By EDWARD de la FUENTE
The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

MINNEAPOLIS - Now in its eighth season, interleague play is here to stay.

It has been around long enough that most baseball purists have stopped howling about it. It drums up more fan interest, increases attendance in many cities and provides intriguing matchups.

But can interleague play affect a team's playoff chances?

Most teams play 18 interleague games a season. (Because the National League has two more teams than the American League, two NL teams always play each other during the interleague schedule.) That composes an 11 percent chunk of a 162-game schedule, which seems rather minuscule.

But when most division races are being won by five games or fewer, a dominant or disappointing interleague record could make the difference.

Compounding the problem is that clubs sometimes receive interleague schedules that appear more competitive than those of their division rivals. Before interleague play began last week, Phillies manager Larry Bowa pointed out that, while his team faces Boston and Baltimore this month, NL East-leading Florida gets a home-and-home series with lowly Tampa Bay.

"Nothing against the Devil Rays, but look where they are in the standings, and Florida gets six games against them," Bowa said. "We've got Boston. Any team can win, but if you look at the strength of schedule, it doesn't seem fair."

Such disparity exists throughout the schedule this season, typically as a product of baseball's desire to keep geographic rivals paired up. That's why the two Florida teams play six times against each other.

Still, the interleague schedule's impact on a team's overall season is up to each individual team, and the unfamiliarity of playing in foreign ballparks and with or without the designated hitter seems to balance out everything.

Over the past three seasons, almost no team has been head and shoulders above the rest or consistently in the basement in interleague play.

The teams that wind up below the middle ground are usually having a miserable season, anyway. For example, last year's Detroit Tigers went 4-14 against the NL on their way to losing 119 games. Those that dominate interleague play are beating everyone else, too.

Over the previous three seasons, just two teams have recorded better than a .667 winning percentage in interleague play. Both instances occurred in 2002 - Oakland went 16-2, Atlanta finished 15-3. Each team won its respective division with relative ease.

Recent standings indicate that neither league has enjoyed an advantage. Entering this year, the NL had an 863-833 lead on the AL.

Bowa, for one, doesn't believe there is an advantage.

"If there is an advantage, it's that the NL pitchers practice bunting every day, whereas the AL pitchers probably do it once a week or so," Bowa said.

In AL parks, pitchers have to deal with the daunting task of facing a lineup with no pitcher to provide a mental break.

"You try not to think about that," Phillies right-hander Brett Myers said. "I'm going to go out and pitch my game, regardless of which park I'm in or who I'm facing."