Top 5 Rivals

There were a lot of rivalry games in college football last weekend and it made for an entertaining Saturday. To name just a few, there was Ohio State-Michigan, South Carolina-Clemson, USC-UCLA, and Florida-Florida State. 

On top of those football games, Wisconsin hosts Marquette in basketball on Saturday. 

With all of that in mind, we thought it would be a good time to look at the Top 5 Rivals of the Timber Rattlers

5.) The Cedar Rapids Kernels have turned into that team; the team that always seems to find a way to beat your team. The Kernels have won the season series from the Timber Rattlers in three of the last five years and when they win, they win decisively.   Wisconsin is 36-49 against the Kernels since 2009. The worst season for Wisconsin was when the Rattlers went 2-8 against the Kernels in 2013. Things heated up a bit last year with the Minnesota Twins taking over as the parent club for the Kernels. The nearness of the parent clubs adds to the rivalry.

4.) The Kane County Cougars are now an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. That might be all you need to make a rivalry list since the Timber Rattlers are affiliated with the Brewers. Wisconsin won the season series from the Cougars last year with eleven wins in eighteen games. But, games between these teams - regardless of the affiliations - always seem to be close and down to the wire.

3.) The Clinton LumberKings make this list at #3 for a few of different reasons. The first is that Wisconsin has beaten Clinton in the Western Division Finals to advance to the MWL Championship Series in both 2005 and 2012. Last year, Clinton held on to keep the Rattlers out of the 2013 playoffs. Plus, the Seattle Mariners are now the parent club of the LumberKings. They went there after leaving the Timber Rattlers after the 2008 season. There always seems to be a case of "See how well we're doing!" when these teams get together. I remember the first time the Rattlers and LumberKings met in 2009, Clinton showed a lot of emotion and swept the three game series. Game four was rained out and rescheduled for part of a five game series at Grand Chute.   The Rattlers were ready when the teams met again and wound up with a sweep in the five game series. The rivalry has continued to this day.

2.) The Peoria Chiefs have gone from a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate to a Chicago Cubs affiliate and back to a Cardinals affiliate. That should be enough to place high on any list. But, there's more. Yes, the big prospects usually come through in these meetings. But, players like Oliver Zapata and Andy Hargrove seem to come through with the big plays, too. The Chiefs went 11-6 against the Rattlers in 2013 in their first year back with the Cardinals. Be ready for 2014 when Wisconsin and Peoria are scheduled to play seventeen times.

1.) The Beloit Snappers are the Midwest League team that is nearest the Timber Rattlers. They are the only other MWL team in the state of Wisconsin. It's been awhile, but there have been some bench clearing incidents, some arguments between the managers, arguments between players, arguments between players and coaches. A long time ago, the managers refused to give the lineups to the person collecting them before the gates to the stadium opened because they felt they would be giving up an advantage. The teams played a trophy series - The Milk Pail - in 2005. The teams split the season series at eight wins each. When they met in the playoffs that season, Beloit won game one and the Rattlers won game two. Game three was tied at the end of regulation and the Rattlers finally won the game - and the series - on Mike Wilson's home run in the tenth. There was also a bit of a rivalry between the front offices of the Snappers and Rattlers that added to the on-field action. That added an extra dimension to the meetings between the teams to put them at #1 rival.