Sam Donnellon: American League dominates interleague play, but not in October

0 Comments | Philadelphia Daily News, June, 2009

AFTER LAST NIGHT'S victory over the Rays, the world champion Phillies are 4-9 in interleague play this season, all against the American League East. Before then, only the San Diego Padres had won less against the AL, although three other teams, in both leagues, had won as few games.

Two of those teams play in the National League, which makes the following all the more remarkable: Before last night and with a week to play in this annual baseball oddity, the American League held only an 89-80 margin over the National League.

Last season the AL finished with a 149-103 record before its representative, Tampa Bay, lost the World Series to the Phillies in five games. The margin was tighter the season before, 137-115, but the Red Sox swept the NL's Rockies in four games. In...