I grew up supporting the Twins who have an OK team this year but their interleague record is astonishing. Do NL teams do a bunch of other things besides the lineup that are different than AL teams?
2006-07-07 16:10:54 · 9 answers · asked by Simple Man 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
They have had a great year at home but look at their road record. They aren't playing well on the road against any AL teams but head to Milwaukee and look what happens.
2006-07-07 16:17:54 · update #1
Actually, it's the usual suspects, like the White Sox and Tigers, who were doing the beating. The Twins are a very good team that started out slowly. Most of the poor AL teams only have a so-so record against the NL. The really astonishing result has to be the 14-4 showing by the Mariners. But they were starting to play better before the main interleague period began, so it remains to be seen if this is some sort of fluke (and in any event, three of those wins were against the slumping Diamondbacks).
The designated hitter does change the strategy of the game considerably. With the pitcher hitting, you see more sacrifice bunting at the bottom of the order, and pinch hitting becomes more important. You have to have a versatile set of utility players because the new pitcher might get inserted somewhere else in the order. Also, "small ball" is actually National League baseball, and even before the designated hitter it marked the difference between the leagues. The Mariners understand "small ball," no surprise when you have someone like Ichiro leading off.
The mighty Mariners aside, the best teams in the AL do seem to be better than the best teams in the NL. Look at what the Red Sox did to the Mets, Pedro Martinez and all, and what the Chicago Bears - I mean, the White Sox - did to the Cardinals.
2006-07-07 16:54:21 · answer #1 · answered by BroadwayPhil 4 · 1⤊ 4⤋
Actually, the overall interleague record ended up in favor of the NL by 61% - 49%
2006-07-07 23:15:49 · answer #2 · answered by Report Abuse 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the AL has established their success on the designated hitter. And the NL does not have any great pitchers this season to stop the DH.
2006-07-07 23:13:54 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's why they play the games anyone can win. Th AL is having a hot streak this year. The Twins hit their stride as interleague started thanks to Liriano and a few other moves.
2006-07-08 00:30:29 · answer #4 · answered by Tommy D 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Texas Rangers are the worst AL team and sometimes they just get lucky and win a couple.
2006-07-07 23:13:34 · answer #5 · answered by texgirl724 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dont think so
the twins are currently the best playing team in the mlb. look in the paper, in like 3 divisions they would be in first or close to it
its just thet the tigers and the white sox are doing so well
2006-07-07 23:15:11 · answer #6 · answered by imnottellingu 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, all the nl teams suck. face it. that's the way it is. get used to it. it's like life, it will always suck, unless you're rich. sorry.
2006-07-07 23:18:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Baseball is a crazy game dont try and figure it out
2006-07-07 23:13:29 · answer #8 · answered by j r 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
al is better....just like the afc is better than the nfc in the nfl..
2006-07-07 23:27:07 · answer #9 · answered by KT 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋