What do Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals have in common?

Major League Baseball

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Professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world.

1959 World Series action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Graph showing, by year, the average number of runs per MLB game

Mark McGwire was one of several central figures in baseball's steroids scandal

A Grapefruit League game at the former Los Angeles Dodgers camp in Vero Beach, Florida

President John F. Kennedy throwing out the first pitch at the 1962 All-Star Game at DC Stadium

Rafael Palmeiro (batter), one of the MLB players suspended for steroid use

The modern Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves franchises trace their histories back to the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players in the 1870s.

Had the Dodgers moved out west alone, the St. Louis Cardinals—1600 mi away —would have been the closest NL team.

Chicago White Sox

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American professional baseball team based in Chicago.

Ed Walsh holds the record for lowest career earned run average (ERA), 1.82

The White Sox celebrate after winning a tie-breaker game against the Minnesota Twins for a spot in the 2008 playoffs

View from the upper deck of U.S. Cellular Field in 2006

Eddie Murphy, John "Shano" Collins, Joe Jackson, Happy Felsch, and Nemo Leibold in their dugout during the 1917 World Series

Minnie Miñoso (1951–57, 1960–61, 1964, 1976, 1980)

Bill Veeck, White Sox owner (1959–61, 1975–80) who revolutionized baseball by introducing many innovations in promotion

Fielder Jones of the White Sox hits the ball against Cubs at West Side Grounds, 1905

Harrelson in the broadcast booth in 2007

The White Sox are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, the other being the Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL) Central division.

La Russa went on to manage in six World Series (winning three) with the Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals, ending up in the Hall of Fame as the third-winningest manager of all time.

National League

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Older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league.

Shea Stadium prior to the start of a New York Mets game in 2008. Shea had the best attendance in the National League that year, drawing over 53,000 fans per game on average.

Morgan Bulkeley, the first president of the National League

The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain still in operation today as the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs.

With the merger, the NL absorbed the St. Louis Browns (now known as the St. Louis Cardinals), along with three other teams that did not survive into the 20th century (for those three teams, see Partnership with the American League below).

New York Yankees

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American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of The Bronx.

The Polo Grounds, home of the Yankees from 1913 to 1922, was demolished in 1964, after the Mets had moved to Shea Stadium in Flushing.

With his hitting prowess, Babe Ruth ushered in an offensive-oriented era of baseball and helped lead the Yankees to four World Series titles.

In 1941, Joe DiMaggio set an MLB record with a 56-game hitting streak that stands to this day and will probably never be broken.

Opening Day of the 1951 baseball season at Griffith Stadium. President Harry Truman throws out the first ball as Bucky Harris and Casey Stengel look on.

Mickey Mantle was one of the franchise's most celebrated hitters, highlighted by his 1956 Triple Crown and World Series championship.

During 1974 and 1975, Yankee Stadium was renovated into its final shape and structure, as shown here in 2002, seven years before demolition.

The mask and catcher's mitt of Thurman Munson, the team captain who was killed in a plane crash in 1979

Don Mattingly headlined a Yankees franchise that struggled in the 1980s.

The Yankees' success in the late 1990s and early 2000s was built from a core of productive players that included Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and Derek Jeter.

Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez, 2007

Joe Girardi was a Yankees catcher before he became manager in 2008.

The new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009 and was christened with a World Series victory in the same way that the original Yankee Stadium was christened with a World Series victory when it opened in 1923.

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge quickly became the new face of the team.

"Freddy Sez" holding one of his signs near the bleachers entrance before a game between the Yankees and the Texas Rangers

A shirt worn by a number of Bleacher Creatures

The grounds crew at Yankee Stadium dancing to "Y.M.C.A."

Announcers Michael Kay, Paul O'Neill, Ken Singleton, and Ryan Ruocco in the YES Network broadcast booth at Yankee Stadium in 2009

The first four in the row of retired numbers at the old Yankee Stadium

In 1931, Joe McCarthy, who was previously manager of the Chicago Cubs, was hired as manager and brought the Yankees back to the top of the AL. They swept the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series, and brought the team's streak of consecutive World Series game wins to 12.

The St. Louis Cardinals are in second place with 11 World Series championships with their last win in 2011.

World Series

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Annual championship series of Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL).

Christy Mathewson threw 3 complete-game shutouts in the 1905 World Series.

Bill Mazeroski hit a dramatic ninth-inning walk-off home run that decided the 1960 World Series

The Catch: Willie Mays hauls in Vic Wertz's drive near the wall in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series.

1968 World Series program and tickets for Games 4 and 5 at Tiger Stadium

Carlton Fisk, best known for his "waving fair" home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series

Reggie Jackson earned the nickname "Mr. October" by hitting three consecutive home runs in the clinching game six of the 1977 World Series

President Ronald Reagan with the 1988 World Series champions: Los Angeles Dodgers

In Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, Kirby Puckett made a memorable leaping catch in left field to rob an extra-base hit. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Puckett hit a game-winning home run to send the Series to Game 7

Fireworks in SkyDome after Joe Carter's 1993 World Series-winning home run

Game 1 of the 2008 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) and Tampa Bay Rays (AL) at Tropicana Field

In 2011, David Freese hit a game-tying two-run triple (with two outs) to send it into extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th, Freese led off with a game-winning home run to send the Series to Game 7

Chicago Cubs celebrate their 2016 World Series victory, their first in 108 years

Game action in the 1906 Series in Chicago (the only all-Chicago World Series to date)

Bill Wambsganss completes his unassisted triple play in 1920

Washington's Bucky Harris scores his home run in the fourth inning of Game 7 (October 10, 1924)

The Chicago Cubs celebrate winning the 2016 World Series, which ended the club's 108-year championship drought.

The two most prolific World Series winners to date, the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, did not win their first championship until the 1920s; and three of the teams that were highly successful prior to 1920 (the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Cubs) went the rest of the 20th century without another World Series win.

Rogers Hornsby

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American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB).

Rogers Hornsby with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1917

Rogers Hornsby (pictured on a 1922 baseball card) takes a swing.

Rogers Hornsby with the Boston Braves in 1928

How to Play First Base by Rogers Hornsby

He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 1933), New York Giants (1927), Boston Braves (1928), Chicago Cubs (1929–1932), and St. Louis Browns (1933–1937).

Cincinnati Reds

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American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati.

Hall of famer Edd Roush led Cincinnati to the 1919 World Series.

Crosley Field (pictured in 1969), the Reds' home stadium from 1912 to 1970

Riverfront Stadium (pictured in 1974), the home stadium of the Reds from 1970 to 2002

Pete Rose at bat in a game at Dodger Stadium during the 1970s

George Foster slugged 52 home runs in 1977, earning the NL MVP award.

Great American Ball Park, the Reds' home stadium since 2003

Ken Griffey Jr. played in his hometown of Cincinnati from 2000 to 2008.

Joey Votto, first baseman (2007–present)

Great American Ball Park opened in 2003 along the Ohio River.

Scott Rolen wearing the current Reds away uniform, featuring classic lettering.

Barry Larkin playing in Riverfront Stadium in 1990

Marty Brennaman, the Hall of Fame "voice of the Reds"

In other deals that proved to be less successful, the Reds traded Gary Nolan to the California Angels for Craig Hendrickson; Rawly Eastwick to the St. Louis Cardinals for Doug Capilla; and Mike Caldwell to the Milwaukee Brewers for Rick O'Keeffe and Garry Pyka, as well as Rick Auerbach from Texas.

In, the Reds were in the newly created National League Central Division with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and fellow rivals Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros.

National League East

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One of Major League Baseball's six divisions.

This was due to the demands of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who refused to support expansion unless they were promised they would be kept together in the newly created East division.

Pitcher Jim McCormick started five of the seven games for Chicago in the 1885 World Series between the two teams, going 3–2.

Cardinals–Cubs rivalry

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Mark McGwire hitting a home run at Busch Stadium.

Wrigley Field and the Cubs play host to the rival St. Louis Cardinals 9-10 games a season

Dusty Baker, manager of the Chicago Cubs (2003–2006)

Rogers Hornsby played for the St. Louis Cardinals 1915–1926 & 1933 and with the Chicago Cubs 1929–1932. Hornsby owns the single season record for both franchises in hits and runs.

The Cardinals–Cubs rivalry, also called the Route 66 rivalry and The I-55 rivalry, refers to the rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL), one of the most bitter rivalries in Major League Baseball and in all of North American professional sports.