'The Dark Knight' vs. 'The Dark Knight Rises': NL Wild Card Tale of the Tape

The Pirates will host the Cubs for the NL Wild Card Game presented by Budweiser tonight at 8 p.m. ET. A trip to play the Cardinals in the NLDS is on the line.

Andrew McCutchen and Co. are hosting the Wild Card Game at PNC Park because they had the better regular-season record, but the Cubbies won the season series 11-8. Considering these two teams know each other so well, it's reasonable to assume that the only way to reasonably predict which will win Wednesday's game is to weigh the cultural benefits of each home city.

Who ya got?

Bill Murray vs. Michael Keaton

In the early 1990s, the Pirates and Michael Keaton were on top of the world. Keaton was playing Batman and Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Co. led the Buccos to three straight NLCS appearances. A quarter-century later and both have returned to prominence as the Pirates are playing in their third consecutive postseason and Keaton is coming off the critical success of 2015 Best Picture, "Birdman."

But, on the other side of this matchup, we've got diehard Cubs fan Bill Murray, a cultural pillar whose comedy has aged like a fine wine, allowing his iconic stature to transcend generations. "Caddyshack," "Ghostbusters," crashing kickball games in Brooklyn, "Lost in Translation," playing a summer of professional baseball, "Kingpin," "Groundhog Day," sliding into home at Wrigley Field ...

The list goes on (and on and on and on). There are no words that could properly contextualize Murray's impact on American entertainment, but we can think of two that will suffice for this particular scenario: Go Cubs!

Pearl Jam vs. Poison

Pearl Jam was formed in Seattle, but lead singer Eddie Vedder hails from Evanston, Ill., which makes him a Cubbies fan. The band has even played Wrigley Field and sang with late Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks.

That, plus their five studio albums that reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts towers over Poison, Pittsburgh native Bret Michaels and his VH1 reality show. 

Every rose does have it's thorn, and for the Pirates, that thorn is Pearl Jam. Go Cubs!

Yinzer sammies vs. deep dish pizza

Deep-dish pizza is not really pizza. It's something different entirely. And while that "something different" is incredibly delicious, it's difficult to argue with the simplicity of "put fries on a sandwich."

That philosophy also works with slaw and fried eggs. Basically, we should all be putting more stuff on our sammies. Go Pirates!

"The Dark Knight" vs. "The Dark Knight Rises"

Gotham is New York's nickname, but Chicago and Pittsburgh each served as the setting for films in Christopher Nolan's epic Batman trilogy. Chicago was the backdrop for "The Dark Knight," which set all sorts of box office records when it was released in 2008. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his turn as The Joker. 

Tom Hardy's Bane laid waste to Pittsburgh's Heinz Field in the final chapter of Nolan's story, "The Dark Knight Rises." While the film was a critical and commercial success, it is its predecessor that remains as the iconic third of the trilogy. Go Cubs!

Anish Kapoor vs. Andy Warhol

You walk up to Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" and take a beautiful-but-obligatory photograph of your reflection in the sculpture and send it out on the line, but no one is going to print that picture out and hang it in their dorm room, and the Rolling Stones certainly aren't going to put it on the cover of their next album. 

The Andy Warhol Museum is all of three blocks from PNC Park and houses the largest collection of works from the controversially brilliant pop artist who was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Go Pirates!

An Actual Bear Cub vs. An Actual Pirate

A full-sized bear might be considered dangerous and ferocious, but a little baby bear cub is more likely to strike you as adorable than actually strike you. But a full-grown pirate? The wily, pillaging, swashbuckling criminal element of the high seas known for commandeering ships and plundering unsuspecting vessels? They've got the will and motive for a certain level of villainous behavior.

Unless cuddles can be weaponized, the marauder takes the cake, here. Go Pirates!

This exercise ends tied 3-3, so it looks like the Pirates and Cubs will need to settle the debate with nine innings of actual baseball. The NL Wild Card Game presented by Budweiser will air live on TBS at 8 p.m. ET tonight.