National League West
| League | National League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Major League Baseball |
| Founded | 1969 |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Most recent champion(s) | Los Angeles Dodgers(2024; 22nd) |
| Most titles | Los Angeles Dodgers(22) |
TheNational League Westis one ofMajor League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created for the 1969 season when theNational League(NL) expanded to 12 teams by adding theSan Diego Padresand theMontreal Expos.For purpose of keeping a regular-season of 162 games, half of the teams were put into the newEast Divisionand half into the new West Division. Within each division, the teams played 18 games each against their five division mates (90 games), and also 12 games against the teams in the opposite division (72 games), totaling 162 games. Prior to 1969, the National League had informal, internal divisions strictly for scheduling purposes.[1]
Geography
[edit]Despite the geography, the owners of theChicago Cubsinsisted that their team be placed into the East Division along with the teams in New York City,Philadelphia,andPittsburgh.Also, the owners of theSt. Louis Cardinalswanted their team to be in the same division with their natural rivals, the Cubs. The league could have insisted on a purely geographical alignment like the American League did. But the owners were also concerned about what they thought would be a large imbalance in the strength of the divisions. In the previous two seasons prior to realignment, the Cardinals, Giants, and Cubs finished 1-2-3 in the National League standings. The owners were concerned about putting those teams in the same division, thereby creating one very strong division (West) and one weak one (East). Given all of this, the owners of theAtlanta Bravesand theCincinnati Redsconsented to being placed into the West Division, even thoughAtlantaandCincinnatiare both in theEastern Time Zone.Hence, the West Division had teams spread all the way from the East to the Pacific Coast, and scattered over three time zones (no MLB teams played in theMountain Time Zoneuntil 1993, when the Colorado Rockies were enfranchised). The East Division was spread over the Eastern Time Zone and theCentral Time Zone- despite the fact that the National League had six teams in the Eastern Time Zone and six teams spread between the Central Time Zone and thePacific Time Zone.The American League had no such issues, as all six of its teams in the Eastern Time Zone played in the AL East, with the remaining six teams playing in the AL West.
All of this increased the traveling distances and times for all of the teams, and it also maderadio broadcastingandTV broadcastsof the games more difficult to schedule. The Braves and the Reds had to travel all the way toCaliforniathree times during each baseball season, and the three teams in California had to travel to Atlanta, Cincinnati, andHoustonthree times also. Sometimes, the trouble could be alleviated for them by playing some games in Chicago, St. Louis, orPittsburghon the same long road trips. The 1994 addition of the Central Division would remedy these problems, when the Reds and Braves moved to the NL Central and NL East respectively.
First season
[edit]The very first baseball season of division play, 1969, resulted in what might be considered by many to be two of the best pennant races in Major League baseball history. In the National League West, five of the teams battled for the divisional championship - with only the expansion team, theSan Diego Padres,failing to be a contender. The remaining five teams were separated by as few as one-and-one-half games in the standings on August 18, despite theHouston Astroshaving lost 20 of its first 24 games.
Beginning in mid-August theHouston Astrosand theLos Angeles Dodgersstarted collapsing, leaving the Braves, the Reds, and theSan Francisco Giantsin contention. Following a very-long hot streak in July, August, and September, the Braves clinched the divisional championship by winning their next-to-last game. The Giants finished in a close second place. One of the main factors in the big surge by the Braves was that the sluggingoutfielderRico Cartyreturned to the team after missing the first half of the season while he was recovering fromtuberculosis.Carty immediately resumed his starring role, adding to the powerful offensive line-up of the Braves that also featured the sluggersHank AaronandOrlando Cepedaand the good singles hitterFélix Millánwho was on base to score a lot of runs. Aaron finished in third place for theN.L. Most Valuable Player Award,and thestarting pitcherPhil Niekrofinished in second place for theN.L. Cy Young Award.
Perhaps this latter pennant race was overshadowed by that of theNew York Metsand theChicago Cubs,with the Mets coming back from trailing by nine-and-one-half games near midseason to overtake theChicago Cubsfor the East championship. The sometimes called"Miracle Mets"won the firstNational League Championship Seriesover the Braves three games to none, and then the Mets defeated theBaltimore Oriolesfour games to one in theWorld Seriesin October 1969.[2]
Divisional membership
[edit]Current members
[edit]- Arizona Diamondbacks– Joined in 1998 as an expansion team
- Colorado Rockies– Joined in 1993 as an expansion team
- Los Angeles Dodgers– Founding member
- San Diego Padres– Founding member
- San Francisco Giants– Founding member
Former members
[edit]- Atlanta Braves– Founding member, moved to theNL Eastin 1994.
- Cincinnati Reds– Founding member, moved to theNL Centralin 1994.
- Houston Astros– Founding member, moved to the NL Central in 1994, then to theAL Westin 2013.
Division lineups
[edit]Place cursor over year for division champ or World Series team.
| NL West Division[A] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | |
| Atlanta Braves[C] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cincinnati Reds[C] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston Astros[C] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles Dodgers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego Padres | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco Giants | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado Rockies[B] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NL West Division[A] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Diego Padres | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| San Francisco Giants | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado Rockies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arizona Diamondbacks[D] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team not in divisionDivision Won World SeriesDivision Won NL Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- AThe creation of the division with the expansion of the league - with the Padres added.
- BWith the Rockies added as an expansion team.
- CWith the Braves moved to East Division and the Reds and the Astros moved to the Central Division
- DWith the Diamondbacks added as an expansion team.
Champions by year
[edit]Before the forming of a third division in both leagues in 1994, the winners of each division competed in a best-of-five series, with the series being lengthened by two possible games in 1985 to a best-of-seven series, dubbed the "League Championship Series"to determine the winner of the leaguepennant.This format was to be changed in 1994, though it was not carried out until 1995 due to the1994–95 Major League Baseball strikethat started on August 12, 1994. There was the addition of two further teams in the playoffs in each league. This has led to the creation of a "Division Series"round of the playoffs, in which two best-of-five series are conducted to determine the participants of the League Championship Series. As before, the winners of each league's pennant compete in the best-of-sevenWorld Seriesto determine the champion of Major League Baseball.
- Team names link to the season in which each team played
* – Defeated theLos Angeles Dodgersin aone game playofffor the division title, 7–1.
** – Defeated theColorado Rockiesin aone game playofffor the division title, 5–2.
† – Due to the1981 Major League Baseball strike,the season was split. Los Angeles won the first half and defeated second-half championHouston(61–49) in the postseason.
The Cincinnati Reds had the best record in the division (66–42) overall but due to the split season did not qualify for the playoffs.
§ – Due to theplayers' strikestarting August 12, no official winner was awarded. Los Angeles was leading at the strike.
†† – TheSan Diego PadresandLos Angeles Dodgersfinished the 2006 season tied for first place with identical records. San Diego won the season series 13–5 against Los Angeles and was awarded the NL West title; Los Angeles was awarded the wild-card berth. Had a team from another division won the wild card, aone-game playoffwould have decided the division champion.
††† – Due to theCOVID-19pandemic, MLB teams played 60 games, with teams play within their division and their respective counterpart (NL West vs. AL West, NL Central vs. AL Central, NL East vs. AL East). By virtue of the eight-team postseason format used for that season, division runner-upSan Diego(37–23,.617) also qualified for the playoffs.
Other postseason teams
[edit]- SeeList of National League Wild Card winners(since 1994)
The wild card is given to the team in each league with the best record that did not win its division and was first introduced in 1994. The system, however, was not implemented until the following season, as a player strike prematurely ended the 1994 season. Since its implementation, three NL West teams have won the wild card, on six occasions.
* – TheColorado Rockiesplayed theSan Diego Padresin awild card tie-breaker gameafter both teams finished the season with the same record, 89–73. The Rockies defeated the Padres, 9–8, in 13 innings. A wild card tie-breaker game was still considered part of the regular season, and thus, the Rockies' win made it their 90th victory of the season.
** – From 2012 to 2019, and in 2021, the Wild Card was expanded to two teams. Those teams faced each other in theWild Card Gameto determine the final participant in theNational League Division Series.In 2020 only, eight teams, including the three division winners, played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, with the winners advancing to the Division Series. Starting in 2022, the Wild Card field was increased to three teams, and along with the lowest-ranked division winner, qualified for the best-of-three Wild Card Series to determine the remaining two slots in the Division Series.
Season results
[edit]| (#) | Denotes team that won theWorld Series |
| (#) | Denotes team that won theNational League pennant,but lost World Series |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for theMLB postseason |
- Notes and Tiebreakers
- aHouston and Los Angeles were tied for the division championship and played in atie-breaker game.The Astros won 7–1 to claim the division crown.
- bSan Francisco andChicagoof theNational League Centralwere tied for the wild-card berth and played in atie-breaker game.The Giants lost 5–3 and were eliminated from postseason contention.
- cSan Diego and Los Angeles were tied for the division championship and wild-card berth, but the Padres claimed the division crown by winning the season series 13–5, relegating the Dodgers to the wild-card spot.
- dColorado and San Diego were tied for the wild-card berth and played in atie-breaker game.The Rockies won 9–8 in 13 innings to claim the wild-card spot.
- eSan Francisco andPittsburghof theNational League Centralwere tied for both wild-card berths, but the Giants were relegated to the second wild-card spot by losing the season series 4–2.
- fSan Francisco andNew Yorkof theNational League Eastwere tied for both wild-card berths, but the Giants were relegated to the second wild-card spot by losing the season series 4–3.
- gLos Angeles and Colorado were tied for the division championship and second wild-card berth and played in atie-breaker game.The Dodgers won 5–2 to claim the division crown, while the Rockies were relegated to the second wild-card spot.
- hSan Francisco andMilwaukeeof theNational League Centralwere tied for the second wild-card berth, but the Giants were eliminated from postseason contention due to an inferior intra-division record (Milwaukee had a 19–21 record while San Francisco had an 18–22 record).
- iArizona andMiamiof theNational League Eastwere tied for the fifth seed and the second wild-card berth, but the Diamondbacks were relegated to the third wild-card spot by losing the season series 4–2.
- jArizona,AtlantaandNew Yorkof theNational League Eastwere tied for the fifth seed and the second wild-card berth, but the Diamondbacks were eliminated from the postseason by losing the season series 5–2 with the Braves, and 4–3 with the Mets.
Division titles won by team
[edit]| Team | Number of Championships Won | Last Year Won | Year (s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 22 | 2024 | 1974, 1977–1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1995, 2004, 2008–2009, 2013–2020, 2022–2024 |
| San Francisco Giants | 9 | 2021 | 1971, 1987, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2021 |
| Cincinnati Reds† | 7 | 1990 | 1970, 1972–1973, 1975–1976, 1979, 1990 |
| San Diego Padres | 5 | 2006 | 1984, 1996, 1998, 2005–2006 |
| Atlanta Braves† | 5 | 1993 | 1969, 1982, 1991–1993 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 5 | 2011 | 1999, 2001–2002, 2007, 2011 |
| Houston Astros* | 2 | 1986 | 1980, 1986 |
| Colorado Rockies | 0 | – | – |
†indicates no longer in division since 1993
*indicates no longer in division since 1993, and no longer part of NL since 2013
See also
[edit]- National League East
- National League Central
- American League East
- American League Central
- American League West
References
[edit]- ^"Boston Braves go to Milwaukee".Pittsburgh Press.United Press. March 18, 1953. p. 1 – via Google News.
- ^"1969 World Series - New York Mets over Baltimore Orioles (4-1)".Baseball-Reference.RetrievedMay 16,2024.
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