The Cardinals-Cubs Rivalry is one of the most bitter rivalries in major league baseball. Games between the two teams see visiting fans in either St. Louis’s Bus
ch Stadium or Chicago’s Wrigley Field. When the National League split the two, and then three divisions, the Cardinals and Cubs always remained together. This has added excitement to numerous pennant races over the years.
The rivalry goes all the way back from the 1885 World Series between the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago White Stockings. The Browns manger pulled his team off the field because of an umpire’s call in the sixth inning of Game two. Chicago was leading so they won a forfeit. The Browns won game seven and claimed the game two forfeit and therefore claimed the championship.
The second meeting was in the 1886 World Series. In Game 2, the Browns won 12-0. It was the first two-home-run game by one player in a World Championship game. The White Stockings had a lead in the series as they were playing their last game. Chicago’s pitchers were very tired and in the 10th inning a player scored on a “$15,000 slide” after a wild pitch to win the series in front of the home St. Louis crowd.
That is how it started. Teams betting on each other and being greedy. If somebody gave one mean look or a pitcher hit a batter, there was people put under scrutiny and maybe violence.
A big event happened in the 1998. It was called the McGwire-Sosa Chase. Mark McGwire was a Cardinal that was big, built, and muscular man who could hit home runs. Sammy Sosa was Cub also a big and built man who could hit home runs. Speculation on the potential of McGwire or Sosa breaking Roger Maris’ home run record of 61 was popular heading into the coming season. In August, they were tied at 47 until McGwire hit two more homers and Sosa hit one. They both had 55 heading into September. McGwire, or Big Mac as they used to call him, tied the Maris and then broke the record on Sept. 7 while playing the Cubs. Sosa wouldn’t reach 60 until Sept. 12. By the end of the season, McGwire had hit 70 homers and Sosa finished at 66
This chase was historic and fun to watch. It brought many crowds together from all over the baseball world. A guy would hit a home run and the whole stadium would go crazy you would not even be able to hear yourself think. St. Louis even named a section of the field after McGwire. There is a section in the outfield called Big Mac Land. It is where he hit most of his home runs.
Some other small things to mention and I think are interesting are the mascots. The Cardinals have a Cardinal bird named Fredbird and the Cubs have a big and blue cub bear. There are so many memes and gifs with these mascots. One of my favorites is where Fredbird is punching the cub bear and looks like there are in a big fight. I also like how fans get into big fights and disagreements while at games. Even though some people might say it is just a game, for them it is more than that. It their passion and their team they grew up and love.
I will end this blog with some statistics just to compare the two teams. They each have two wild card berths. But the Cardinals lead in division championships, 12-7, league pennants, 19-17, and World Series championships, 11-3.
Tricia Eftink
Ms. Harner's EN100 Blog 
Obviously, this rivalry can be settled in only one way possible: and that is both teams chugging a massive quantity of honey, sending the teams into a sugar-induced coma. First person on whichever team to wake wins for the rest of team, even if they uh, don’t wake up. After this challenge, the winner must then attempt to eat a catcher’s mitt, and if he fails to consume it, he loses his job, his house, and his family is forced to disown him legally.
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