The Best Rivalry

Spare me your Yankees vs. Red Sox.

Give me a break about the Giants and Dodgers.

And don’t even approach me about inter-city rivalries.

The best rivalry in baseball is, forever has been, and will forever be, Cardinals vs. Cubs.

Separated by less than 300 miles of Interstate 55, the two Midwestern cities host teams which have met over two thousand times since their first matchup WAY back in 1885. Yes, the Cubs may own a 1,146 to 1,078 record against the Cardinals, however the Redbirds have won eight more World Series championships than the Cubs have or every will for that matter.

It’s true that in recent years the Cubs have tried, and failed, to shed the “Lovable Loser” moniker that’s followed them for so many years.

Last year they compiled an impressive 97-64 before being swept in three games by the LA Dodgers.

The year before that the Cubs were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks… again , a sweeping that I thoroughly enjoyed.

On the other hand is my team the Cardinals… aka the 2006 World Series Champion Cardinals who are looking to come back from a painful season in which they finished 11 ½ games behind their archrival despite winning 86 games.

So as a lifelong Cardinals fan, I’m also a lifelong Cubs hater.

This weekend, the two teams square off for a 4-game series that sees the Cardinals in First place, 2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers and 3 ½ games ahead of the Cubs.

Sure, I’ll root for the Cubs if they’re playing the Yankees or Red Sox, but otherwise I want the Cubs to lose. Badly. So badly in fact that I want their ancestors to feel the sting of losing.

In short, I hate the Cubs… I really do.

But lately, something has been happening… and it’s damndest thing is.

It’s getting hard, at times, to hate the Cubs.

What’s worse is that a majority of Cubs fans are ok people… not like Yankees/Red Sox where every other fan is a jackass begging for a smack upside the head or Giants/Dodgers where people actually, you know, get physically assaulted.

Now don’t let this fool you, I still hate the Cubs with the passion of a billion burning suns.

I hate when the Cardinals lose to the Cubs.

I hate seeing so much blue at home Cardinals games when the teams meet.

If I, or anyone in my immediate family for that matter, had been alive the last time the Cubs won the World Series (waaaaaaaayyy back in 1908), I would have hated that.

If they ever, in my lifetime, win a World Series I would hate that (though that doesn’t really seem like an issue with each passing year, does it?).

I loved when the Cardinals traded for Mark DeRosa weeks ago, a move that was bemoaned not only by Cubs fans, but by Cubs players as well.

So yes, I <b>do</b> hate the Cubs… but not *as much* as the Yankees, Red Sox and, more recently, the Brewers (<i>a hatred exacerbated by their ridiculous attempts to look like ‘everyday’ people  by un-tucking their jerseys after each game</i>)

But as I said, at times it’s hard to hate the Cubs. They have a rich, if fruitless, history, a great ballpark (save for the chances of being hit by falling concrete), and an excellent fan base (save for the few schmucks that you’ll find at <i>any</i> baseball game).

Every Cardinal/Cub game I’ve ever been to has seen the fans sitting side by side, laughing, ribbing each other and buying each other beers.

Could you see that happening in New York or Boston?

So embrace the best rivalry in baseball this weekend as two games, Saturday’s afternoon tilt on Fox and Sunday’s night cap on ESPN. Not only will you see the best rivalry in sports, but you’ll also see the best player in baseball play for one of the best managers in baseball in one of the best stadiums in baseball.

It’s not a game, it’s history.