MLB Opening Night 2017: World Champion Chicago Cubs meet familiar foe, arch rival St. Louis Cardinals.
On Sunday night, the focus will turn to the Grandest Stage of them all with the spectacle of spectacles taking place. No, not Wrestlemania. Finally, baseball has come back, to the regular season. On Opening Night, for the first time in 108 years, the reigning World Series Champion Chicago Cubs will battle their arch rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. While the game will still be played out on the diamond, and not in a steel cage, the storylines between these two teams continue to grow into some entertaining theater.
Just in the last few years, managers Joe Maddon and Mike Matheny have gotten into shouting matches and mic drops over questionable bean balls and close calls. Two years ago, it was the Cubs defeating the Cardinals in the postseason in a year where the Cardinals had the best record in baseball throughout the season. Last year, it saw the Cubs finally reach the pinnacle of the sport while St. Louis was home watching.
In the locker rooms, there has been alliances changing hands as well in the last few offseasons. The rivalry has seen Jason Heyward and John Lackey move from team red to team blue. Most recently, Dexter Fowler has traded in his blue for the rival red. The one-upmanship has also extended to scoreboard upgrades, and botched ticket promotions using the other team’s memorabilia.
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For the first time in awhile, it will not be Adam Wainwright getting the ball first for the Cardinals. The 2017 Opening Day nod has been given to Carlos Martinez this year coming off of a 16-9 record a season ago. Potentially, the first batter that Martinez will face will be Kyle Schwarber, who will be taking his hacks during a regular season game for the first time in nearly a full calendar year. Schwarber may then be followed by the reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant, and MVP candidate Anthony Rizzo. The Cubs will likely not be near the top in any stolen base categories this year, but they will bring to the table a deep lineup that will score a ton of runs on a daily basis.
On the other side, Jon Lester will be taking the ball on Opening Day against the Cardinals for the second time in three seasons. One of the main focal points will be how will Lester fair without David Ross as his personal catcher. Willson Contreras will be behind the plate, and thus far during camp, the two have been on the same page. To counter, St. Louis will look to go as Dex goes, with Fowler as their new leadoff hitter. Fowler will try to be the table-setter for a Cardinals lineup that was 25th in home runs in 2015, but improved upon that to finish second in the league last season. Knowing first-hand the success that Fowler is capable of, the Cubs will certainly look to shut him down and prevent any early momentum.
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Opening Night will be the first of 19 meetings between these two storied rivals. The two teams figure to compete for the NL Central division title this season. When Maddon took over as manager of the Cubs, he said that to get to where the team wanted to be, they had to go through St. Louis. “To be the man, you got to beat the man.” Now that the Cubs are World Champions, they have climbed that mountain. Is it now time for the Cardinals to ask the same question? Whatcha gonna do when Opening Day runs wild on you? Tune in for the game.