I’ve been hearing some announcers trying to insist that “Pitchers who never hit having to take hacks for the first time in the season” is as big a disadvantage for the AL as the “bench player vs. $10M DH” is for the NL. I have decided I’m tired of this.

I then did 10 minutes of research:

2008 AL pitchers: 146 PA, .149/.189/.165
2008 NL pitchers: 1095 PA, .145/.183/.183
2007 AL pitchers: 322 PA, .147/.178/.182
2007 NL pitchers: 5577 PA, .146/.177/.188
2006 AL pitchers: 317 PA, .125/.152/.176
2006 NL pitchers: 5648 PA, .132/.167/.175

There is no appreciable difference between “pitchers who never hit” vs. “pitchers who hit sometimes.” I will probably go back farther when I get some time. On the other hand:

2008 AL DH: 4104 PA, .249/.337/.420
2008 NL DH: 253 PA, .229/.304/.370
2007 AL DH: 9363 PA, .268/.355/.447
2007 NL DH: 560 PA, .274/.343/.444
2006 AL DH: 9221 PA, .264/.350/.469
2006 NL DH: 540 PA, .243/.311/.364

2007 was kind of a wash (although the AL still won in the important categories even given the much larger sample) but otherwise it’s not even close. The NL is at a much larger statistical disadvantage in interleague play. Sorry guys, I know you don’t want to admit it and would rather continue blatting about the AL being “superior” but it’s basically like a football team celebrating wins while legally playing with 12 guys on the field.