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The Cardinals' acquisition of Mark McGwire has catalyzed yet another round of chatter about the differences between"American League baseball" and "National League baseball".
Experts in and out of baseball have suggested that McGwire, in order to realize his full potential, will have to familiarize himself with National League pitchers, National League strike zones, and National League ballparks.
In addition, as this is written (8.1.97), the struggling Cardinals have six games remaining versus American League Central teams.
Tony La Russa's struggling squad travels to Kansas City and tangles with the Royals on August 29, 30, and 31, and plays host to the Chicago White Sox on the first three days of September.
So knowledgable Cardinals' fans join McGwire in his desire to learn as much as possible about the way that National League baseball differs from American League baseball.
Let's start with hard data (courtesy of STATS, Inc.) that enable some statistical comparisons between the National and American Leagues.
During the entire 1996 season--
*Each NL team threw 1,300 fewer pitches than each AL team.
*Each NL plate appearance consisted of 0.1 fewer pitches than each AL plate appearance.
*The ratio of ground outs to fly outs in the NL was 1.39; in the AL that ratio was 1.22.
Restating, those comparisons mean that NL pitchers throw fewer pitches, throw fewer pitches per batter, and induce more ground balls than their AL counterparts.
It is unlikely that the DH alone accounts for the observed differences.
As shown below, those three comparisons have held for the entire decade of the '90s (and sharp eyes will note that the #P/PA ratios have increased throughout the decade).
year league #P/team #P/PA G/F 1996 American 24,338 3.85 1.22 1996 National 23,035 3.75 1.39 1995 American 21,170* 3.81 1.27 1995 National 20,340* 3.73 1.38 1994 American 16,812* 3.82 1.27 1994 National 16,143* 3.72 1.40 1993 American 23,078 3.85 1.25 1993 National 22,254 3.75 1.35 1992 American 22,687 3.71 1.22 1992 National 21,963 3.65 1.34 1991 American 22,907 3.73 1.27 1991 National 22,137 3.68 1.33 1990 American 22,361 3.68 1.27 1990 National 21,955 3.63 1.29 *: lower pitch totals due to strike-shortened season
But the beauty of baseball is that the purity and objectivity of its impersonal and objective statistics are often fleshed out by keen (but subjective) observations of those who play, watch, and/or describe the sport.
So opinions about these matters were solicited from three individuals familiar with both leagues, and familiar to St. Louis-area baseball fans.
Batting first: FOX and Cardinals broadcaster Joe Buck
In his work with FOX, Joe Buck covers games played in both leagues, and interviews players, coaches, and managers from both leagues.
When asked in early June about differences between the leagues, Buck was as descriptive as you might expect someone who makes his living talking about baseball.
"Baseball [in the two leagues] is two different games, played with two different sets of rules," Buck said with an infectious smile.
"The DH. It makes such a difference. It's phenomenal.
"And the American League has these little tiny ballparks. It's like home run derby over there."
The conversation then shifted to the subject of the strike zones in the two leagues.
"If you think strike zones are tight [in the National League]...well, in the American League, [umpires] won't call big name hitters out on called third strikes," Buck opined. "The umpires in the American League are more inconsistent. They are unwilling to call your Griffeys and your McGwires out on third strikes. It's a different game."
Batting second: Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan
Prior to the 1996 season, Dave Duncan had spent his entire major league playing and coaching career in the American League.
Pitching coach Duncan, whose ten year major-league career as a catcher began in 1967 with the Kansas City Royals, knows something about hitting, too.
Beginning in 1970, Duncan strung together six successive seasons in which he reached double figures in home runs...a remarkable feat for a big-league catcher.
But if you really want to learn about hitting, hitters, and strike zones, ask a pitching coach like Dave Duncan, who earns his keep by carefully watching his own pitchers as well as the hundreds of hitters that those pitchers attempt to retire.
And when asking Dave Duncan about pitching and hitting, be ready to listen. Using what sounds like an instructor's voice, the man's not shy when it comes to baseball talk that's straightforward and based on sound principles.
"The hitting philosophy, overall, in the American League, is totally different from the hitting philosophy in the National League," Duncan explained.
"I try to lock into, as best I can, to the hitting instructor on the opposing teams...and sometimes [hitting instructors] have a strong effect on their hitters overall...and sometimes they don't."
"But whenever they do...sometimes it can benefit you if you understand what they're trying to do. In the American League it's a lot easier to do than in the National League because it's more consistent."
Duncan continued: "In the American League, what you find is that you have [hitting instructors] preaching the count--'work the count...work the count...get the count in your favor'.
"In the American League you have more guys...it appears to me that there are a lot more HRs in the American League.
"There just seems to be more guys hitting home runs in the American League, overall. I mean, everybody that walks to the plate seems to be capable of hitting home runs.
"[That is] for a couple of reasons. There are more legitimate home run hitters in that league but there are also more parks conducive to hitting home runs in that league than in the National League.
"If you're that type of a hitter you want the count in your favor as much of the time that you can get it in your favor...you want to hit with the count in your favor.
"That's because most power hitters are guess hitters...they're anticipating what they're going to get in a given situation.
"And most [power hitters] want to hit a fastball...most of them do. So you try to work the count to where the pitcher is narrowed down to one or two pitches and usually the high percentage of the time they're going to get a fastball...whenever you can work the count in your favor."
Duncan was then asked which league's hitters hit into more fly ball outs, as opposed to ground ball outs.
"I would think that there would be more fly balls in the American League," said Duncan.
When informed of the raw data, Duncan grinned.
"You've got more guys trying to hit home runs [in the American League]," Duncan explained. "You've got a smaller strike zone [in the American League]. You've got a strike zone in which very few umpires call a ball at the knees, [which means that] the ball is elevated in the strike zone a higher percentage of the time. Any time you work those counts the ball is going to come to the middle portion of the strike zone more often. No matter what the pitch is, the ball is going to be elevated."
The subject then changed to the increased number of pitches per plate appearance in the American League, as opposed to the National League.
"If you're in the National League, the umpires want to call strikes. They want to get the game rolling...so if there's a borderline pitch thrown on the first pitch, it's going to be called a strike in the National League.
"If there's a borderline pitch thrown in the American League, first pitch, it's going to be called a ball. So, in the National League, what does that do if you're a hitter? It makes you swing, because you don't want to fall behind in the count.
"So you go up [to hit] with a more aggressive approach to hitting. You're going to swing the bat. You don't want the umpire calling strikes and getting you behind in the count. You've got to go up ready to swing.
"It makes for a better game."
And finally, Duncan offered some general talk about the overall perception of the relative quality of pitching in the two leagues.
"But it's like when they talk about how poor, how bad, the pitching is in the American League. It's not as bad...the intangibles are different. You're talking about the ballparks being different...the strike zones are different...the attitude of how the games are played is different.
"There are a lot of American League pitchers that would come to the National League and be outstanding pitchers, that are just average pitchers over there.
"And there are some National League pitchers, that, if they went to the American League, couldn't get people out. And they're very good pitchers in the National League."
Batting third: Cardinals manager Tony La Russa
In the wake of the Cardinals' acquisition of Mark McGwire, Cardinals executives and broadcasters are encouraging fans to come to Busch Stadium early to watch McGwire take batting practice.
Another good reason to get to the ballpark early is to observe Tony La Russa as he watches that day's opposing hitters take their pre-game swings.
Why? Probably because La Russa is known as a manager who is consumed by his desire to gain even the slightest edge on that day's opposition.
For example, La Russa has said that, by observing batting practice, he can get an idea as to a given hitter's ability to drive the ball to the opposite field.
But La Russa is not prone to sharing those sorts of details with too many people--that would be giving up the very edge that he and his coaches work so hard to attain.
So, not surprisingly, when asked about his opinions concerning the two leagues, and how those opinions might shape his strategy in interleague games played in American League ballparks (with AL umpires and AL rules), La Russa's responses were brief.
On differences in NL and AL umpiring: "I'm not going to say anything at all about umpires and umpiring."
On the AL's high-powered offenses and hitter-friendly ballparks: "There are more 10-9 games in the American League than there are 1-0 games."
On the AL's higher pitch per plate appearance data:"Right. I think you just watch games. It's what you're observing."
When asked whether the AL was more of a fly-ball league, La Russa perked up a bit.
"Well, I'm not sure that's true. They hit more home runs in that league, [but AL pitchers] try to throw more sinkers which sometimes leads to more ground balls. So I don't think anything would surprise me there."
Finally, when asked about how his knowledge of American League baseball, and its differences from the baseball played in the National League, in terms of how the differences might shape his strategy in games that the Cardinals play using AL rules: "I don't know what there is to talk about. I think it's...it depends on who you're playing, how you're playing, how they're playing, who's pitching. You add an extra pitcher, and see who comes out of their lineup when they play in the National League."
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