April 18--Sometimes it seems as though the whole world is conspiring against St. Louis.
First the Rams departed for a glitzy new stadium deal in Los Angeles, leaving St. Louis a two-sport town again. Then the Blues were denied a 2-0 lead over the Blackhawks in their playoff series Friday after a couple of controversial video replays went against them in Game 2.
And now the Cubs, the team St. Louis has looked down upon for the better part of a century, are consensus picks to win the National League Central and perhaps even end their World Series drought.
It's enough to make a grown man cry in his overpriced, macro-brewed beer.
As the Cubs come to town Monday for the teams' first meeting since the Cubs knocked the Cardinals out of the postseason, no one appears too worried about the rise of the franchise they've spent a lifetime laughing at.
But that doesn't mean some aren't sick of hearing the Cubs hype.
"Definitely," Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty said. "We just want to go play and let the chips fall where they may. There's no sense in talking or thinking about it. Got to go play. It's pretty simple."
Manager Mike Matheny has been asked about the Cubs since last winter, and frankly is bored of the subject.
"I'm so tired of talking about it, and I imagine maybe they are too," he said. "I know our guys are."
But Matheny admitted the rivalry is a "beautiful thing" and good for the game.
"They have all the excitement about them," he said. "There's some excitement about us around here at least. And now we get to go out and stop all the talk and play a game."
They'll do just that starting Monday night, when former Cardinals pitcher John Lackey faces Mike Leake, a free-agent signee who replaced him in the rotation.
"Just another series," Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant said. "That's how we treat every series, (playing) a nameless, faceless opponent. That's how we always try to approach things and not really worry about who we're playing."
Lackey may get booed but probably not as much as outfielder Jason Heyward, who turned down a more lucrative offer to stay in St. Louis for a six-year, $184 million deal with the Cubs.
