Monday, June 14, 2010
Interleague play: Round two
Posted by Steve TrederWe've now completed the second full weekend of interleague play for this season. After the initial round, in this space we noted that the National League, which has served as the AL's doormat in interleague competition for the past several years, had surprised with a slight 22-20 superiority.
This time the American League got the advantage back. But they achieved only the same 22-20 margin that the NL had managed earlier, so at this point in 2010 the leagues are all tied up in interleague play, at 42-42.
Ordinarily such an inconclusive result might be considered a non-event. But as we noted last time, given the context of AL-over-NL drubbing that's been the norm since 2005, if the National League is able to reclaim anything resembling parity, it's big news. So far this season, that's what's been happening.
Steve Treder can often be found spending way too much time talking baseball at Baseball Primer. He welcomes your questions and comments via e-mail.
I don’t know if this would hold up to any actual analysis, but my guess is that there is an AL East disparity, with everyone else in baseball being evenly matched. Which would also mean that the AL/NL are fairly evenly matched, since the three you-know-who’s aren’t (quite) so dominant as to tip the balance.