All kinds of reasons contribute to the fire of sports rivalries, but here are a few of the reasons why the Cubs hate the Cardinals:
1. Because, recently at least, the Cardinals beat the Cubs more than the Cubs beat the Cardinals.
Last year, for example, the Cardinals won 10 out of 17. Not to mention,
the Cardinals have won no less than 11 World Series titles since the
last time the Cubs won one.
So perhaps it's surprising that the Cubs actually have a better
historical win-loss record than the Cardinals in the series. It's
definitely a complex rivalry, but anyone who says that jealousy isn't a
part of the Cubs' hatred is a liar.
2. Tony La Russa. For Cubs fans, is there any worse combination than someone who managed both the Chicago White Sox and Cardinals? The man doesn't even manage there anymore, but his presence still looms dauntingly over Busch Stadium and the entire franchise.
It's not an accident that in Buzz Bissinger's
book about a 2003 Cubs-Cardinals series, "Three Nights in August:
Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager," La Russa is
the book's focal point. As a manager, he was cold and calculating, and
so many of the decisions he made just seemed to work, sometimes at the
expense of a Cubs franchise that seemed more like a hamster runninwg on
an exercise heel.
3. The two teams play in the same division. They play each other a
lot. This season will be no exception. In recent years, it always seems
like there is nothing all that extraordinary about the Cardinals team,
except that they play sound, disciplined baseball, which more often than
not propels them to the top of the division by season's end. Since
2000, the Cardinals have won the division six times to the Cubs' three.
4. Geography. Wrigley Field
to Busch Stadium is a little more than a 5-hour drive. I've actually
made the trip myself. There are certainly teams out there that are
closer to each other but the distance is short enough for a day or
weekend trip, and fans from both sides do it routinely.
And since there are plenty of people in Illinois who are closer to St. Louis than Chicago, the two teams even battle over fans.
5. Mark McGwire. The legitimacy of the 1998 home run chase has
been (rightly) called into question because of the steroid issue, but
this does nothing to take away from the fact that so many people were
emotionally invested when McGwire and the Cubs' Sammy Sosa chased down
Roger Maris' season home run record of 61. Both players passed the old
mark, but, of course, it was McGwire who ultimately won out with 70 home
runs.
In what year did the Cubs begin playing at Wrigley Field in Chicago?
