back "And I was raised to hate the Cardinals."[63]
Legendary announcerHarry Caray began his career in St. Louis, broadcasting on KMOX radio for 24 seasons, before moving to Chicago in 1971, announcing 11 seasons for theWhite Sox before moving to the North Side and becoming a staple ofWGN radio andtelevision broadcasts for the Cubs from 1982 until his death before the 1998 season. GrandsonChip Caray succeeded Harry on the Cubs' television broadcasts in 1998, serving in the role until 2005 to take the same job with theAtlanta Braves, joining fatherSkip Caray on the broadcast team. In 2023, Chip left the Braves to take over the play-by-play job with the Cardinals.
The rivalry between the two clubs intensified following the hiring ofDusty Baker to manage the Cubs following in 2003. In 2002, when Baker was managing theSan Francisco Giants, he and Cardinals managerTony La Russa had run-ins during that year's National League Championship Series, with the animosity carrying over to Baker's tenure with the Cubs. According to Baker, part of the intensity stems from the close relationship of the two."It's very intense...When you play 18 times against a team that's had a long-time rivalry, and my former manager and my former confidant, that just increases things."[64] Baker played for La Russa in 1986 as a member of theOakland Athletics.
Some say that the feud between the two managers added to the rivalry between the two teams."Both managers are fiercely protective of their players. Both believe in old-school baseball protocol. Neither will sit by idly and watch an opponent show up their team. Both are fierce competitors with enormous pride…. Fans don’t usually buy tickets to watch managers manage . . . but this tactical showdown added something to the Cubs-Cards series."[65]
Rogers Hornsby played for the St. Louis Cardinals 1915–1926 & 1933 and with the Chicago Cubs 1929–1932. Hornsby owns the single season record for both franchises in hits and runs.
^"Hack Wilson Was Great Baseball Player But Headache To Managers". The Portsmouth Times. Associated Press. 24 November 1948. p. 11. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
^Dedman, Bill (September 29, 1998). "Unlikely Season Of Dreams For Cubs".The New York Times. p. D3.Since Caray died at the start of spring training, Sosa has honored him with a 'V' sign after every home run this season, along with his heart thumps and kisses for the Sosa family.
^Gordon, Jeff (May 15, 2006). "Ottawa mayor looks sharper than Senators did vs. Sabres".St. Louis Post Dispatch. p. D2.
^In 1981, the Cardinals finished with the overall best record in the East Division. However, aplayers' strike in the middle of the season forced the season to be split into two halves. St. Louis finished second in both halves and was thereby deprived of a post-season appearance and therefore deprived of a division title.
