Oct. 12--At AJ's Corner bar, the fluorescent Busch beer Cardinals sign glows in the front window.
The owner, Ron Perce, is a Cubs fan. But Perce knows most of his customers in this town about 10 miles south of the Illinois Capitol root for the Redbirds, so he put aside his allegiances for the sake of the business.
"Mostly it's because the Cards have been better," Perce said. "And it's only 100 miles to St. Louis."
A few doors down Mulberry Street, inside the Chatham police station, dueling handmade signs back each team.
Officer Dave Leach created a pro-Cubs sign, hanging it in the room where officers gather to start their shift.
"I'm fully expecting it to be defaced," said Leach, laughing.
Chatham, a town of about 12,800 near Springfield, is a community of divided loyalties when it comes to baseball. With the Cubs and Cardinals meeting in the playoffs for the first time in their storied rivalry, Chatham is emblematic of many central Illinois communities: a melting pot of red and blue.
The split can be seen all over town: bars, the library, a pizza store, the shirts on kids walking home from school. Married couples with split allegiances brace for days of playful taunts, annoying razzing and bragging rights, as the series, tied 1-1, shifts to Wrigley Field for Monday's Game 3.
Many Chatham residents give the popularity edge to the Cardinals, with estimates ranging from 70-30 to a near 50-50 split. Even though the town is home to many state employees who make the 15-minute commute north on state Route 4 to government offices, Busch Stadium is closer than Wrigley Field, a 220-mile journey past corn and soybean fields on Interstate 55. Many of the downtown's street signs are red, not green. And with the Cardinals perennial contenders, many here lean south.
Leach hopes that is about to change. He spots more Cubs gear as he patrols past Chatham's banks, insurance agencies, corner gas stations, churches, car repair shops and newer strip malls. On the front porch of a home in a subdivision pressed up against a harvested, browning farm field at the edge of town, a Cubs "W" flag flutters in the breeze.
"A lot of Cubs fans are in hiding, I think," said Leach, 32, who grew up in nearby Rochester as a Cubs fan because his grandfather and father cheered for the team. "They don't come out unless the team is doing well because you'd get ridiculed. The Cubbie blue stands out around here. But there's a lot of people who are like, 'You know what, I can speak up now.' More fans are coming out. We're ready to tell St. Louis to move over. It's our time."
One of the police station signs features pasted cutouts of Cubs and Cardinals logos, next to a photo of Leach with the pen-scrawled bubble-caption joke, "Officer Leach says, 'Don't do drugs and don't be a Cubs fan.' "
Perce's bar, which he has owned since 1982, showcases Cardinals and Cubs knickknacks, including a "StL" flag, a Cubs phone and a Cubs logo sticker on the corner fuse box.
"You gotta have both," said Perce, 70, whose wife, Mary, roots for the Cardinals.
At the Chatham library, books about Ernie Banks and Wrigleyville line the shelves alongside those about Stan Musial and legendary Cardinals announcer Jack Buck. You can check out "Cardinals Essential" and "Cubs Forever."
Perhaps indicative of the town's leaning, the children's section also carries books about both teams. The Cubs books sat on the shelf. The Cardinals books were checked out. During a recent staff party, Cardinals jerseys overwhelmed Cubs fans.
Librarian Linda Borst, 57, is a Cardinals fan. Her husband roots for the Cubs.
At the new Hy-Vee grocery store in Springfield, an employee asked if Borst and her husband needed help finding anything. When the couple said, "no," the man pointed to her husband's Cubs cap, asking, "How about a new team?"
Children's department supervisor Joyce Evans, 61, is not a big baseball fan and cheers for both teams. The rivalry, she said, is harmless.
"It's just good-natured and fun," Evans said. She said her daughter, Erika, refers to herself as a "Cubinal," because she leans Cubs but also has a soft spot for the Cardinals.
Gary Ori, 68, a member of American Legion Post 759, cheers for the Bears, Blackhawks and Bulls. But for baseball, the retiree has always turned to St. Louis.
"It was the closest ballpark we could go to growing up," said Ori, who listened to the Cardinals on powerful KMOX radio as a child.
"There's more bandwagon Cards fans because they've been winning for so long, and recently," Ori said. "I'd say the Cubs fans are more die-hard. But when the Cubs are doing well, you'll start seeing more Cubs stuff. All of my friends would love to see the Cubs win the World Series, just not by beating the Cardinals."
Across the street from the VFW hall, Frank Wieman, 40, wore his Cubs cap outside his store, Whynot Pizza and Whatnot Collectibles. Inside the store, a Ryne Sandberg jersey hung prominently near vintage baseball cards and video games. A framed "W" flag adorned the wall. Cardinals and Cubs stickers bracketed the store's clock.
"People joke about it being 50-50 here, but it's pretty darn close," said Wieman, a Cubs season ticket holder who grew up in the heart of Cardinals territory in Belleville, Ill., but backs the North Siders because he watched games on WGN television as a kid. He rattled off the loyalties of his bowling team, "Cards, Cards, Cards, Cubs, Cards, Cards ..."
His customers are split as well, and Wieman tries to tolerate the red-capped contingent.
"I put up with it," Wieman said. "They win all the time. I'm sick of it. It's our turn."
poconnell@tribpub.com
