Cubs/Cardinals Rivalry Museum Exhibit

My husband and I are museum people.  We both love history.  Springfield, Illinois, is the home to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.  We had talked about going for years, but had never made it.  It is less than 2 hours from our house, so we finally decided to make a day trip.
The big motivation to finally go now?  Because Springfield is on the Cubs/Cardinals state dividing line, the museum worked with both teams to put together an exhibit on the rivalry.  There was Cubs and Cardinals memorabilia on display as well as a timeline of important events in the rivalry.
Overall, the exhibit was rather small.  Most people would probably spend about 20 minutes inside.  We are not most people, however, so it took us an hour.  Of course, I read absolutely everything, and most people don't do that.
I enjoyed seeing the memorabilia.  There were some classic pieces, but one of my favorites was the W flag that flew over Wrigley when the Cubs won the pennant this past year.

There were four different trivia stations set up throughout.  You could choose Cubs or Cards, and each correct answer won points for your team.  (The Cubs were winning.)  I though the questions were easy, but the casual fan may have had some trouble.  Throughout the exhibit, there was also music playing, interspersed with radio clips from important games.  It was mostly a mixture of Cubs songs (with Cubs radio clips) and general baseball songs (with Cards radio clips).  During the hour, I think there were 2 Cardinals songs played, and they were both bad.  (Yes, over the course of the hour, we got back to the beginning of the playlist.)  There is a reason that most of the music was Cubs songs, of course.  The Cardinals just don't have music.

I did have a few issues.  Some of the set-up was a bit confusing, and important moments from each team's history (particularly the Cubs, although I didn't know as much Cardinals history).  Plus, there were confusing moments.  For example, the exhibit talked about the fact that there have been four pitchers to get 20 strikeouts in one game.  It mentioned Max Scherzer (who is from the St. Louis area, but has played for neither the Cardinals nor Cubs), but it did not mention Kerry Wood.  Now, the exhibit did talk about Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout game later, but it was off that it did not mention it there.  In general, some of the arranging of the exhibit and facts they chose to mention (or leave out) was a bit confusing.  It was not the best exhibit I have ever been to, and I expected more, especially since the rest of the museum was so well done.

With that being said, if you can get to Springfield to see it, I suggest you do.  It is open until the end of the year.  You can find out more information here.

Oh, and Lincoln would have been a Cubs fan if he hadn't been assassinated five years before the team formed.  I am sure of it.