Feel-good Cubs threatened by playoff staple Cardinals

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption National League Postseason Preview USA Today Sports' Ted Berg breaks down the NL playoffs, including who has the edge to make it to the World Series.

ST. LOUIS — They're the team that America loves to hate.

They are the St. Louis Cardinals, and once they take the field Friday at Busch Stadium, they'll have the free world — outside of Cardinals Nation — rooting passionately for the Chicago Cubs.And now, for the first time in their glorious postseason history, they're facing America's most lovable team.

This will be the first time the Cubs and Cardinals have met in the playoffs since their rivalry began in 1903, but it's painfully clear that just about everyone has become a Cubbies fan.

Don't be ashamed; the Cardinals perfectly understand your sentiments.

"Outside of the St. Louis fan base, I'm sure people hate watching the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs year after year," Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter told USA TODAY Sports. "But we don't take offense to it. We take it as a compliment. Nobody hates the team that never makes it. If we weren't any good, they wouldn't hate us. But because we're good, they hate us.

"We're like the San Antonio Spurs. People are sick of watching the Spurs in the NBA Finals. People are sick of watching us in the postseason. It's the same with the Patriots or the Spurs or the Yankees back in the day.

"You just want to see something new. That's why the Pirates and Cubs and Blue Jays, it's fun to watch. You're pulling for the teams that haven't been there. And people are tired of seeing us."

The Cardinals, who were hit with more impactful injuries than any other franchise in baseball, still led the major league with 100 victories. They're the only team that has earned a playoff berth in each of the last five years. They're reached the National League Championship Series four years in a row, winning two pennants and a World Series.

"I didn't like them like everyone else," said infielder Mark Reynolds, who joined the Cardinals this year. "The Cardinals are old news, and people are sick of them being there every year. I find myself doing that, pulling for the underdog in sporting events. It's just human nature to pull for the good story."

And right now, the Cubs are baseball's Cinderella story, with their kiddie corps trying to lead them to their first NL pennant since 1945 and first World Series title since 1908. It's the same kind of euphoria Cubs President Theo Epstein was feeling when he helped guide the Boston Red Sox to the 2004 World Series title, ending their 86-year drought.

Yet if anyone can shatter that glass slipper, it's the Cardinals, who have won 10 of the 12 division series they've played since 1996.

"They've broken my heart three times in the playoffs," Cubs veteran catcher David Ross says. "But I don't know if hate is the right word. Sometimes that word is misconstrued. It's jealousy or envy. This organization has won consistently, even with the change of managers, the change of GMs, change of players and injuries. They know how to win.

"But sometimes you're just like, 'I'm tired of seeing these guys win.' "

Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year.

And here they are, again, ready to ruin the feel-good story of the year.

"The real reason people hate them is because they're good," Cubs catcher Miguel Montero said. "You talk to anyone in the game, and they respect the Cardinals. Every year, even when someone else wins the World Series, you always say they're the team to beat.

"We may not like the fact they're good every year, but how can you hate an organization that always does everything right?"

The Cardinals, as even the Cubs ownership and front office will privately concede, are baseball's model franchise. They scout, develop and win with homegrown players — no other playoff team has more than the Cardinals' 15. They have no albatross contracts, keeping their payroll in the middle of the pack, and have drawn at least 3 million fans for 12 consecutive seasons.

Yet instead of widespread praise, with flattering comparisons to the great Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s, they draw scorn. Critics accuse them of being arrogant. They despise the phrase "The Cardinal Way." They get tired of hearing about Cardinals fans being the greatest in the country.

The Cardinals, even after clinching the NL Central title in Pittsburgh, merely shook hands on the field. They had their celebratory party, but only once behind closed doors, out of respect to the Pirates.

The Cubs, on the other hand, partied so hard after their wild-card victory in Pittsburgh it was hard to know how many players could have passed a sobriety test during their workout Thursday. The longest and wildest two baseball celebrations of Ross' career were the Cubs' two clinches this year, and, yes, that includes 2013 when the Red Sox won the World Series.

"Being in the postseason consistently, you draw your fans, but you also draw the critics," Cardinals veteran pitcher Adam Wainwright said. "People want to see new stories and new things, but we're not worried about that. We just want to play baseball."

Even when Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who grew up a Cardinals fan, berated St. Louis after first baseman Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch in a game in September, the Cardinals refused to retaliate. They didn't utter a peep from the clubhouse. Instead, they let their actions do the talking the following day, beating Jon Lester and the Cubs 4-3.

"It's not like we had a team meeting about it," Cardinals reliever Carlos Villanueva said, "but there was no reason to get into a war of words. What for? We're not here to win the macho competition.

"That's why I came here. If I wanted all of that flair or all of that showmanship, I would have gone somewhere else. But over here, you're paid to play baseball and not worry about anything else.

"I call it being professional."

You can also call it the, uh, Cardinal Way.

Follow columnist Bob Nightengale on Twitter @BNightengale.

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