Thursday, June 16, 2005

Long division

Who is the best team in baseball? The standings would suggest the White Sox, who are 43-22 and winning at an MLB-bests .662 clip. But for what it’s worth, there are only two teams in the majors that have posted winning records against each division in their league – the Orioles and the Padres. (No team has posted a winning mark against every division plus interleague rivals.)

The White Sox are 20-5 against the AL Central this season, and 15-13 against everyone else in the AL. The Angels are 11-6 vs. the AL West and 19-17 elsewhere. The O’s are 18-8 in the AL East and 15-12 outside of the division.

In the NL, the Nationals are 16-13 in the East and 14-11 outside of it. The Cardinals, who have the major’s second-best record of 41-24, are 21-5 in the Central and 13-14 in the others. The Padres are 15-12 in the West and 18-9 elsewhere.

Given the unbalanced schedules, these numbers bode well for most of the division leaders, I’d say. You’ve got to take care of biz in the division, and these teams, generally, are the best in that category. The only division leaders that don’t have the best record in divisional play are the Nationals and the Padres. In the NL East, Atlanta is 18-14 in the division. In the NL West, the D-backs are 20-12 while the Dodgers are 17-11.

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