The tears, trades and tirades that define the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry

In 1885, the American Association champion St. Louis Brown Stockings met the National League champion Chicago White Stockings for the very first time in a seven-game series that served as a precursor to the World Series. Almost immediately, controversy ensued: With Chicago leading in the sixth inning, St. Louis manager Charles Comiskey called his team off the field in protest of an umpire's ruling, forfeiting the game to the White Stockings. The series eventually ended in a 3-3 tie (apparently everyone had very important offseason plans to get to), prompting Comiskey claimed the championship for St. Louis — and just like that, the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry was born.

More than 140 years and thousands of games later, a whole lot has changed, from home ballparks to the names of the teams themselves. But the animosity between them sure hasn't, and as Chicago and St. Louis get ready to renew acquaintances this weekend for the first time in 2026 — with the Cardinals suddenly resurgent and the Cubs in panic mode — what better time to revisit the best and bitterest moments in this blood feud.

June 15, 1964: The Lou Brock trade

The modern history of this rivalry really begins in 1964, when Cubs fans everywhere swore they'd just fleeced their most hated foes. Chicago had just acquired righty Ernie Broglio, who was in the midst of another solid season after pitching to a 2.99 ERA the year before. This was exactly the sort of pick-up they needed to boost their pitching staff for a pennant run — and all it cost them was some unknown 24-year-old outfielder named Lou Brock.

There's a reason Brock was so available; he'd hit just .258/.307/.392 over his first three seasons in Chicago, after all. Once he got to St. Louis, though, he promptly became a star, hitting .348 with 33 steals down the stretch in 1964 — the first of 10 seasons in which he'd earn MVP votes. It was the Cardinals, not the Cubs, who went on to win the World Series that year, one more twist of the knife in Chicago's World Series drought.

Sept. 22, 1974: The Brawl

There have been plenty of dust-ups between these two teams, to be sure. But one in particular stands above the rest — and of course it involved a player affectionately (or, if you live in Chicago, not so affectionately) known as the "Mad Hungarian".

His name was Al Hrabosky, and he more than lived up to that nickname with his on-field antics. Particularly audacious was his between-pitch routine: After getting the ball back from the catcher, he'd circle the mound and slam the ball into his glove before hiking back up to the rubber. One particular day in 1974, though, Cubs infielder Bill Madlock decided he didn't much care for this whole routine; every time Hrabosky would try to come set, Madlock would step out of the box and ask for time.

Eventually, umpire Shag Crawford had seen enough, ordering Hrabosky to start pitching regardless of whether Madlock was ready. Cubs manager Jim Marshall didn't much care for that decision. While Madlock and Marshall stood near home plate, Hrabosky delivered strike one, and it was all downhill from there.

June 23, 1984: The Ryne Sandberg Game

For much of the afternoon, it looked like St. Louis was going to get the last laugh, jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the top of the second inning. But 1984 was a magical year on the North Side, in large part thanks to a magical player in infielder Ryne Sandberg. And on this day, Sandberg refused to let the Cubs lose.

Chicago trailed, 9-8, in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Sandberg stepped in against future Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter — and promptly swatted the game-tying homer. St. Louis promptly scored two more in the top of the 10th ... only for Sandberg to tie the game again with his second dinger in as many innings. The Cubs eventually walked things off in the bottom of the 11th, one step closer to what would be the team's first postseason berth in almost 40 years. Oh, and Sandberg won NL MVP that year, because of course he did.

1998: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa go swing for swing

This is, admittedly, a much more diplomatic chapter of this rivalry's history. As the 1998 season wore on, and it became clear that both McGwire and Sosa had a chance to break Roger Maris' single-season home run record, the two players seemed to relish rather than resent the competition — shaking each other's hand whenever possible, always with a smile on.

Still, you can bet that Cubs fans weren't thrilled when, on Sept. 8, McGwire made history in the bottom of the fourth inning off of Steve Trachsel.

But on this night, the rivalry took a back seat, if only briefly. Chicago's entire infield congratulated McGwire as he rounded the bases, and Sosa even sprinted all the way in from right field to give Big Mac a hug.

Sept. 1-4, 2003: "If you're going to bark, you have to be ready to bite"

Those were the words uttered by then-Cubs manager Dusty Baker, after his Cardinals counterpart, Tony La Russa, accused Chicago's Kerry Wood of intentionally throwing at multiple St. Louis batters. You can understand why tensions were high: The Cubs hadn't won the NL Central since 1989, but they were just 2.5 games back of the Cardinals entering a crucial five-games-in-four-days set at Wrigley Field.

And Baker's team backed up his trash talk, winning four of five — including a walk-off homer from Sosa in extra innings — to take hold of first place for good.

2015 NLDS: Welcome to the postseason

For as much history as these two teams shared, the nature of MLB's playoff format meant that they'd never met in October — until 2015, that is, when their paths finally crossed in the NLDS. The series wound up serving as something of a changing of the guard: The Cardinals had won two World Series in the last 10 years and two of the last four NL pennants, but this time it was the up-and-coming Cubs who met the moment, riding Kyle Schwarber and an electric offense to a four-game win.

It turned out that Chicago's youth movement was here to stay; while they fell to the New York Mets in the NLCS, they'd break through for good the following year, capturing the team's first World Series title in over a century. It's been a long and winding path for both teams in the decade since, but they now both find themselves with winning records and playoff positioning on the line. And if this rivalry has taught us anything, that means fireworks.

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