NL vs. AL: Interleague Play, World Series, and All-Star Games

by user Roblefko

Since the start of interleague play, NL teams have a slight, but stastically insignificant edge on their AL counterparts. But when it comes to All-Star Games and the World Series, the AL is dominant. What gives?

Here's a possible explanation. A.L. Teams that made the World Series have had a .621 winning percentage in interleague play (see below chart), while the N.L. Teams have not fared as well.

Note: I don't know what else to make of the below chart, but if you notice any trends, let me know.

Interleague Record for World Series Teams

Date

Fri 05/19/06, 8:16 am EST

Awrigh01All-Star

1290 days ago

Score -1

interesting. I wonder why the World Series is so heavily weighted towards the AL, any thuoghts?

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DNLLegend

1290 days ago

Score 0

I think the NL has less of a gap between team talent, and has for a while. What you're seeing is more dominant teams coming out of the AL than the NL, though.

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DNLLegend

1290 days ago

Score 1

The second chart is interesting. Four sub-.500 interleague teams made the WS. Two were swept (Padres 1998 and Astros 2005). One lost in seven. Only one was victorious, and that can be attributed to a great one-two punch out of the rotation.

The only dominant interleague-play team to lose a WS is the 2004 Cardinals, and while I'm not ready to claim magic was in the air, I don't have much of a problem writing that series off. <P> Interesting, yes; probative, probably not.

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ASwaffAll-American

1290 days ago

Score 4

I think the AL just has more talent than the NL. I think that you have two ENORMOUS ball clubs in the AL in the Yankees and Red Sox. You don't see clubs like that in the NL, except for MAYBE the Cardinals. Those two dominant teams forced the rest of the AL to shell out to acquire talent to compete. So, I think the talent level is just a lot higher. That's why the AL doesn't just dominate the World Series, but also the All-Star Game. The reason the NL has been winning interleague play probably has something to do with favorable matchups, NL teams getting to play teams that they know how to beat.

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RoblefkoLegend

1290 days ago

Score 1

Just noticed that 2 of the 3 years that the NL has won the WOrld Series, they were pushed to the 7th game, while the AL teams have won them rather quickly.

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ChachiOSUDraft Pick

1290 days ago

Score 1

This may be a bit of a reach, but perhaps it has to do with the DH. How many guys, say Giambi or Ortiz for example, would rather play in the AL where they can hide their defensive deficiencies and save themselves some embarrasment by DH-ing. I think this can give the AL a talent edge when it comes to the All-Star Game and leads to home field advantage in the World Series.

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ASwaffAll-American

1290 days ago

Score 3

Chachi, I think you touched on something else that's really important in the DH, but for a different reason than I would say. The AL has such a big advantage at home because they have a guy that's supposed to be a solid bat in the middle of their lineup in the DH, while the NL has to put somebody in that is probably a super utility player that they use for the double switches that they need. The DH for the AL usually goes somewhere between the 1st and 5th spots in the lineup, while the replacement for the NL usually goes in between the 6th and 9th spots. That's a really big difference.

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ChachiOSUDraft Pick

1290 days ago

Score 1

I agree and think that those extra bats account for the talent edge in the All-Star Game. A guy with poor defense, but a monster bat will almost always opt for the AL when becoming a free agent because they can DH. You add that with the fact that much more money is being thrown around the AL and I think we can start to see where the edge is coming from.

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