Since the dawn of MLB Interleague play in 1997, the I-70 Series between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals has been one of the more heated Interleague rivalries in baseball.
Part of it is due to the 241-mile distance between Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium and St. Louis’ Busch Stadium. Part of it is due to the history between the two clubs, especially in the postseason. Regardless, when the Cardinals come to town, it tends to be one of the more heavily attended series of the season at the K.
If you ask any Royals fans which team they hate the most, if it isn’t the Yankees, it’s the Cardinals. That only adds more juice to any series at Kauffman series between the Birdos from Eastern Missouri.
Hence, in this article, with the Cardinals coming for a three-game series this weekend (Thursday, Friday, and Sunday), I will highlight five reasons why Royals fans care so much about the I-70 Series, even if the same sentiment is not shared by the “other” baseball team in Missouri.
Cardinals Fans Don’t Look at the Royals as Their True “Rivals”
One of the biggest reasons the I-70 series matters more to Royals faithful than to Cardinals fans is that the Cardinals already have a traditional rival: the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs play in the same division as the Cardinals and hold a 1,293-1,237 advantage over their St. Louis rival. They have also played each other much more in the postseason, with the Cubs holding a 3-1 record in modern postseason history (they beat the Cardinals 3-1 in the 2015 NLDS). When it comes to which shade of blue Cardinals fans dislike, it’s the Cubbie blue, not the Royals blue.
And Cubs fans share similar disdain for the Cardinals, with even the stadium staff partaking in the hate.
Furthermore, the Cardinals and Cubs have much more in common. Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium are in the heart of each team’s respective downtowns (unlike Kauffman, which is on the outskirts). The Cubs have been around for 157 years, while the Cardinals have been around for 144 years. The Royals? They’ve been in Kansas City for 57 years, 100 years less than the Cubs in Chicago.
Because of that, there’s a sense of arrogance among Cardinals fans when it comes to how they view the Royals and their fanbase. They don’t see the Royals as a “rival” baseball club because the Royals are in the American League, and they only see each other six times a year (unlike the Cubs, whom they see 12).
The Cardinals Have An Advantage in Wins (But the Gap is Smaller at the K)
The Cardinals are not just an older organization than the Royals. They also have the advantage in the head-to-head record as well.
St. Louis leads the I-70 Series with an overall record of 86-64. The Cardinals are especially dominant at Busch Stadium against the Royals, as they have a 49-33 record against their Western Missouri neighbor. This season, the Royals lost two of three against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in mid-May, though Kansas City was competitive in each game (the aggregate score of all three games was 9-8 in favor of the Cardinals).
At Kauffman Stadium, the Royals have historically been a much tougher team against their I-70 rival.
In 68 games in Kansas City, the Cardinals lead the series 37-31. That is a .544 winning percentage for the Cardinals compared to a .597 winning percentage at Busch Stadium. However, the Royals haven’t had much success recently at Kauffman against the Cardinals, despite having overall winning records in the past two years.
The Royals have gone 3-4 against the Cardinals at Kauffman in 2024 and 2025, including 1-2 in 2025 (they played only a two-game series at the K in both 2024 and 2025, and split both times).
There Are Cultural Differences Between Kansas City and St. Louis
In addition to the baseball reasons, the rivalry between the cities themselves only amplifies the bad blood among Royals fans in the I-70 Series.
St. Louis is an older city with much more history. St. Louis has been around for 262 years, while Kansas City has only been around for 188 years. Thus, the St. Louis metro seems to have a larger footprint in Missouri than the KC Metro, which has a large footprint in Kansas outside of sports (though that may change with the Chiefs moving to Wyandotte County in Kansas soon).
Furthermore, St. Louis feels more Metropolitan, especially when one is visiting downtown. It’s easier to walk between sites and use public transportation in St. Louis than in Kansas City, though the growth of the Streetcar in KC is helping. Still, while there are great landmarks to visit in Kansas City, the landmarks in St. Louis feel more accessible, especially if one doesn’t have a car.
On the other hand, there is an “elite” attitude of St. Louis denizens that drives Kansas City folks crazy.
While Kansas City folks are excited to show visitors their city, St. Louis natives seem more apt to ask, “What High School Did You Go To?” (It’s a code that can be interpreted in a bunch of ways, both good and bad.) Furthermore, Kansas City takes pride, and rightfully so, in their BBQ culture, while St. Louis lags behind, but thinks it’s on the same level.
And soccer? Each city thinks it’s the soccer capital of the Midwest, and arguably, America. However, based on the World Cup, there is a true winner in that category.
I guess St. Louis holds the advantage in “regional” pizza style (there is no KC-style pizza)? Even then, however, the St. Louis pizza delicacy has its fair share of detractors, especially in Kansas City.
The “Best Fans in Baseball” Moniker
One of the characteristics of Cardinals fans that drives Royals fans insane is their pride in being the “Best Fans in Baseball” (or at least in their own eyes).
Part of that is due to the Cardinals and their strong ties to being “Midwest Nice”. For those unfamiliar, it’s the stereotype that people in the Midwest are “friendlier” than their East and West Coast counterparts. Cardinals fans seem to have embraced that in the baseball sense, and others have taken notice and recognized them, even though the origin of the phrase is up for debate, as discussed in this SB Nation article from 2013.
Here’s a quote of the early “supposed” origins of the title.
Quote
In 1992, Jim Leyland, then the manager of the Pirates, is quoted as saying “I think St. Louis has the best fans in baseball. They appreciate good play, no matter which team makes it. They’ve always seemed to appreciate good effort.” In 1993, Peter Gammons wrote “[Cardinals owner] August A. Busch III is something. He has the best fans in baseball…”
That said, the Cardinals being the “Best Fans in Baseball” irritates Royals fans because they share the same characteristics with Cardinals fans, but get little recognition for it.
Royals fans are known for being friendly and welcoming to other baseball fans. And they do this despite seeing many losses on the field over the years, unlike the Cardinals, who have had a much better record. It’s easy to be gracious when a club wins, but a harder thing to do when one is losing, especially as much as Kansas City in the post-Ewing Kauffman era. (An example of this is Coach K from Duke, who is classy when he wins, but petulant when he loses.)
Lastly, Royals fans don’t have a Twitter account that’s dedicated to retweeting Tweets that contrast the BFIB moniker.
Things changed a bit in the Royals’ favor after the 2015 World Series win. In 2016, Kansas City earned the title of “Most Liked” fans in baseball, and the Cardinals got the “Least Liked” fans title in a poll by USA Today. Ten years later, however, the Royals have faded a bit in the eyes of the national baseball world, with only one playoff appearance since 2015.
The 1985 World Series is Something Royals Fans Can Hold Over Cardinals Fans
The Cardinals have more World Series titles as a franchise, with 11 compared to the Royals’ 2 (though the Royals have a more recent World Series title than the Cardinals; St. Louis’ last World Series title was in 2011).
That said, in the one World Series matchup between the two Missouri teams, the Royals won in seven games. That win was the first title for the Royals in franchise history after they fell short in the 1980 World Series against the Phillies.
Even though it was a joyous moment for Kansas City, the championship is still met with apprehension among angry Cardinals fans, who refer to umpire Don Denkinger’s missed call in Game 6 of the World Series, with the Cardinals leading the series three games to two.
A weak groundball hit by Kansas City’s Jorge Orta to first baseman Jack Clark caused a close play where pitcher Todd Worrell had to cover first base. Worrell covered in time and received the ball from Clark, but Denkinger, the first-base umpire, ruled Orta safe.
If replay had existed, the Royals might not have won that 1985 World Series title. Below is a clip of the infamous call.
Even though the Cardinals have 11 titles, fans will wax poetic about how they were “screwed” over by Denkinger, Major League Baseball, and the Royals. That attitude grinds the gears of Royals fans because it dims the franchise’s one crowning achievement until 2015. Royals fans could say “Hey, we beat you in 1985” to Cardinals fans, and they would always respond with “Yeah, because of Denkinger!”
Thankfully, the 2015 World Series wasn’t nearly as controversial, as the Royals beat the Mets in five games. Furthermore, the Cardinals won titles in 2006 and 2011. Thus, the wounds from that Denkinger incident have healed a bit.
Still, when they want to, Cardinals fans can be salty about 1985. And when they do, it remains as annoying now as it was over 40 years ago.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalskeep.com ’
