I-55 Series
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I-55 Series refers to the Major League Baseball games between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. The rivalry derives its name from the roadway connecting the two cities, Interstate 55. The Cubs lead the all-time series 1,126-1,067 as of the 2006 season. Unlike Yankees/Red Sox or Dodgers/Giants games, Cardinals/Cubs games see either Chicago's Wrigley Field or St. Louis' Busch Stadium split nearly in half between red and blue as fans of both teams fill the stadium. These games are usually the first games of the season to sell out in Chicago and St. Louis. However, the Cardinals have the edge when it comes to World Series success, having won ten championships to the Cubs' two, and divisional success in the NL Central were the Cardinals have managed to win four of the six division championships since 2000, with the Cubs taking 2003 and the Astros sharing the 2001 title with the Cardinals. [1] According to the Cardinal Team Page on MLB.com, this was "the first shared championship in major-league history" [2]. When the National League split into two, and then three divisions, the Cards and Cubs remained together. This has added excitement to several pennant races over the years, most recently 1989 and 2003.
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[edit] Territorial rights
In his book Three Nights in August, Buzz Bissinger compared this rivalry to another famous pair: "The Red 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."[3]
One of the "territories" in question is southern & central Illinois, which receives both radio broadcasts of St. Louis Cardinals games (on KMOX for decades until last season, when the broadcasting rights were sold) as well as WGN radio & television broadcasts of Chicago Cubs games. Loyalties to the two teams divided friends, families, and co-workers, and shaped the locals in various ways, as George Will noted in a 1998 commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis: "I grew up in Champaign, 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 for Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, and other great Redbirds, grew up cheerfully convinced that the world is a benign place, so of course, they became liberals. Rooting for the Cubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I became gloomy, pessimistic, morose, dyspeptic and conservative. It helped out of course that the Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, which is two years before Mark Twain and Tolstoy 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."[4]
[edit] History
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. [5] The Brown Stockings would later fold and reemerge in the 1880s when the Cardinals (as the Browns), met the Cubs (as the White Stockings), in a pair pre-World Series matchups of American Association champion St. Louis and National League champion Chicago. The first series played in 1885 ended in dispute with no winner. The next year St. Louis won the matchup.
[edit] Edging the Mets
In 1969, the Cardinals and Cubs were placed in the NL East with the Mets. Although the Mets would prevail over both teams that season, it would not happen in the 1980's (except for 1986). In 1984 and 1989, the Cubs would edge out the Mets for the NL East. In 1985 and 1987, the Redbirds would win the division over the Mets. The memorable moment between the Cubs and Redbirds came on June 23, 1984 when Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg hit two game-tying home runs off reliever Bruce Sutter (who was en route to a 45-save season).
[edit] McGwire/Sosa home run chase
In 1998, the teams were eternally connected by the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race, credited by many with revitalizing the sport following the players' strike which cancelled the 1994 World Series and the first part of the 1995 season. [6] [7]
In early September the teams met for a 2-game series at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. In game one, McGwire hit his record-tying 61st home run off pitcher Mike Morgan in the first inning as part of a 3-2 Cardinals victory. The following day, McGwire broke the record with #62 off Steve Trachsel in the fourth inning as part of a 6-3 victory against the Cubs. In a show of sportsmanship, Sammy Sosa was there to embrace and congratulate his home run 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 finished with a sub-.500 record.
In 2005, the Cardinals and Cubs renewed their rivalry when first basemen Derrek Lee for the Cubs and Albert Pujols of the Cardinals were on a MVP race. Lee got the better half in batting average and home runs, with Pujols taking the lead in RBIs. With the Cardinals winning the division, Pujols took home National League MVP honors.
[edit] Notable personalities
Many players have played for both teams, including Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, who holds several single season hitting records for both clubs. Notably, Hall of Famer Lou Brock was traded from the Cubs to the Cards early in his career for pitcher Ernie Broglio. This is widely considered one of the most one-sided trades in baseball history. Other Hall of Famers who played/managed with both clubs include Grover Cleveland Alexander, Clark Griffith, Burleigh Grimes, Bruce Sutter, Roger Bresnahan, Dizzy Dean, Dennis Eckersley, Rabbit Maranville, Hoyt Wilhelm, and Leo Durocher.
Legendary announcer Harry Caray began his career in St. Louis, broadcasting on KMOX radio for 24 seasons, before moving to Chicago in 1971 and becoming a staple of WGN radio and television broadcasts from 1981 until his death before the 1998 season.
The rivalry between the two clubs intensified following the hiring of Dusty Baker to manage the Cubs following the 2003 season. In 2002, when Baker was managing the San Francisco Giants, he and Tony 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." [8] Dusty Baker played for La Russa in 1986 as a member of the Oakland Athletics.
Some say that the feud between the two managers have 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." [9]
[edit] Statistical comparison
As of the 2005 MLB Season
[edit] Major award winners
| Category | Cardinals | Cubs |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | 18 | 10 |
| Cy Young | 3 | 5 |
| Rookie of the Year | 6 | 4 |
| Manager of the Year | 2 | 2 |
[edit] Gold Glove winners
| Category | Cardinals | Cubs |
|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | 13 | 6 |
| Catcher | 6 | 2 |
| First Base | 12 | 5 |
| Second Base | 2 | 11 |
| Third Base | 11 | 5 |
| Shortstop | 14 | 3 |
| Outfield | 16 | 3 |
[edit] Silver Slugger winners
| Category | Cardinals | Cubs |
|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | 3 | 0 |
| Catcher | 1 | 1 |
| First Base | 6 | 1 |
| Second Base | 0 | 7 |
| Third Base | 2 | 0 |
| Shortstop | 3 | 0 |
| Outfield | 4 | 8 |
[edit] Single season records
As of 6/12/2006
| Category | Cardinals | Cubs |
|---|---|---|
| Home runs | Mark McGwire, 70 (1998) | Sammy Sosa, 66 (1998) |
| Runs batted in | Joe Medwick, 154 (1937) | Hack Wilson, 191 (1930) (MLB record) |
| Batting average | Rogers Hornsby, .424 (1924) (MLB Record) | Bill Lange, .389 (1895) |
| Hits | Rogers Hornsby, 250 (1922) | Rogers Hornsby, 229 (1929) |
| Runs | Rogers Hornsby, 141 (1922) | Rogers Hornsby, 156 (1929) |
| Doubles | Joe Medwick, 64 (1936) | Billy Herman, 57 (1935 & 1936) |
| Triples | Tom Long, 25 (1915) | Vic Saier and Frank Schulte, 21 (1913 & 1911) |
| Stolen bases | Lou Brock, 118 (1974) | Bill Lange, 84 (1896) |
| Hitting streak | Rogers Hornsby, 33 games (1922) | Jerome Walton, 30 games (1989) |
| Strikeouts | Jim Edmonds, 167 (2000) | Sammy Sosa, 174 (1997) |
| Walks | Mark McGwire, 162 (1998) | Jimmy Sheckard, 147 (1911) |
| Pitching wins | Dizzy Dean 30, (1934) | John Clarkson, 53 (1885) |
| Pitching strikeouts | Bob Gibson, 274 (1970) | Bill Hutchinson, 314 (1892) |
| Pitching ERA | Bob Gibson, 1.12 (1968) | Mordecai Brown, 1.04 (1906) |
| Pitching Saves | Lee Smith, 47 (1991) | Randy Myers, 53 (1993) |
[edit] Hall of Fame plaques with team logo
Cardinals
- Lou Brock (1985)
- Dizzy Dean (1953)
- Bob Gibson (1981)
- Stan Musial (1969)
- Red Schoendienst (1989)
- Enos Slaughter (1985)
- Ozzie Smith (2002)
- Bruce Sutter (2006)
Cubs
- Ernie Banks (1977)
- Frank Chance (1946)
- Kiki Cuyler (1968)
- Gabby Hartnett (1955)
- Billy Herman (1975)
- Fergie Jenkins (1991)
- Ryne Sandberg (2005)
- Billy Williams (1987)
- Hack Wilson (1979)
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/teams/nl/cardinals.htm
- ^ http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stl/components/history/comp_timeline_2001.jsp
- ^ Buzz Bissinger Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manger Houghton Mifflin Company 2005
- ^ http://news-info.wustl.edu/FEC/1998/willbb.html
- ^ Jon David Cash, Before They Were Cardinals: Major League Baseball in Nineteenth-Century St. Louis. University of Missouri Press 2002
- ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20020808&content_id=99342&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/columnist/bodley/2006-03-16-bodley-steroids_x.htm
- ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060407&content_id=1388290&vkey=news_chc&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc
- ^ Jeff Gordon, St. Louis Post Disptach stltoday.com 5/15/2006
