Natural Rivalries - just an observation

[cubfan1126]

Now that interleague play is over I took a look at what MLB has for "natural rivalries".

 

There are 11 such series, though, I'm not quite sure how San Diego - Seattle qualifies but it seems to.

 

Three of the series finished 5-1 with the Indians winning only 1 game at home vs the Reds, Florida winning 1 game at Tampa, and the Padres winning 1 game at Seattle.

 

Four of the series finished 4-2 but only the Twins won 2 of 3 in each stadium vs the Brewers. In the other 3 cases the Cardinals, the Giants, and the Yankees all dropped 3 in their own park before going on the road and taking 2 of 3 at the Royals, A's, and Mets, respectively.

 

That leaves 4 series that split 3-3. The Astros - Rangers, Nationals - Orioles, and Dodgers - Angels all won 2 of 3 at their own facility while the Cubs and White Sox swept each other at home.

 

Don't know what it all means other than the AL dominated the NL in this mini look as well as in the overall interleague play.

[bjkrautk]

For the record, the Brewers 'natural' rivalry - to me anyway - is the one team in the AL Central they don't get to play against: the Chicago White Sox. Not only are the cities of Chicago and Milwaukee in closer proximity, but back when the Brewers were in the AL....it was the White Sox which drew most of the animus from Brewer fans.

 

Never, as a kid growing up, did I go into a Brewers-Twins series thinking "the benches are going to clear at some point this weekend." During the Torborg/Lamont era in Chicago (OSI's managerial term with the Brewers), it could happen twice in a 3-game series...or twice in just one game.

 

Mind you, this argument is not meant to condone violence between baseball teams....but that was a rivalry. Even when the Twins were winning World Series, I never felt the same antipathy for them as a Brewer fan. For Twins fans, I get it: our "blind trust" -owner tried to shut down their franchise (even if their owner was complicit in the process). I don't like the Twins, I just don't hate them the way I do the Gophers or Vikings.

 

 

Stealing our natural AL rival is just another reason for Brewers fans to hate the Cubs.

[zzzmanwitz]

I'm out of toes to keep counting reasons to hate the cubs.

[cubfan1126]

Stealing our natural AL rival is just another reason for Brewers fans to hate the Cubs.

Hating us is OK but that is a pretty lame reason to tack on. Why exactly are we to blame for that? Wasn't it your franchise that volunteered to move to the NL?

[1992casey]

It'd be nice to see the Sox come to Miller Park more frequently, but to suggest that the Cubs stole them would seem to be a bit of hyperbole.

[MattFlair]

I'm glad someone else mentioned our rivalry with the Whitesox...I always hated them and would have to say that to this day they are my least favorite team in mlb...I would cheer for the Yankees or Cubs if they were playing the Whitesox.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Growing up as an AL Brewer fan, I never really viewed either the Sox or the Twins as a huge rival. Frankly, I still don't. Granted, there used to be a lot of fights at County Stadium when the Sox came to town...and there are plenty of Twins fans that come down to Miller Park, but we've never really had a series of major significance against either team. Heck, the Sox became a decent draw in the 66-69 years that may have helped Bud win the Pilots and bring baseball back to Milwaukee (after the Cubs supported carpet-baggers stole the Braves).

 

When we were decent, we were in the AL East...it was the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles in the late 70s/early 80s, then the Tigers and Blue Jays in the 87-92 range.

 

Now that we're in the NL, we've got a good rivalry versus the Cubs and Cards (although I'm sure they view us as the third wheel in that one).

 

While it's a fun series versus the Twins with the other team's fans making plenty of noise in the road parks...I don't spend a single minute thinking about them after the series is over. On the other hand, I am completely obsessed rooting for the Brewers and whoever is playing the Cubs...now that's a true rival.

[bjkrautk]

Stealing our natural AL rival is just another reason for Brewers fans to hate the Cubs.

Hating us is OK but that is a pretty lame reason to tack on. Why exactly are we to blame for that? Wasn't it your franchise that volunteered to move to the NL?

 

When the 'natural rivalry' system was set up, before they started rotating the divisions, the Brewers essentially swapped their CWS series with the Cubs for their MIN series. Thus, the Cubs kept us from playing against the Sox. It's relatively low on reasons to hate the Cubs (Reed Johnson taking out Gallardo is much, much higher, as is my one Cubs friend doing his best to Jinx Dave Bush's no-hitter a few weeks back), but it's out there.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I now love the White Sox for sweeping the Cubs this weekend. Any team that plays the Cubs is my 2nd favorite team in baseball for that day.

[TooLiveBrew]

Agreed, and I hate the White Sox too. Now if they could've just taken one game at Wrigley...

[owbc]

I understand the money issue, but why can't the Brewers and Cubs both play one series vs. the Twins and one vs. the White Sox every year? Same could be said for other teams as well, and it would lessen the unfairness certain teams getting 6 "easy" games every year.

[RightFieldCoder]

Hating us is OK but that is a pretty lame reason to tack on.

Probably about as lame as blaming a goat or a dead home run hitter for your franchise WHOAS. Sports fans like to link events that have nothing to do with each other.

[cubfan1126]

You'll never hear me using that excuse.

The only thing that's kept my team from winning the World Series for 100 years or getting to it for 63 years is the same thing that's kept your team from any playoff appearance for 26 years - bad play on the field - or at least not good enough.

[Patrick425]

but back when the Brewers were in the AL....it was the White Sox which drew most of the animus from Brewer fans.

Agreed, and also to reiterate what SoCal stated, it was really Boston, NY, and Balt that were the the "hated" rivals when I was a kid. I still remember sitting in the bleachers at County Stadium and booing Reggie Jackson.

 

My friends and I all liked the Cubs. We could watch them every day on WGN when cable first came out and before Wrigley added lights. My dad was a teacher and a life long Cubs fan and the Cubs home games were always on in our house during the summer afternoons. So, unlike 99.9% of the posters on this site, I could never really "hate" the Cubs based soley on the last 10 years. In fact I have rooted for them in the playoffs...I know..*Gasp!- Blasphemy!!*

 

Now, my 10 year old son.....he hates the Cubs with the passion of 1,000 burning...however that saying goes.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I still remember sitting in the bleachers at County Stadium and booing Reggie Jackson.

 

How about when he charged Mike Caldwell from first...then Iron Mike breaks his bat on the ground...I had that picture up in my room for years. It was much tougher to hate the Red Sox or the O's...although Earl Weaver made for a good villian.

 

The only thoughts I ever had about teams in the AL West were wishing we could be in the division so we could go to the playoffs more often. I could care less about playing the White Sox...let them have their little Chicago moment...who really cares? The money we save on added security at the games could be used to help the bullpen.

[Patrick425]

The only thoughts I ever had about teams in the AL West were wishing we could be in the division so we could go to the playoffs more often.

Tell me about it! How many times did the Brewers have a better record than the best team in the West? It was probably only once or twice...but it seemed like it happened every year. I hated 1987. I hated the Twins. I think there were 3 or 4 teams in the East that had a better record than them..and they go on the win the WS!?! Uuuughhh, and everyone I knew was rooting for them because they were the underdog and from the Midwest. Not me, I didn't even think they deserved to be in the playoffs.

 

Ok..checked it out....The Brewers had a better record than the top team in the west in 78,79,87 (not including years the Brewers made the playoffs).

[dvoiss]

Not playing the Sox isn't really a problem for me. When we were in the AL I always considered the Twins a bigger rival than the Sox anyway. For me it goes back to the late 60s when I was a Twin and Cub fan as a kid. Those were the 2 teams that were televised in Madison at the time. When the Pilots moved to Milwaukee I dropped the other 2 teams and became a Brewer fan only. So the Twins and Cubs have always been bigger rivals for me. I always considered the Sox to be just another team.