National League Championship Series

"NLCS" redirects here. For other uses, see NLCS (disambiguation).

MLB Postseason
Division series American League National League Championship series American League National League World Series

In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning National League Champions are the St. Louis Cardinals.

Prior to 1969, the National League champion (the "pennant winner") was determined by the best win-loss record at the end of the regular season. There were four ad hoc three-game playoff series due to ties under this formulation (in 1946, 1951, 1959 and 1962), as also happened once (1948) in the American League (the AL, however, used a single-game playoff).

A structured postseason series began in 1969, when both the National and American Leagues were reorganized into two divisions each, East and West. The two division winners within each league played each other in a best-of-five series to determine who would advance to the World Series. In 1985, the format changed to best-of-seven.

The NLCS and ALCS, since the expansion to best-of-seven, are always played in a 2–3–2 format: Since 1995, games 1, 2, 6 and 7 are played in the stadium of the team that has home field advantage, and Games 3, 4 and 5 are played in the stadium of the team that does not. Home field advantage is given to the team that has the better record, with the exception that the team that made the postseason as the Wild Card team cannot get home field advantage. From 1969 to 1993, home field advantage was alternated between divisions each year regardless of regular season record.

In 1981, a divisional series was held due to a split season caused by a players' strike.

In 1994, the league was restructured into three divisions, with the three division winners and a wild-card team advancing to a best-of-five postseason round, the National League Division Series (NLDS). The winners of that round advance to the best-of-seven NLCS. The NLDS was first played in 1995 due to the cancellation of the 1994 postseason during another players' strike.

Every team in the National League has appeared in the NLCS at least once.

Championship Trophy

The Warren C. Giles Trophy, named for the president of the NL from 1951 to 1969, is awarded to the NLCS winner.^[1]

Most Valuable Player Award

See: League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award#National League winners

A Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is given to the outstanding player in each series, though voters can consider performances made during the divisional series. The MVP award has been given to a player on the losing team twice, in 1986 to Mike Scott of the Houston Astros and in 1987 to Jeff Leonard of the San Francisco Giants.

Although the National League began its LCS MVP award in 1977, the American League did not begin its LCS MVP award until 1980.^[2]

NLCS results (1969–present)

Further information: List of National League pennant winners

Click the link on the far left for detailed information on that series.

Key

†	Denotes wild-card team (since 1995)

Year	Winner	Loser	Record	Series MVP	TV Network
1969	New York Mets	Atlanta Braves	3–0		NBC
1970	Cincinnati Reds	Pittsburgh Pirates	3–0		NBC
1971	Pittsburgh Pirates	San Francisco Giants	3–1		NBC
1972	Cincinnati Reds	Pittsburgh Pirates	3–2		NBC
1973	New York Mets	Cincinnati Reds	3–2		NBC
1974	Los Angeles Dodgers	Pittsburgh Pirates	3–1		NBC
1975	Cincinnati Reds	Pittsburgh Pirates	3–0		NBC
1976	Cincinnati Reds	Philadelphia Phillies	3–0		ABC
1977	Los Angeles Dodgers	Philadelphia Phillies	3–1	Dusty Baker, Los Angeles	NBC
1978	Los Angeles Dodgers	Philadelphia Phillies	3–1	Steve Garvey, Los Angeles	ABC
1979	Pittsburgh Pirates	Cincinnati Reds	3–0	Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh	NBC
1980	Philadelphia Phillies	Houston Astros	3–2	Manny Trillo, Philadelphia	ABC
1981	Los Angeles Dodgers	Montreal Expos	3–2	Burt Hooton, Los Angeles	NBC
1982	St. Louis Cardinals	Atlanta Braves	3–0	Darrell Porter, St. Louis	ABC.
1983	Philadelphia Phillies	Los Angeles Dodgers	3–1	Gary Matthews, Philadelphia	NBC
1984	San Diego Padres	Chicago Cubs	3–2	Steve Garvey, San Diego	ABC
1985	St. Louis Cardinals	Los Angeles Dodgers	4–2	Ozzie Smith, St. Louis	NBC
1986	New York Mets	Houston Astros	4–2	Mike Scott, Houston	ABC
1987	St. Louis Cardinals	San Francisco Giants	4–3	Jeffrey Leonard, San Francisco	NBC
1988	Los Angeles Dodgers	New York Mets	4–3	Orel Hershiser, Los Angeles	ABC
1989	San Francisco Giants	Chicago Cubs	4–1	Will Clark, San Francisco	NBC
1990	Cincinnati Reds	Pittsburgh Pirates	4–2	Rob Dibble and Randy Myers, Cincinnati	CBS
1991	Atlanta Braves	Pittsburgh Pirates	4–3	Steve Avery, Atlanta	CBS
1992	Atlanta Braves	Pittsburgh Pirates	4–3	John Smoltz, Atlanta	CBS
1993	Philadelphia Phillies	Atlanta Braves	4–2	Curt Schilling, Philadelphia	CBS
1994	Not held due to labor dispute.
1995	Atlanta Braves	Cincinnati Reds	4–0	Mike Devereaux, Atlanta	ABC (Games 1–2) NBC (Games 3–4)
1996	Atlanta Braves	St. Louis Cardinals	4–3	Javy López, Atlanta	FOX
1997	Florida Marlins †	Atlanta Braves	4–2	Liván Hernández, Florida	NBC
1998	San Diego Padres	Atlanta Braves	4–2	Sterling Hitchcock, San Diego	FOX
1999	Atlanta Braves	New York Mets †	4–2	Eddie Pérez, Atlanta	NBC
2000	New York Mets †	St. Louis Cardinals	4–1	Mike Hampton, New York	FOX
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	Atlanta Braves	4–1	Craig Counsell, Arizona	FOX
2002	San Francisco Giants †	St. Louis Cardinals	4–1	Benito Santiago, San Francisco	FOX
2003	Florida Marlins †	Chicago Cubs	4–3	Iván Rodríguez, Florida	FOX
2004	St. Louis Cardinals	Houston Astros †	4–3	Albert Pujols, St. Louis	FOX
2005	Houston Astros †	St. Louis Cardinals	4–2	Roy Oswalt, Houston	FOX
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	New York Mets	4–3	Jeff Suppan, St. Louis	FOX
2007	Colorado Rockies †	Arizona Diamondbacks	4–0	Matt Holliday, Colorado	TBS
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	Los Angeles Dodgers	4–1	Cole Hamels, Philadelphia	FOX
2009	Philadelphia Phillies	Los Angeles Dodgers	4–1	Ryan Howard, Philadelphia	TBS
2010	San Francisco Giants	Philadelphia Phillies	4–2	Cody Ross, San Francisco	FOX
2011	St. Louis Cardinals †	Milwaukee Brewers	4-2	David Freese, St. Louis	TBS

See also

• List of National League pennant winners
• NL Division Series (NLDS)
• NL Wildcard (since 1994)
• Baseball awards
• List of MLB awards

References

1. ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20081016__Fantastic_feeling__for_Bill_Giles.html Mike Jensen, " 'Fantastic feeling' for Bill Giles," Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 16, 2008. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
2. ^ League Championship Series Most Valuable Players (MLB.com/News/Awards/History/ ). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved 2009-08-31.