
The Cubs-Cardinals Rivalry in Perspective
After this weekend's Cardinals sweep of the Cubs, many fans have been wondering if this really is as much of a rivalry as the media makes it out to be. The perception seems to be that the fans are not as into it as they are other rivalries (perhaps White Sox, Royals), and that it has been a mostly one-sided match-up in recent years. While it is difficult to measure the first claim, we can examine the second. The table below shows the last 20 years of Cubs-Cardinals match-ups, including the head-to-head record for that year and each team’s overall winning percentage at the end of the season. Overall, the Cubs’ record vs. the Cardinals for the past 20 years has been 147-165, or a .471 winning percentage, which suggest the teams have played each other at much closer to parity than perceptions suggest. The Cubs have mostly held their own. This is even more impressive when looking at the season winning percentages. The Cardinals have had the better season record in 15 of the last 20 seasons, yet the Cubs have taken 9 of the head-to-head matchups. In several seasons (2005, 2006, and 2010) the Cubs far exceeded expectations: below-.500 Cubs teams dominated much better Cardinals teams on the season. These are small sample sizes and anything can happen in a short series, so we can’t take much away from this. But it should at least be clear that the Cardinals have had an advantage in the rivalry in recent decades but that is largely due to them fielding far superior teams, and that advantage hasn’t been as big as we might think.
Head-to-Head Record (Cubs-Cardinals) | Cubs Season Winning % | Cardinals Season Winning % | |
2014 | 9-10 (.474) | .451 | .556 |
2013 | 7-12 (.368) | .407 | .599 |
2012 | 7-10 (.412) | .377 | .543 |
2011 | 5-10 (.333) | .438 | .556 |
2010 | 9-6 (.600) | .463 | .531 |
2009 | 6-10 (.375) | .516 | .562 |
2008 | 9-6 (.600) | .602 | .531 |
2007 | 11-5 (.688) | .525 | .481 |
2006 | 11-8 (.579) | .407 | .516 |
2005 | 10-6 (.625) | .488 | .617 |
2004 | 8-11 (.421) | .549 | .648 |
2003 | 8-9 (.471) | .543 | .525 |
2002 | 6-12 (.333) | .414 | .599 |
2001 | 9-8 (.529) | .543 | .574 |
2000 | 3-10 (.231) | .401 | .586 |
1999 | 7-5 (.583) | .414 | .466 |
1998 | 4-7 (.364) | .552 | .512 |
1997 | 4-8 (.333) | .420 | .451 |
1996 | 5-8 (.385) | .469 | .543 |
1995 | 9-4 (.692) | .507 | .434 |
Comments