The American League blows away National League

Mercifully, the blood-letting has stopped, the National League can retreat back to its quaint little grouping and compete amongst itself with the knowledge that one team will emerge and be a World Series representative. Thank goodness baseball has history or like in the other major sports, fans would be clamoring to redo the playoff system based on what has again taken place.

With the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh having to make up one contest, the results won’t change much with the American League leading149-102, 59.3 percent. In the past, I’ve read and talked to handicappers who hate interleague play, since it throws off the normal flow or rhythm of teams. They are correct in one manner, while lacking intelligence at the same time. Play the American League and everything is just fine. To date, betting AL teams exclusively in 2008, netted +34.8 units of profit.

How dominant was the AL’s performance? Only Toronto (8-10), Cleveland (6-12) and Seattle (9-9) did not finish over .500 against National League counterparts. Compare that with just three clubs from the senior circuit had winning records. The N.Y. Mets and Cincinnati were 9-6 and Atlanta was 8-7, that’s it.

A trio of AL Central teams was really able to bolster their positions, whipping the NL. Minnesota was baseball best 14-4 (+12.3 units) in interleague play and has moved to within three games of first place Chicago White Sox, thanks to kicking National League tail. Detroit has been among the biggest disappointments in baseball, yet used a 13-5 record to crawl into third place in division and is now over .500 for the first time this season. Kansas City is 24-40 (-10.9 units) against teams in the American League; however with 13-5 (+9.3 units) mark versus NL, hopes for a .500 season are still within reach.

Why does the American League continue to dominate? The easy answer is better teams. This is shown in runs scored/runs allowed category. Only four teams in the AL have a negative number among the 14 clubs, with the NL Central having four all by themselves among the grand total of 10. Only four teams in the older league are five games or better over .500 in the standings, compared to seven on the junior circuit.

Though many of these numbers are not decisive, it speaks to the difference in the two leagues. From hitting perspective, the American League averages more runs, hits, doubles, total bases and runs batted in. They have a higher on-base percentage, batting average and slugging percentage than the NL. The only category that matters in which the National’s lead is home runs.

Pitching numbers are much the same. The AL has lower ERA, allows fewer hits per innings pitched, walks fewer batters and has lower batting averages against hitters. The only element the National League pitchers do better is having more strikeouts. The American League even has a slight edge in fielding. This year’s dominance was only surpassed by the AL’s wipeout of 2006.

I’d mentioned last week about playing against teams in last game of road trip (five or more played) and though it took a hit with rare nine games on Sunday (3-6), this angle still bares watching in the second half of the season at 94-59, 61.4 percent, good for +27. 8 units.