In the 2026 chapter of Major League Baseball's (MLB's) interleague rivalry, National League teams (NL) are schooling American League (AL) teams 261 wins to 225 (53.7%) including the AL's victory in the all-star match. In 2026, the NL is on track to record one of its best-ever interleague seasons.
The AL's collective mark in interleague regular season matches is -37. As a result, only 4 of 15 AL squads has a winning interleague record so far this year -- Cleveland, KC, NY Yankees and Texas. Only 6 of 15 AL sides have overall records above 50%.
Even the once-dominant AL East is eating humble pie this year with a 48% record (76-83) in matches against NL squads -- little better than the other AL divisions.
After 14 consecutive AL triumphs from 2004 through 2017, the NL won the inter-league contest for 5 of 7 seasons starting with 2018 through 2024. The AL got back on top in 2025. The AL owns a slight advantage with a 51% winning record over 30 years since interleague regular season play started in 1997.
The "brain gap" between AL and NL team managements shrank over the years thanks to:
- the brain drain of smarty-pants and smarty-skirt executives who started with AL squads before crossing over to manage NL teams;
- the effects of age on AL owners no longer content to hire the best baseball minds and stay out of the way -- e.g., sad decline of the Red Sox as John Henry ages into his dotage taking the BoSox down with him. Of course, just as I pick on the Red Sox as the poster boy for AL decline, the BoSox tie their franchise record with a 15-game winning streak.
The AL's remaining claim to superiority is winning 11 of the past 13 All-Star contests, 23 of the last 28 to reach a decision and 29 of the past 37.
After decades of AL superiority in the World Series, the NL has won 5 of the last 7 with Los Dodgers winning 3 of the last 5. Over the last 2 decades from 2006-2025, the NL is ahead 12-8. From 1983 through 2005, the AL won 15 of 22 World Series championships.
None of this information is useful for betting purposes. Gambling odds are almost never fair for gamblers. For the vast majority, it's not possible to earn a long-term profit gambling. Online sports betting is the new House of the Rising Sun: "It's been the ruin of many a poor boy. And, God I know that my ex-toy boy is one."
