The National League is a Joke
The White Sox have defeated the Saint Louis Cardinals by score of 20-6 and 13-5 over the last two days. This follows a sweep of the Cincinatti Reds over the weekend. The Sox have now scored eight runs or more in six straight contests, with five of those games coming against the senior circuit. Last night, the AL Central was 5-0 against the NL Central, and the historically bad Royals are on a winning streak. I can only conclude that the National League is a joke.
What does this mean? It means that historical records should be taken with a grain of salt. The NL has lost the last nine All-Star Games and seven of the last 10 World Series. During that period of time, we have seen Barry Bonds, Mark MacGwire, and Sammy Sosa have historically great hitting seasons. This season, Albert Pujols was one pace to challenge Bonds's single season homerun record before being injured. What do the four sluggers have in common? They all have had their best seasons in the National League. It is no coincidence that MacGwire never came close to 70 homeruns in Oakland even though he admitted to juicing when he was there. He could not hit that many homeruns because American League pitching is just that much better than National League pitching.
There are a couple of different theories that I have for the difference in quality between the two leagues. One is the DH. National League teams rarely have a quality eighth place hitter because they know that he is usually going to be pitched around to get to the pitcher. This puts them at a disadvantage when playing against American League teams. Without the pitcher's spot coming up at the bottom of the order, AL teams are much less likely to have unproductive bats in their lineup. Last night's game was a prime example of this. The Sox scored 11 runs in the third inning. Their rally began with doubles by Joe Crede and Brian Anderson, the eight and ninth place hitters, respectively. In a National League game, the Cardinals' pitcher, Mark Mulder, likely would have been facing a .220 hitting catcher and a pitcher to lead off that inning. This would have enabled him to grab two quick outs, and the rally probably would not have happened.
Another difference between the two leagues relates to the first difference. American League teams are forced into having deeper bullpens than their NL counterparts. National League clubs can hide a bad pitcher by having him face the bottom third of the order most of the time. If an American League club were to try this, the bad pitcher would be exposed because the bottom third of an American League lineup can hit. Once again, this is due to the presence of the designated hitter rule in the AL.
However, I think the biggest difference between the two leagues is the presence of the New York Yankees. When one team in your league spends 200 million dollars on their payroll, it forces the rest of the league to find creative ways to compete. National Leagues do not have as much pressure to improve their ball clubs from year to year because there is no team in that league with pockets as deep as the Yankees. In 2005, the White Sox did not take chances on risky pitchers like Jose Contreras and Orlando Hernandez because they liked taking risks. They took chances on those guys because they had to be bold in order to compete. National League teams do not face that pressure within their league.
What does this mean? It means that historical records should be taken with a grain of salt. The NL has lost the last nine All-Star Games and seven of the last 10 World Series. During that period of time, we have seen Barry Bonds, Mark MacGwire, and Sammy Sosa have historically great hitting seasons. This season, Albert Pujols was one pace to challenge Bonds's single season homerun record before being injured. What do the four sluggers have in common? They all have had their best seasons in the National League. It is no coincidence that MacGwire never came close to 70 homeruns in Oakland even though he admitted to juicing when he was there. He could not hit that many homeruns because American League pitching is just that much better than National League pitching.
There are a couple of different theories that I have for the difference in quality between the two leagues. One is the DH. National League teams rarely have a quality eighth place hitter because they know that he is usually going to be pitched around to get to the pitcher. This puts them at a disadvantage when playing against American League teams. Without the pitcher's spot coming up at the bottom of the order, AL teams are much less likely to have unproductive bats in their lineup. Last night's game was a prime example of this. The Sox scored 11 runs in the third inning. Their rally began with doubles by Joe Crede and Brian Anderson, the eight and ninth place hitters, respectively. In a National League game, the Cardinals' pitcher, Mark Mulder, likely would have been facing a .220 hitting catcher and a pitcher to lead off that inning. This would have enabled him to grab two quick outs, and the rally probably would not have happened.
Another difference between the two leagues relates to the first difference. American League teams are forced into having deeper bullpens than their NL counterparts. National League clubs can hide a bad pitcher by having him face the bottom third of the order most of the time. If an American League club were to try this, the bad pitcher would be exposed because the bottom third of an American League lineup can hit. Once again, this is due to the presence of the designated hitter rule in the AL.
However, I think the biggest difference between the two leagues is the presence of the New York Yankees. When one team in your league spends 200 million dollars on their payroll, it forces the rest of the league to find creative ways to compete. National Leagues do not have as much pressure to improve their ball clubs from year to year because there is no team in that league with pockets as deep as the Yankees. In 2005, the White Sox did not take chances on risky pitchers like Jose Contreras and Orlando Hernandez because they liked taking risks. They took chances on those guys because they had to be bold in order to compete. National League teams do not face that pressure within their league.
posted by Pat at 12:13 AM
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