Interleague play is over (NL isn't bad)

by Steve

Baseball's Interleague play has finished outside the All Star Game. A quick look at the numbers and winning percentages and the idiot fan would come away thinking wow the American League is so much better than the National League. Sure the American League had a .544 winning percentage while the National League had a .456 winning percentage (At least according to MLB.com) but aren't the differences between the National League and the American League suppose to give the upper hand to the American League in any given game?

Sure the rules are based on the home team's League, but still, the American League teams are built from the ground up completely different than that of a National League team. In the NL as we know there is no DH, the pitcher has to hit. This fact alone gives the National League almost an automatic out ever 3 innings or so right away. In the American League with a DH, each team knows they need a player, who is probably past his prime and has little range but can still occasionally rake or "knock the fuckin ball outta the ball park" to quote Earl Weaver.

When the National League has to play in an American League barn, the difference is so dramatic it is painfully obvious. The National League doesn't have some old crusty player that can still swing a stick occasionally and drive in runs just sitting on their bench. All the old timers move to the AL where they can sit and enjoy a game and go up and bat once every 2-3 innings. National League teams do not have this extra bonus as American League teams do. You could argue that the NL pitchers are better batters than the AL pitchers when they have to dig in and swing the bat. This is not the case, pitchers bounce from league to league every season, pitchers regardless of the league have probably had at bats in the majors and regardless do not practice hitting. Any way, most pitchers bunt, and either you can bunt or you can't and most can't.

OK, but what are the real statistics then?
Well after painstakingly breaking down each Interleague game, here is what I found. The National League when playing in a National League ball park is 63-64 against American League teams. This is only 1 game under .500 or .496% when compared to the over all winning percentage of the National League at .456%. Obviously much better. Sure when at home you get the last ups in the 9th, but if the American League was such a great league and the NL a complete joke, wouldn't the numbers be consistent irregardless of the location of the game?

Plus the All-Star game is in an NL barn this July, and if NL pulls it out, the season series would then be exactly .500 baseball.