The Cardinals' No. 1 rival will always be the Chicago Cubs. The affair is rooted in history and has united several generations of fans who observe sacred baseball tradition by making annual summer pilgrimages to Busch Stadium and Wrigley Field.
And the Cubs-Cardinals bacchanal is also party time, with plenty of spirits flowing within the friendly confines of the Wrigley beer garden or in the St. Louis ballpark named in honor of a brewer.
In modern times, the actual baseball has been secondary in too many years. The Cubs haven't been able to keep pace in a way that gives a rivalry extra layers of significance, history and drama. Since Tony La Russa became the St. Louis manager, the Cardinals rank fourth in the majors in victories; the Cubs are 19th. At times it's almost as if the Cardinals and the Cubs are merely entertainers at a festival in the park.
But if we're talking pure, hardcore baseball the Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds are playing the game at a fever pitch. It's the best rivalry the Cardinals have going now, and the adrenaline will remain high as long as the Reds loom as a threat in a division the Cardinals expect to control. The Reds see no reason to defer. There's a bold attitude in each dugout. And a taint of bad blood makes a rivalry perk.
Reds third baseman Scott Rolen, the former Cardinal, has participated in Cubs-Cardinals and Cardinals-Reds. And Rolen has a keen understanding of the differences.
"With all due respect the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry, when I was here, was forever old," Rolen said before Friday's 4-2 Cardinals win at storm-soaked Busch Stadium. "It was fan driven, and media driven. 'Here it is. It's the rivalry.' And we get on the field and play ball."
That's why Rolen was surprised when the Cubs and Cardinals threw down and engaged in some nastiness late in the 2003 season. It took him by surprise, because the rivalry had been so friendly.
"I thought, 'Why are we doing this? Because we're supposed to?' The Cubs had great guys. We had great guys. We just went out and played. We weren't trying to hurt each other," Rolen said. "These are good dudes that we enjoy playing against and competing against. It's a fantastic rivalry. But what was supposed to be occurring? We did have some heated games, but in the back of my mind, I always wondered, 'Does it have to be heated?' Kind of confusing."
With the Reds vs. Cardinals there is no ambiguity.
"This feels to me like two pretty good teams banging heads right now," Rolen said. "There's some animosity from some things that happened on the field last year. There's a real attitude of 'Let's go get these guys, let's go beat these guys.' And that's a feeling on both sides. There may be some hard feelings. I'm not trying to overstate it. I'm not saying we're ticked off. That's not it. But it's a great competition. It feels like we're getting after it. It feels like we both might have a little chip on our shoulder, and we may not like each other very much. That makes for a good rivalry."
Reds-Cardinals Feud Update and Scorecard:
• Brandon Phillips vs. Cardinals fans: BP is winning big, because he craves attention, and St. Louis fans are giving it to him. The fans don't seem to realize that they're making Phillips happy. He loves this. But obviously Cardinals fans love booing him, so ... everybody is happy I guess.
• Phillips vs. Cardinals players: Since instigating the brawl early last August, the Reds' second baseman was four for 27 against St. Louis coming into Friday's game. Edge so far to the Cardinals. But Phillips is rallying. He had two hits and a homer Friday night. But he also had misses in the seventh and ninth inning with a chance to do some meaningful damage against the Cardinals bullpen.
• Bob Castellini vs. Bill DeWitt Jr.: The Reds' owner is winning; Castellini's team won the division last year with a considerably smaller payroll than DeWitt's franchise. And Castellini still has the bragging rights in Cincinnati, where both men live. But how long will Castellini hold the crown? DeWitt's determined to make a comeback.
• Walt Jocketty vs. John Mozeliak: Since Jocketty was fired as GM the Cardinals have been in the playoffs once in three seasons. Jocketty's Reds are the defending division champion. Edge to Jocko. But the rankings could change depending on what happens in 2011; Mozeliak's offseason moves are looking good so far.
• Jocketty vs. DeWitt: Jocketty is winning. To recap: DeWitt empowered "Moneyball" guy Jeff Luhnow, which undermined Jocketty's authority and led to tension in the front office, resulting in Jocketty being fired. But the Cardinals are back to building a roster the Jocketty way, and Jocketty is building a potential power in Cincinnati.
• Tony La Russa vs. Dusty Baker: In head-to-head matchups before the weekend, La Russa's St. Louis teams were are 97-94 vs. Baker's teams in San Francisco, Chicago and Cincinnati. Too close to call. Baker clearly knows how to press La Russa's buttons and get TLR fuming. But Baker is the favorite to win the division this season; La Russa is in the underdog position, which he likes.
• TLR's brilliant move of holding Kyle McClellan back from the start of Friday's game -- and inserting him only one batter into the game after a long rain delay -- provided an early edge in the series. Baker burned his scheduled starter, Edinson Volquez, who warmed up before the storms came. Baker complained after the game, suggesting that the Reds had been misled about the weather forecasts. Huh? Don't these guys have laptops? Can't they check the weather? Maybe put on the local TV stations, which suspended normal programming to go with storm-crisis coverage? Baker had the chance to do the same thing La Russa did, but he didn't.
• La Russa vs. Rolen: Heck, Rolen just received two injections to ease the discomfort of a sore left shoulder and La Russa looks like he just went 12 rounds with Manny Pacquiao. (Actually, TLR has a bacterial infection, which looks bad. But it isn't contangious and he's feeling better.) At this point, their old hostilities are the least of their worries.
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La Russa may be reluctant to put the title of "closer" on Mitchell Boggs, but TLR sure has given Boggs the full-closer handling this week. The proof came in the ninth inning of Friday's win, with the Cardinals holding a 4-2 lead with a runner on, one out, and the Reds' best hitter due up. That would be Joey Votto, last season's National League MVP. Votto, who bats left, would have been a natural assignment for lefty reliever Trever Miller. But La Russa stayed with Boggs, who got Votto to fly out on an up fastball that ran away from his fists. And then Boggs induced a pop up from Jonny Gomes to lock down the win.
Since May 11 of last season LH bats are hitting only .213 with a .322 onbase percentage against Boggs in 89 plate appearances. An improved slider has made a difference. "Mitchell gets the kind of movement that's tough to center, even for as good a hitter as Votto," La Russa said. And La Russa entrusted Boggs to notch a four-out save in only his second opportunity as the closer. That reveals something about La Russa's true opinion of Boggs.
The Cardinals' young relievers -- Eduardo Sanchez, Jason Motte and Boggs -- were money in this series-opening win, navigating through some potential trouble to get the final 12 outs. And what about McClellan? Six innings, two earned runs. He's 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in his first month as the starter ... McClellan, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Kyle Lohse have combined for a 2.39 ERA so far.
The Reds went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position Friday... manager Dusty Baker will need some innings from Saturday starter Travis Wood; because of the rain delay and the no-go by Volquez, Baker had to tap into his bullpen for eight innings of hard work. Four Reds relievers threw 148 pitches.
A special welcome to NFL senior vice president of public relations Greg Aiello, who is in St. Louis to visit the in-laws for Easter with his wife Kirsten and their three children. Kirsten Krueger Aiello is a St. Louis native. ... Speaking of cheerleading, La Russa's oldest daughter, Bianca Tai, surprised her dad and the family by trying out for the Oakland Raiders cheerleaders. And she made the squad. No surprise, given her extensive training and background in dance.
Here are Lohse's numbers when he's been a healthy pitcher for Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan: 22-10 and a 3.62 ERA in 46 starts. Here are Lohse's numbers (31 games) when he tried to pitch with a nerve problem in his right forearm: 6-15, 6.08 ERA. Given that Lohse is healthy, is it really surprising to see him thrive again?
The Reds' 3-7 record against Arizona and Pittsburgh early this season was notable for this reason: Last year the Reds beat up on mediocre (or worse) opponents, going 66-31 against NL teams that finished with a losing record. The Cardinals failed to take care of business against NL teams with a losing record, going 44-49. And that's why the Reds won the NL Central, five games ahead of the second-place Cardinals.
Fox Sports Houston reports that Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, wideout Donnie Avery, tight end Fendi Onubon and other receivers are working out together at the University of Houston. That's Avery's alma mater. Avery told FS Houston that he's still recovering — mentally — from the knee injury that ended his 2010 last summer. "I can't go as fast as those guys because it's still in my head," Avery said. "I'm trying to baby it a little bit because I'm five months out of surgery, so it's still kind of in my head. Still got a long way to go."
Missouri baseball alum Aaron Crow, a No. 1 draft choice in 2009, entered the weekend having pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts as a rookie reliever for the Kansas City Royals. ... Through Thursday former Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan was batting .231 for Seattle. Defensively, Ryan's zone rating was down from a year ago. But it's early. ... Strange but true: Former Cardinals Felipe Lopez (Tampa Bay) and Adam Kennedy (Seattle) each batted cleanup for their teams in recent games.
It's a joy to listen to Reds radio broadcaster Marty Brennaman, the Baseball Hall of Famer who has been calling the Reds' games since 1974. His play-by-play is excellent. He knows the game. He offers keen insights. He has a sense of humor. He mixes in bits of history. And Marty is opinionated and never pulls a punch. It's an increasingly rare combination in MLB broadcast booths. If you have the MLB.com TV/Radio package, do yourself a favor and give Brennaman a listen.
Kris Milligan, a 1973 Parkway West grad, has written a new book, "The Family Guide to Tennis." ... Congrats to former Bud Sports director Steve Winkler, whose new Winkler Productions outfit will produce the first bowling event in Cowboys Stadium — the U.S. Women's Open, airing July 2 on ESPN2.
The Cardinals have done a reasonably effective job against Votto since the start of last season; over that time against St. Louis Votto is batting .273 with a .377 onbase percentage and a .424 slugging percentage. He has two homers in 77 plate appearances, and has struck out 17 times. Considering how Votto has wrecked so many pitchers over the last couple of seasons, the Cardinals have largely avoided serious injury when going against Votto.
The mock drafts are all over the map with St. Louisan Blaine Gabbert. I've seen projections that have the Mizzou quarterback going to Buffalo (No. 3 overall), Cincinnati (No. 4), Arizona (No. 5), San Francisco (No. 7) and Tennesse (No. 8). A few people think Gabbert could slip to Minnesota at No. 12.
Most of the mocks link Gabbert to Arizona. But Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt downplays his team's interest in Gabbert. That could be a smokescreen; who knows? But it would be entertaining to see Gabbert with the Cardinals because of the St. Louis connection. And he'd be playing for an NFC West team which means a yearly game in St. Louis.
Rams owner Stan Kroenke remains in the news in England after his takeover of the Arsenal soccer club in the EPL. The British press was hyperventilating after Arsenal midfielder and captain Cesc Fabregas challenged Kroenke and manager Arsene Wenger to purchase more elite talent in a concerted effort to win a championship. Speaking to a Spanish magazine, Don Balon, Fabregas was quoted as saying:
"If you went to Spain and said to (Barcelona manager) Pep Guardiola, (Real Madrid manager) Jose Mourinho or (Valencia boss) Unai Emery they would have three years without a trophy, it would be obvious they would not continue. Here, it is different. The manager is intelligent and the club value different things ... that the team is always in the Champions League; that we compete until the end; that we have young players, economic stability. But I imagine there will be a moment when you have to decide: do you win things or not?"
EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this story contained incorrect information about the nature of La Russa's eye ailment.
