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AL again won 137 to 114. Since 2005 the AL has dominated, and I still believe the difference in the two leagues is drastic and understated.

 

Wins by League:

YEAR AL NL

1997 97 117

1998 114 110

1999 116 135

2000 136 115

2001 132 120

2002 123 129

2003 115 137

2004 126 125

2005 136 116

2006 154 98

2007 137 115

2008 149 103

2009 137 114

Totals 1,673 1,534

 

Got this Question submitted to Rob Neyer today....

Dan (Chicago)

 

Interleague Record has the AL 137-114. Thats a .546 winning percentage....to put that in perspective the rays have a .551 % while the Orioles have a .447, So am I wrong to assume that the difference between the AL and the NL is similar to the difference between the Rays and Orioles...in other words...still a huge difference

Rob Neyer

 

Yeah, that's right. Jayson Stark had all the gory details yesterday. Sure, we maybe can attribute some of that edge to the DH ... but just a tiny some. Mostly the AL's just better, perhaps because the Red Sox and the Yankees drag everyone else up.

 

and here is part of stark's article

(full article here... http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...e=stark_jayson)

 

In case you somehow missed this, the American League whupped the National League's tails in interleague play -- again. Let's break it down:

 

• With one interleague game left (a makeup of a Cubs-White Sox rainout), the AL is 137-114 this year. And that makes FIVE STRAIGHT YEARS in which the AL has been more than 20 games over .500 in interleague play. Sense a trend there anywhere?

 

• The AL is an incredible 77 games over .500 over those five seasons (713-536). That .571 winning percentage would compute to a 93-win season over 162 games -- for the entire league.

 

• Not one AL division had a losing record against the NL -- for the FOURTH straight season. The AL East went 52-38. The AL Central went 46-43. And the AL West went 39-35. The last time any AL division had a losing record in interleague play was 2005, when the AL East went 42-48. But you can chalk that one up to Tampa Bay going 3-15.

 

• Meanwhile, the only NL division that even went .500 in interleague play this year was the NL West (39-39). The East was 35-49. The Central was 38-42.

 

• Finally, in head-to-head games, the NL East got squashed by the AL East 49-35. The only NL East team that had a winning record against AL East teams was Florida (10-8). And the Phillies and Mets went a combined 11-22. That, of course, is a gruesome .333 winning percentage. They're 65-49 against NL teams. That's a .570 winnin

 

 

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I believe now and I have always believed that the NL is weaker strictly because they have no DH. Their pitchers grow accustomed to facing 8 batters and one practically automatic out in the 9 hole. Even if you are Cy Young of the universe, if you consistently face weaker competition (as you would against 8 batters and an auto out), then you natural digress a bit.

 

Just like if you throw Johan Santana, CC Sabathia, and Tim Lincecum in AAA for years, then bring them back up to the majors, they will likely not be as good as they once were because they became comfortable playing against weaker competition.

Edited by Markbilliards
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