National League Championship Series

Last updated October 15, 2024

Billy Bean standing with the NLCS logo at Dodger Stadium in 2016

The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National League (NL) Division Series. The winner of the NLCS wins the NL pennant and advances to the World Series, MLB's championship series, to play the winner of the American League's (AL) Championship Series. The NLCS began in 1969 as a best-of-five playoff and used this format until 1985, when it changed to a best-of-seven format.

History

Before 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).

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 seven games, are always played in a 2–3–2 format: 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, except a division champion would always get home advantage over a Wild Card team. From 1969 to 1993, home field advantage was alternated between divisions each year regardless of regular season record and from 1995 to 1997 home field advantage was predetermined before the season.

In 1981, a one-off division 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 now-permanent National League Division Series (NLDS). The winners of that round advance to the best-of-seven NLCS; however, due to the player's strike later that season, no postseason was played and the new format did not formally begin until 1995. The playoffs were expanded in 2012 to include a second Wild Card team and in 2022 to include a third Wild Card team.

Seven managers have led a team to the NLCS in three consecutive seasons; however, the most consecutive NLCS appearances by one manager is held by Bobby Cox, who led the Atlanta Braves to eight straight from 1991 to 1999. The Braves (1991–1999) are also the only team in the National League to have made more than three consecutive National League Championship Series appearances. Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland are the only managers to lead their teams to three consecutive League Championship Series appearances in both leagues.

The Milwaukee Brewers, an American League team between 1969 and 1997, and the Houston Astros, a National League team between 1962 and 2012, are the only franchises to play in both the ALCS and NLCS. The Astros are the only team to have won both an NLCS (2005) and an ALCS (2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022). The Astros made four NLCS appearances before moving to the AL in 2013. Every current National League franchise has appeared in the NLCS and all teams except the Brewers have won an NL pennant via the NLCS.

For the first time in history, two wild card teams played in the 2022 National League Championship Series.

Championship Trophy

The Warren C. Giles Trophy is awarded to the NLCS winner.^[1] Warren Giles served as president of the National League from 1951 to 1969.^[2]

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 the NLCS. No MVP award is given for Division Series play.

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 Jeffrey 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.^[3] The winners are listed in several locations:

in the below NLCS results table, in the "Series MVP" column
in the article League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award
on the MLB website^[3]

Results

Key
†	Wild card
*	MVP did not play for winning team

Year	Winning team	Manager	Games	Losing team	Manager	Series MVP
1969	New York Mets	Gil Hodges	3–0	Atlanta Braves	Lum Harris
1970	Cincinnati Reds	Sparky Anderson	3–0	Pittsburgh Pirates	Danny Murtaugh
1971	Pittsburgh Pirates	Danny Murtaugh	3–1	San Francisco Giants	Charlie Fox
1972	Cincinnati Reds	Sparky Anderson	3–2	Pittsburgh Pirates	Bill Virdon
1973	New York Mets	Yogi Berra	3–2	Cincinnati Reds	Sparky Anderson
1974	Los Angeles Dodgers	Walter Alston	3–1	Pittsburgh Pirates	Danny Murtaugh
1975	Cincinnati Reds	Sparky Anderson	3–0	Pittsburgh Pirates	Danny Murtaugh
1976	Cincinnati Reds	Sparky Anderson	3–0	Philadelphia Phillies	Danny Ozark
1977	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tommy Lasorda	3–1	Philadelphia Phillies	Danny Ozark	Dusty Baker, Los Angeles
1978	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tommy Lasorda	3–1	Philadelphia Phillies	Danny Ozark	Steve Garvey, Los Angeles
1979	Pittsburgh Pirates	Chuck Tanner	3–0	Cincinnati Reds	John McNamara	Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh
1980	Philadelphia Phillies	Dallas Green	3–2	Houston Astros	Bill Virdon	Manny Trillo, Philadelphia
1981	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tommy Lasorda	3–2	Montreal Expos	Jim Fanning	Burt Hooton, Los Angeles
1982	St. Louis Cardinals	Whitey Herzog	3–0	Atlanta Braves	Joe Torre	Darrell Porter, St. Louis
1983	Philadelphia Phillies	Paul Owens	3–1	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tommy Lasorda	Gary Matthews, Philadelphia
1984	San Diego Padres	Dick Williams	3–2	Chicago Cubs	Jim Frey	Steve Garvey, San Diego
1985	St. Louis Cardinals	Whitey Herzog	4–2	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tommy Lasorda	Ozzie Smith, St. Louis
1986	New York Mets	Davey Johnson	4–2	Houston Astros	Hal Lanier	Mike Scott, Houston*
1987	St. Louis Cardinals	Whitey Herzog	4–3	San Francisco Giants	Roger Craig	Jeffrey Leonard, San Francisco*
1988	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tommy Lasorda	4–3	New York Mets	Davey Johnson	Orel Hershiser, Los Angeles
1989	San Francisco Giants	Roger Craig	4–1	Chicago Cubs	Don Zimmer	Will Clark, San Francisco
1990	Cincinnati Reds	Lou Piniella	4–2	Pittsburgh Pirates	Jim Leyland	Rob Dibble and Randy Myers, Cincinnati
1991	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	4–3	Pittsburgh Pirates	Jim Leyland	Steve Avery, Atlanta
1992	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	4–3	Pittsburgh Pirates	Jim Leyland	John Smoltz, Atlanta
1993	Philadelphia Phillies	Jim Fregosi	4–2	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	Curt Schilling, Philadelphia
1994	No Series due to a players' strike.
1995	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	4–0	Cincinnati Reds	Davey Johnson	Mike Devereaux, Atlanta
1996	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	4–3	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa	Javy López, Atlanta
1997	Florida Marlins ^†	Jim Leyland	4–2	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	Liván Hernández, Florida
1998	San Diego Padres	Bruce Bochy	4–2	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	Sterling Hitchcock, San Diego
1999	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	4–2	New York Mets ^†	Bobby Valentine	Eddie Pérez, Atlanta
2000	New York Mets ^†	Bobby Valentine	4–1	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa	Mike Hampton, New York
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	Bob Brenly	4–1	Atlanta Braves	Bobby Cox	Craig Counsell, Arizona
2002	San Francisco Giants ^†	Dusty Baker	4–1	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa	Benito Santiago, San Francisco
2003	Florida Marlins ^†	Jack McKeon	4–3	Chicago Cubs	Dusty Baker	Iván Rodríguez, Florida
2004	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa	4–3	Houston Astros ^†	Phil Garner	Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2005	Houston Astros ^†	Phil Garner	4–2	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa	Roy Oswalt, Houston
2006	St. Louis Cardinals	Tony La Russa	4–3	New York Mets	Willie Randolph	Jeff Suppan, St. Louis
2007	Colorado Rockies ^†	Clint Hurdle	4–0	Arizona Diamondbacks	Bob Melvin	Matt Holliday, Colorado
2008	Philadelphia Phillies	Charlie Manuel	4–1	Los Angeles Dodgers	Joe Torre	Cole Hamels, Philadelphia
2009	Philadelphia Phillies	Charlie Manuel	4–1	Los Angeles Dodgers	Joe Torre	Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
2010	San Francisco Giants	Bruce Bochy	4–2	Philadelphia Phillies	Charlie Manuel	Cody Ross, San Francisco
2011	St. Louis Cardinals ^†	Tony La Russa	4–2	Milwaukee Brewers	Ron Roenicke	David Freese, St. Louis
2012	San Francisco Giants	Bruce Bochy	4–3	St. Louis Cardinals ^†	Mike Matheny	Marco Scutaro, San Francisco
2013	St. Louis Cardinals	Mike Matheny	4–2	Los Angeles Dodgers	Don Mattingly	Michael Wacha, St. Louis
2014	San Francisco Giants ^†	Bruce Bochy	4–1	St. Louis Cardinals	Mike Matheny	Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco
2015	New York Mets	Terry Collins	4–0	Chicago Cubs ^†	Joe Maddon	Daniel Murphy, New York
2016	Chicago Cubs	Joe Maddon	4–2	Los Angeles Dodgers	Dave Roberts	Javier Báez and Jon Lester, Chicago
2017	Los Angeles Dodgers	Dave Roberts	4–1	Chicago Cubs	Joe Maddon	Chris Taylor and Justin Turner, Los Angeles
2018	Los Angeles Dodgers	Dave Roberts	4–3	Milwaukee Brewers	Craig Counsell	Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles
2019	Washington Nationals ^†	Dave Martinez	4–0	St. Louis Cardinals	Mike Shildt	Howie Kendrick, Washington
2020	Los Angeles Dodgers	Dave Roberts	4–3	Atlanta Braves	Brian Snitker	Corey Seager, Los Angeles
2021	Atlanta Braves	Brian Snitker	4–2	Los Angeles Dodgers ^†	Dave Roberts	Eddie Rosario, Atlanta
2022	Philadelphia Phillies ^†	Rob Thomson	4–1	San Diego Padres ^†	Bob Melvin	Bryce Harper, Philadelphia
2023	Arizona Diamondbacks ^†	Torey Lovullo	4–3	Philadelphia Phillies ^†	Rob Thomson	Ketel Marte, Arizona
2024	Los Angeles Dodgers ( Dave Roberts ) vs. New York Mets ^† ( Carlos Mendoza )					TBD

Appearances by team

Apps	Team	Wins	Losses	Win %	Most recent win	Most recent appearance	Games won	Games lost	Game win %
16	Los Angeles Dodgers	8	7	.533	2020	2024	39	42	.481
14	St. Louis Cardinals	7	7	.500	2013	2019	38	43	.469
13	Atlanta Braves	6	7	.462	2021	2021	34	39	.466
11	Philadelphia Phillies	6	5	.545	2022	2023	29	25	.537
9	Pittsburgh Pirates	2	7	.222	1979	1992	17	25	.405
8	Cincinnati Reds	5	3	.625	1990	1995	18	14	.563
9	New York Mets	5	3	.625	2015	2024	26	17	.605
7	San Francisco Giants	5	2	.714	2014	2014	24	15	.615
6	Chicago Cubs	1	5	.167	2016	2017	11	21	.344
4	Houston Astros ^{[lower-alpha 1]}	1	3	.250	2005	2005	11	13	.458
3	Arizona Diamondbacks	2	1	.667	2023	2023	8	8	.500
3	San Diego Padres	2	1	.667	1998	2022	8	8	.500
2	Miami Marlins	2	0	1.000	2003	2003	8	5	.615
2	Washington Nationals	1	1	.500	2019	2019	6	3	.667
2	Milwaukee Brewers	0	2	.000	Never	2018	5	8	.385
1	Colorado Rockies	1	0	1.000	2007	2007	4	0	1.000

Years of appearance

In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning appearances.

Apps	Team	Wins	Losses	Win %	Season(s)
16	Los Angeles Dodgers	8	7	.533	1974 , 1977 , 1978 , 1981 , 1983, 1985, 1988 , 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2017 , 2018 , 2020, 2021, 2024
14	St. Louis Cardinals	7	7	.500	1982 , 1985 , 1987 , 1996, 2000, 2002, 2004 , 2005, 2006 , 2011 , 2012, 2013 , 2014, 2019
13	Atlanta Braves	6	7	.462	1969, 1982, 1991 , 1992 , 1993, 1995 , 1996 , 1997, 1998, 1999 , 2001, 2020, 2021
11	Philadelphia Phillies	6	5	.545	1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 , 1983 , 1993 , 2008 , 2009 , 2010, 2022 , 2023
9	New York Mets	5	3	.625	1969 , 1973 , 1986 , 1988, 1999, 2000 , 2006, 2015 , 2024
8	Cincinnati Reds	5	3	.625	1970 , 1972 , 1973, 1975 , 1976 , 1979, 1990 , 1995
7	San Francisco Giants	5	2	.714	1971, 1987, 1989 , 2002 , 2010 , 2012 , 2014
9	Pittsburgh Pirates	2	7	.222	1970, 1971 , 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979 , 1990, 1991, 1992
3	San Diego Padres	2	1	.667	1984 , 1998 , 2022
3	Arizona Diamondbacks	2	1	.667	2001 , 2007, 2023
2	Miami Marlins	2	0	1.000	1997 , 2003
6	Chicago Cubs	1	5	.167	1984, 1989, 2003, 2015, 2016 , 2017
4	Houston Astros ^{[lower-alpha 1]}	1	3	.250	1980, 1986, 2004, 2005
2	Washington Nationals	1	1	.500	1981, 2019
1	Colorado Rockies	1	0	1.000	2007
2	Milwaukee Brewers	0	2	.000	2011, 2018

Frequent matchups

Count	Matchup	Record	Years
5	Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates	Reds, 4–1	1970, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1990
5	Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies	Phillies, 3–2	1977, 1978, 1983, 2008, 2009
4	San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals	Giants, 3–1	1987, 2002, 2012, 2014
2	Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets	Tied, 1–1	1969, 1999
2	Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals	Tied, 1–1	1982, 1996
2	Atlanta Braves vs. Pittsburgh Pirates	Braves, 2–0	1991, 1992
2	Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers	Tied, 1–1	2020, 2021
2	Houston Astros vs. St. Louis Cardinals	Tied, 1–1	2004, 2005
2	New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals	Tied, 1–1	2000, 2006
2	Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals	Cardinals, 2–0	1985, 2013
2	Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers	Tied, 1–1	2016, 2017
2	Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets	Dodgers, 1–0	1988, 2024

Notes

1 2 The Houston Astros moved to the American League in 2013.

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References

↑ "'Fantastic feeling' for Bill Giles". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 16, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
↑ Amour, Mark. "Warren Giles". Society for American Baseball Research . Retrieved October 12, 2021.
1 2 League Championship Series Most Valuable Players (MLB.com/News/Awards/History/ ). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[HOU-4] 1 2 The Houston Astros moved to the American League in 2013.

[1] "'Fantastic feeling' for Bill Giles". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 16, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2009.

[2] Amour, Mark. "Warren Giles". Society for American Baseball Research . Retrieved October 12, 2021.

[mlb_mlb_com-3] 1 2 League Championship Series Most Valuable Players (MLB.com/News/Awards/History/ ). MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

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v t e National League Championship Series
1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
NL pennant winners MVPs Broadcasters