Why the American League Dominates the National League in Inter-league Play

The American League went 154-98 (.611) against the National League in 2006, continuing the same trend that has been prevelant since inter-league play started. Why does the AL dominate the NL? The answer is simple - the designated hitter.

Every American League team pays extra for a professional hitter to be on their team for DH duties. They do this because if they try and be cheap, and use a utility player at DH, they will be completely dominated by their AL rivals. The NL teams get away with paying one player on their teams less, a utility player, because they don't have the DH. So when the AL plays the NL, the AL already has one leg up on the NL.

When NL teams go into AL parks and can use the DH, they end up playing a utility player. For the Mets, it means someone like Chris Woodward gets everyday playing time. Woodward is a nice utility player, but he's not an everyday player. He barely gets on base 30% of the time and slugs below .400. When the Mets get matched up against the Red Sox, David Ortiz is the DH for the Sox. Ortiz gets on base about 20% more than Woodward (.305 vs .367), and slugs close to 150 pts higher (.390 vs .534). That is a huge advantage for the Red Sox. While the Mets might be able to overcome that in a short series, taken as a whole, in over 200 inter-league games, the stats are just going to overwhelm the NL teams every time.

When AL teams go into NL parks they cannot use the DH, but still have a big advantage. Why? Because the AL teams have a professional hitter sitting on the bench. That gives AL managers a huge advantage over their NL rivals. The AL manager can match-up his hitters better, and he has far better pinch-hitting options than his NL rival does. This year the White Sox had Jim Thome sitting on their bench in most NL parks. Who would you rather have on your bench for pinch-hitting, Jim Thome or Chris Woodward? (Thome pinch-hit two HR's in the last week of inter-league play alone in 2006, one of which tied a game.) Once again, advantage to the AL teams.

What can the National League do to even the odds? They could all carry an extra professional hitter on their rosters, but that makes little sense financially. What the NL teams could do is to option out or DL the 25th player on their rosters, pitcher or utility player, and bring up the best hitter they have at AAA, and let him handle the DH and pinch-hitting duties during inter-league play. The best hitter at AAA will still be behind Big Papi or Thome in prodution, but will likely be a better hitter than Chris Woodward, and will help to narrow the gap.

By having one extra professional hitter on their rosters, the American League teams gain a huge statistical advantage over their National League rivals. A statistical advantage that becomes more and more obvious the more the teams compete against each other. As long as the American League teams have a professional hitter on their rosters to DH and pinch-hit, while the National League teams do not, the American League will continue to dominate their National League rivals in inter-league play.