Cardinals and Cubs Settle for a Draw as Old Rivals Show Their Teeth.

APRIL 1ST Beat Article

Cardinals and Cubs Settle for a Draw as Old Rivals Show Their Teeth Before the Season

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — April 1, 1926

If this was meant to be a quiet finish to spring, someone forgot to tell the Cubs.

The Cardinals and Chicago closed out their final exhibition this afternoon in a 4–4 tie, though the score tells only part of what took place on the field. By the seventh inning, the game had begun to lean away from practice and toward something far more familiar between these two clubs.

Something with a memory.

The Cardinals and Cubs have never needed much of a reason to get after one another, and even in March—especially in March—it does not take long for the edge to show. There is history there, and it does not stay buried simply because the calendar says exhibition.

It showed early.

Chicago struck first with a drive that carried into the outfield grass before the Cardinals had settled into their rhythm. The play itself was nothing unusual, but the tone was set quickly—hard swings, sharp turns, and no easing into the afternoon.

St. Louis answered in the way it prefers.

Jim Bottomley did the damage. The Cardinals’ first baseman drove in a pair with the sort of steady authority that has become expected of him, sending the ball where it needed to go and letting the rest of the lineup follow behind. It was not loud baseball, but it was effective, and it kept the Cardinals squarely in the game.

Chicago did not stay quiet for long.

Hack Wilson, built more like a man meant to carry freight than play the outfield, stepped in and sent one over the wall off Art Reinhart with a swing that left little room for doubt. It was the kind of hit that changes the pace of an afternoon, and for a moment it looked as though the Cubs might carry that momentum with them.

They nearly did.

The innings moved quickly after that, each side trading chances without much separation. The pitching held where it needed to, the infield stayed steady, and the outfield covered ground as expected. It was the sort of game that could have slipped quietly into its final innings without much remark.

But this one had other ideas.

Ray Blades saw to that.

With the Cardinals trailing, Blades drove a ball into the gap and did not stop until he stood at third, the tying run already in motion behind him. It was a clean piece of work—no hesitation, no wasted step—and it brought the Cardinals back even at four apiece.

That should have been the end of the story.

It wasn’t.

By the time the seventh inning settled in, the game had begun to take on a different feel. Words were exchanged, first in passing, then with more purpose. A hard slide drew attention. A throw carried a little extra meaning. Players began to gather a step closer than necessary.

It was no longer just baseball.

Managers on both sides saw it at the same time, which is usually how these things end before they begin. With the score tied and nothing left to prove in the standings, the decision was made to call the game where it stood.

Seven innings.

Four runs apiece.

Better to leave the rest for when it counts.

The Cardinals walked off without much to say, though the look of it told enough. They have seen this club before, and they will see it again soon enough when the games carry weight and the standings keep score of more than pride.

For now, the work is done.

Spring training has a way of ending not with a quiet afternoon, but with a reminder of what lies ahead. The Cardinals will leave Texas knowing a little more about themselves, and perhaps just as much about the club waiting for them on the other side of the schedule.

The Cubs did not need to win today to make their point.

Neither did the Cardinals.

April is coming.

And if this afternoon was any indication, these two clubs will not need much time to pick up where they left off.

Mike Allen

Bird Chatter Post