Brewers–Cubs rivalry

Milwaukee Brewers–Chicago Cubs
History
1st Meeting	June 13, 1997
1st Result	MIL Won 4-2
Location	Wrigley Field
Last Meeting	September 21, 2011
Last Result	CHC Won 7-1
Location	Wrigley Field
Next Meeting	April 9, 2012
Location	Wrigley Field
Number of Meetings	218
All-Time Series	CHC, 113-105 (.518)
Largest Margin of Victory	MIL 18-1, 8/2/2010 at Wrigley Field
Largest shutout	MIL 9-0, 4/30/2006 at Wrigley Field
Most runs in a game	31, MIL 19-12, 7/1/1999 at Wrigley Field
Current Streak	CHC, 1
Longest MIL Win Streak	6 (8/23/2001 - 5/18/2002) (7/26/11 - 8/28/11)
Longest CHC Win Streak	6 (5/7/2003 - 6/24/2003)
Current Trend	MIL 7-3 of last 10
Post Season History
Post Season Meetings	None

The Brewers-Cubs Series is a Major League Baseball rivalry between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs. It is also sometimes known as the I-94 Rivalry, due to the two teams' ballparks being located only 83.3 miles from each other off Interstate 94.

The Brewers and Cubs have been playing each other in spring training Cactus League games since the Brewers franchise began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969.^[1] However, this budding rivalry did not begin to grow until 1998, when the Brewers moved from the American League Central Division to the NL Central. Until then, the Brewers had a rivalry with Chicago's AL team, the White Sox.

Background

The Brewers and Cubs met for the first official time on June 13, 1997 in interleague play, a 4-2 Brewers victory in Wrigley Field.^[2] They met for the first time as division rivals on June 15, 1998, a 6-5 Cubs victory also in Wrigley Field.^[3] The young series has proven very competitive with the Cubs leading 98-89 through the 2009 season.

After battling for the NL Central title in both 2007 and 2008, the teams met at Miller Park for the Brewers' home opener. During the second game of the homestand on Saturday April 11, 2009, the Brewers had the highest attendance in Major League Baseball for the rivalry game.^[4]

During games in Milwaukee, it is sometimes common for there to be more visiting Cubs fans than home Brewers fans, creating "Wrigley Field North." This is largely due to the ticket availability at Miller Park; Wrigley Field is routinely sold out, so it is often easier and cheaper for Cubs fans to watch games at Miller Park. During the 2006 season, the Milwaukee Brewers started the "Take Back Miller Park" campaign to regain home field advantage. Since then, the dominating presence of Cubs fans has somewhat dwindled as the Brewers have become more popular with local fans following the sale of the team from Bud Selig to Mark Attanasio. Through the 2007 and 2008 seasons, the rivalry became more intense with both teams battling for the National League Central crown, a prize the Cubs eventually claimed both seasons.^[5] During 2008, the Brewers had a sellout streak going at the start of a mid-July series at home against the Cubs.^[6]

References

1. ^ Vascellaro, Charlie. "History of the Cactus League". cactusleague.com. Cactus League. http://cactusleague.com/c_history.php. 
2. ^ Sullivan, Paul (June 14, 1997). "Brewers 4, Cubs 2 For Cubbies, Interleague Play is Ex-Cub Factor Going Haywire". Chicago Tribune: p. 3. 
3. ^ Dorsey, David (June 16, 1998). "Sosa rips 3 HRs in Cubs' 6-5 win". USA Today: p. 1C. 
4. ^ De Marco, Pat (2009-04-12). "Cubs and Brewers: One of Baseball's Best Rivalries". Bleacher Report. CBS Sports. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/154684-cubs-and-brewers-one-of-baseballs-best-rivals. 
5. ^ McCalvy, Adam (February 20, 2006). "Take Back Miller Park set to launch". MLB.com. http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/news/print.jsp?ymd=20060220&content_id=1317442&vkey=news_mil&fext=.jsp&c_id=mil&affiliateId=CommentWidget. 
6. ^ Glauber, Bill (2008-07-29). "Rivalry, conflict, chaos erupt, and that's in stands: Miller Park packed for Brewers-Cubs". Journal Sentinel. http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/29565164.html.