American League Teams Ready to Continue Interleague Play Dominance

The first round of interleague play for 2012 in major league baseball begins today with 14 contests.

Teams like the Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox are chomping at the bit for this part of their schedule because of past success in games against the National League foes. Each of these five teams are playing .600 or better baseball over the past five seasons in games against N.L. rivals.

For example, the Angels, who are laboring at seven games behind Texas in the A.L. West, have won 62 and lost only 28 in their 90 interleague games since 2007, a winning percentage of .689. They open interleague play against San Diego, which happens to have the worst record in the N.L. at 14-24. The Padres also have the second-worst interleague record in the last five seasons at 29-49.

Following is a look at the interleague records of each team in the past five years (2007-11).

Team, Interleague W-L, Pct.

American League

Los Angeles Angels 62-28 .689

Boston 57-33 .633

Detroit 55-35 .611

Chicago White Sox 54-36 .600

New York Yankees 54-36 .600

Minnesota 53-37 .589

Texas 53-37 .589

Tampa Bay 51-39 .567

Seattle 47-43 .522

Kansas City 44-46 .489

Baltimore 42-48 .467

Oakland 41-49 .456

Toronto 40-50 .444

Cleveland 36-54 .400

National League

Colorado 45-33 .577

New York Mets 44-37 .543

St. Louis 39-36 .520

Atlanta 38-37 .507

San Francisco 37-41 .474

Milwaukee 35-40 .467

Miami 39-45 .464

Philadelphia 37-44 .457

Arizona 35-43 .449

Cincinnati 36-45 .444

Chicago Cubs 33-42 .440

Washington 37-50 .425

Pittsburgh 29-46 .387 .387

Los Angeles Dodgers 29-49 .372

San Diego 29-49 .372

Houston 29-52 .358

The 40 playoff teams in the past five seasons compiled a 376-296 record (.560 winning percentage) in interleague play in those seasons that they played in the postseason.

The 10 World Series teams were 92-78 (.538) in interleague play in the years they went to the World Series. The last five World Champs were 41-40 in interleague play in the seasons they won the title.

Did you know? The Yankees have had a winning record in interleague play in 12 straight seasons, the longest current streak in the majors. The Red Sox have played better than .500 in interleague play in six straight seasons, second in that category. The Cubs, Astros and Blue Jays have each played under .500 in interleague play in four straight seasons, longest current streaks in that category.

Look for the trend of AL dominance to continue during this year's interleague play.

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