Let’s be honest, a 5-1 NL win isn’t all that exciting. Adrian Gonzalez’s early home run off Cliff Lee put the AL on the board, but once Prince Fielder hit his 3-run home run, there was this feeling that the game was over. The NL ran out a terrific pitching staff, and adding 2 more runs to the lead made 4 runs insurmountable. Even when the AL put two men in scoring position in the ninth, it didn’t seem like anyone was really afraid that the AL was going to come back. After the AL won every game (except the tie) from 1997-2009, the NL has now won 2 straight.
The All-Star Game has often seen streakiness from the leagues, and here’s a list of 3+-game winning streaks from each league:
1933-1935: 3 games (AL)
1941-1943: 3 games (AL)
1946-1949: 4 games (AL)
1950-1953: 4 games (NL)
1960-1961: 3 games (NL-2 games in 1960)
1963-1970: 8 games (NL)
1972-1982: 11 games (NL)
1988-1993: 6 games (AL)
1994-1996: 3 games (NL)
1997-2009: 12 games (AL-1 tie in 2002)
It’s always amusing when people overreact to current circumstances. The AL has obviously been the dominant league for the past decade and a half, but it seemed at times that people believed it would continue in perpetuity. But that wasn’t likely to happen. All-Star Games aren’t the perfect representation of the talent between leagues (the AL not having Verlander, Lester, Hernandez, and Sabathia should demonstrate how the All-Star Game doesn’t always involve the best talent from each league), but when you win 5+ in a row, there might be something to it, even if it’s only a piece of the puzzle instead of the main piece. Bringing in talent isn’t an exact science, and it’s likely to fluctuate over the years. Over a certain amount of time, the leagues are likely to bring in differing levels of talent. That talent will, then, lead to a period when the league’s talent is better than the other’s. It’s only natural. It would be shocking if leagues had the same talent.
Of course, 12 straight All-Star Games and a clear domination of Interleague Play during those years indicates a bit more than a fluctuation. The easy answer is the DH, but the DH was around for much of the NL’s domination, too. While we might not be able to figure out exactly what has led to this change in talent (fluctuations aren’t always random, but it may be difficult to find the root causes), better reasons may be bigger payrolls, better front offices, and better player development, but they may not be the only ones. What is important to remember is that competition usually involves a counterpunch, and it was unlikely that the NL wouldn’t swing back.
