Betting Baseball in Interleague Play

Frank Doyle looks back on the history of Interleague play in the Major Leagues as teams get ready to cross the divide tomorrow.

The fundamental truth of interleague play is this: the National League gets caned. Since 1997, the American League leads the interleague series by 154 games, 1827 against 1673. The American League has a winning record for nine of the fourteen years (we are currently tied in 2011 so far) that interleague games have existed, and sometimes by big margins – 56 games in 2006, 46 in 2008.

Of the individual teams themselves, the top seven teams are all American League. The Yankees, Angels and RedSox you’d expect, but the A’s and Mariners are something of a surprise.

As is the best National League team over fourteen years of interleague play. The Cards are second and Braves next but the best interleague record of an National League team is proudly held by the Florida Marlins.

There are only five American League teams below .500 in Interleague play – they are Indians, Blue Jays, Rays, Royals and Orioles. The first three might be value for baseball betting, while it’s reasonable to assume that the Royals and Orioles will continue to take the pipe, just like always.

Only five National League teams have winning records – the Marlins, Cards, Braves, Mets and Giants. The worst record belongs to the Pirates, eight games behind the Padres at the bottom of the table. The Bucs have a tough start at Cleveland but they’re playing better than have done in years and there’s value to be had in following them. Pittsburgh can beat Baltimore at home and will be a value price next week when Boston visits the Steel City.

Interleague Baseball Standings, 1997-2011