National_League_West

National League West

The National League Western Division, or NL West, is one of the three divisions of Major League Baseball's National League. It was created in 1969 when the previously undivided National League expanded its membership to twelve teams, positioning half of them in an Eastern division and the other half in a Western division.

Inaugural season

The very first year of division play featured 2 of the greatest pennant races in baseball history. In the NL West, as many as 5 teams vied for the first division title - with only the expansion San Diego Padres failing to be major contenders late into the season. The remaining 5 teams were separated by as little as 1.5 games on August 18. This came after the Houston Astros had lost 20 of their first 24 games. Eventually, the Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers suffered late September collapses, and the Atlanta Braves ended up winning the division title in their next-to-last game. But perhaps, this race was overshadowed by the New York Mets coming back from a large deficit to overtake the Chicago Cubs for the NL East title. The "Miracle Mets" would go on to win the World Series in only their 8th year of existence.

Divisional membership

Current members

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

Atlanta Braves - Founding member; Currently part of the NL East
Cincinnati Reds - Founding member; Currently part of the NL Central
Houston Astros - Founding member; Currently part of the NL Central

Division Lineups

Time period	Lineup	Changes from previous setup
1969-1992	Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants	Creation of division due to 1969 expansion
1993	Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants	Colorado added in 1993 expansion
1994-1997	Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants	Due to 1994 realignment, Atlanta moved to NL East and Cincinnati and Houston moved to newly-created NL Central
1998-present	Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants	Arizona added in 1998 expansion

Championships

Overall, the National League West has recorded a 27-30 record in the postseason. Division champions have compiled an overall mark of 29-36, winning sixteen National League pennants and six World Series. Wildcard winners from the division have recorded a record of 4-3, winning two pennants (2002 San Francisco Giants and 2007 Colorado Rockies) and no World Series titles.

NL West division champions

Prior to the establishment of a third division in both leagues in 1994, the winner of each division faced off in a Best-of-five (the series was lengthened in 1985 to a Best-of-seven set) series, dubbed the "League Championship Series" to determine the winner of the league pennant. This format was altered in 1994 (though not implemented until the following year due to a player strike) starting August 12, with the addition of two further teams in each league's postseason. 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 always, the winners of each league's pennant face off in the Best-of-seven World Series to determine the champion of Major League Baseball.

Year	Winner	Record	%	Playoffs
1969	Atlanta Braves	93-69	.574	Lost NLCS to New York, 3-0
1970	Cincinnati Reds	102-60	.630	Lost World Series to Baltimore, 4-1
1971	San Francisco Giants	90-72	.556	Lost NLCS to Pittsburgh, 3-1
1972	Cincinnati Reds	95-59	.617	Lost World Series to Oakland, 4-3
1973	Cincinnati Reds	99-63	.611	Lost NLCS to New York, 3-2
1974	Los Angeles Dodgers	102-60	.630	Lost World Series to Oakland, 4-1
1975	Cincinnati Reds	108-54	.667	Won World Series over Boston, 4-3
1976	Cincinnati Reds	102-60	.630	Won World Series over New York, 4-0
1977	Los Angeles Dodgers	98-64	.605	Lost World Series to New York, 4-2
1978	Los Angeles Dodgers	95-67	.586	Lost World Series to New York, 4-2
1979	Cincinnati Reds	90-71	.559	Lost NLCS to Pittsburgh, 3-0
1980	Houston Astros*	93-70	.571	Lost NLCS to Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2
1981	Los Angeles Dodgers†	63-47	.573	Won World Series over New York, 4-2
1982	Atlanta Braves	89-73	.549	Lost NLCS to St. Louis, 3-0
1983	Los Angeles Dodgers	91-71	.562	Lost NLCS to Philadelphia, 3-1
1984	San Diego Padres	92-70	.568	Lost World Series to Detroit, 4-1
1985	Los Angeles Dodgers	95-67	.586	Lost NLCS to St. Louis, 4-2
1986	Houston Astros	96-66	.593	Lost NLCS to New York, 4-2
1987	San Francisco Giants	90-72	.556	Lost NLCS to St. Louis, 4-3
1988	Los Angeles Dodgers	94-67	.584	Won World Series over Oakland, 4-1
1989	San Francisco Giants	92-70	.568	Lost World Series to Oakland, 4-0
1990	Cincinnati Reds	91-71	.562	'''Won World Series over Oakland, 4-0
1991	Atlanta Braves	94-68	.580	Lost World Series to Minnesota, 4-3
1992	Atlanta Braves	98-64	.605	Lost World Series to Toronto, 4-2
1993	Atlanta Braves	104-58	.642	Lost NLCS to Philadelphia, 4-2
1994 (through August 11)	Los Angeles Dodgers§	58-56	.509	No Playoffs
1995 (starting April 25, 144 G)	Los Angeles Dodgers	78-66	.542	Lost NLDS to Cincinnati, 3-0
1996	San Diego Padres	91-71	.562	Lost NLDS to St. Louis, 3-0
1997	San Francisco Giants	90-72	.556	Lost NLDS to Florida, 3-0
1998	San Diego Padres	98-64	.605	Lost World Series to New York, 4-0
1999	Arizona Diamondbacks	100-62	.617	Lost NLDS to New York, 3-1
2000	San Francisco Giants	97-65	.599	Lost NLDS to New York, 3-1
2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	92-70	.568	Won World Series over New York, 4-3
2002	Arizona Diamondbacks	98-64	.605	Lost NLDS to St. Louis, 3-0
2003	San Francisco Giants	100-61	.621	Lost NLDS to Florida, 3-1
2004	Los Angeles Dodgers	93-69	.574	Lost NLDS to St. Louis, 3-1
2005	San Diego Padres	82-80	.506	Lost NLDS to St. Louis, 3-0
2006	San Diego Padres††	88-74	.543	Lost NLDS to St. Louis, 3-1
2007	Arizona Diamondbacks	90-72	.556	Lost NLCS to Colorado, 4-0
2008	Los Angeles Dodgers

* - Defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in a One Game Playoff for the division title, 7-1.
† - Due to the players' strike, the season was split. Los Angeles won the first half and defeated second-half champion Houston (61-49) in the postseason.
§ - Due to the players' strike starting August 12, no official winner was awarded. Los Angeles was leading at the strike.

†† - The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers finished the 2006 season tied for first place with identical records. San Diego won the season series against Los Angeles and was awarded the tie-breaker; Los Angeles was awarded the wild card berth. Had a team from another division won the wild card, a one game playoff would have decided the division champion.

Wildcard winners produced

The Wildcard is given to the team in each league with the best record that did not win its division and was first introduced in 1994, however, the system was not implemented until the following season, as a player strike prematurely ended the 1994 season. Since its implementation four different NL West teams have won this award.

Year	Winner	Record	%	GB	Playoffs
1995	Colorado Rockies	77-67	.535	1	Lost NLDS to Atlanta, 3-1
1996	Los Angeles Dodgers	90-72	.556	1	Lost NLDS to Atlanta, 3-0
2002	San Francisco Giants	95-66	.590	2.5	Lost World Series to Anaheim, 4-3
2006	Los Angeles Dodgers	88-74	.543	0	Lost NLDS to New York, 3-0
2007	Colorado Rockies	90-73*	.552	0.5	Lost World Series to Boston, 4-0

* The Colorado Rockies played the San Diego Padres in a wild card tie-breaker game after 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 is still considered part of the regular season, and thus, the Rockies' win made it their 90th victory of the season - a franchise record.

NL West Titles Won By Team

Team	Number of Championships Won	Last Year Won
Los Angeles Dodgers ‡	10	2008
Cincinnati Reds †	7	1990
San Francisco Giants	6	2003
San Diego Padres	5	2006
Atlanta Braves †	5	1993
Arizona Diamondbacks	4	2007
Houston Astros †	2	1986
Colorado Rockies	0	n/a