The Yankees are the most successful club in Interleague Play, with a.583 victory % (211–151), followed closely by the Red Sox (.581). In reality, the AL has the top nine interleague records, with the Mets coming in at No. 10 as the first Senior Circuit team. The NL has the top three rookie clubs by wins (Mets, Phillies, and Dodgers), and the fourth-best record is also held by a rookie team (Giants).
That's not to say that the NL is doing anything wrong or isn't getting enough credit; it's just that the AL has the upper hand this year with more experienced teams performing better than their NL counterparts.
Here are the ten most successful teams in Interleague Play since 1997:
1. New York Yankees - 498-294 (.583)
2. Boston Red Sox - 394-356 (.542)
3. Chicago Cubs - 353-373 (.510)
4. Houston Astros - 338-368 (.512)
5. Los Angeles Angels - 323-369 (.509)
6. Seattle Mariners - 299-367 (.514)
7. Florida Marlins - 277-377 (.496)
The Los Angeles Dodgers (originally the Brooklyn Dodgers; 23 pennants, 31 postseason appearances) and the San Francisco Giants (previously the New York Giants; 23 pennants, 27 playoff appearances) are tied for the most pennants in the National League.
American League pennant winners have won the World Series 65 times, the most recent being in 2017. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League pennants, the first in 1921 and the most recent in 2009. This amount is more than double that of the next-closest club, the Oakland A's, who have won 15 games.
The New York Yankees are in the middle of their regular season.
| Rank | Team | Won |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Yankees | 10,529 |
| 2 | San Francisco Giants | 11,196 |
| 3 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 11,022 |
| 4 | St. Louis Cardinals | 10,921 |
Prior to then, only spring training, the All-Star Game, and other exhibition games (such as the Hall of Fame Game in Cooperstown, New York) and the World Series included contests between AL and NL teams. Except for the World Series, none of these games, unlike current interleague play, counted for official team or league records.
Interleague competition Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games involving two teams from the American League (AL) and the National League (NL).
Greenberg's idea calls for each team to play a 154-game season, 126 inside its own league and 28 versus the other league's eight teams. The interleague contests will begin immediately after the All-Star Game.
The MLB's most successful baseball teams
The New York Yankees and the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have met in 11 World Series, with the Yankees winning eight of those games. The two teams have also played each other in the American League Championship Series on five occasions with the Yankees winning three of those games.
In all, the Yankees and Dodgers have been involved in 19 series games against each other; the Yankees win 10 of those series games.
Besides the Yankees and Dodgers, no other team has had more than three meetings with another team in the World Series. The Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians have played each other twice, and the Indians have also played the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels several times each.
However, there are two teams that have played each other more than any other team in major league baseball: the Yankees and Dodgers. Between them, they have played against every active MLB team at least once - including both World Series participants - with the exception of the Cubs and Indians (who were removed from the postseason by the 2017 AL Wild Card Game).
Overall, these are the leaders among current major league teams for the most World Series games played against each other: Yankees and Dodgers 11.
In 2007, two clubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles, each played six interleague games. The Dodgers faced off against both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, while the Orioles faced off against both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Washington Nationals.
The first interleague game between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays was played on April 12 at Dodger Stadium. The teams traded wins in this series: the Dodgers won 1-0 thanks to an RBI double by Mark Grudzielanek in the ninth inning, while the Blue Jays took the next game 3-2. The next day, they met again at Rogers Centre for Game 3 of the National League Division Series. The Dodgers took control early, scoring three runs in the first inning and holding on for a 3-1 victory. This put them one step away from their first playoff appearance since 2003. However, the following night brought another loss for L.A.: this time by the much larger margin of 10-1. The last game of the series was played the next day at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers took advantage of an Oriole team that had lost its first two games by beating them 11-5 to move on to the NL Championship Series.
The Dodgers opened up NLCS Game 1 against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, October 4.
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