National League Division Series facts for kids

The National League Division Series (NLDS) is an exciting baseball playoff round in Major League Baseball (MLB). It's where the best teams from the National League compete to see who will move on to the next big series, the National League Championship Series.

The NLDS is a "best-of-five" series. This means two teams play up to five games, and the first team to win three games wins the series! The teams that play in the NLDS are the winners of their divisions (like champions of their groups) and special "wild card" teams. Wild card teams are the best teams that didn't win their division but still had a great season.

History of the NLDS

The idea for the Division Series first came about in 1981. There was a big strike in Major League Baseball that year, which split the season into two parts. To decide who would go to the playoffs, they held a special series. For example, the Montreal Expos played against the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Expos won. The Los Angeles Dodgers also won their series against the Houston Astros. (The Astros used to be in the National League until 2012!)

The Division Series became a regular part of the MLB playoffs in 1995. This happened because MLB changed how the leagues were set up, creating three divisions in each league. Now, the winner of each division and one wild card team would get to play in the Division Series. The first regular NLDS happened in 1995. The Atlanta Braves won their series, and the Cincinnati Reds won theirs.

Over the years, the rules for wild card teams changed a bit. From 1994 to 2011, only one wild card team made it. But starting in 2012, they added a second wild card team! These two wild card teams play a single game to see who gets to join the Division Series. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a special, bigger playoff format with eight teams. But the usual format returned in 2021.

The Atlanta Braves have played in the most NL Division Series, with seventeen appearances. The St. Louis Cardinals have won the most series, winning eleven times out of fourteen tries. The Pittsburgh Pirates were the last team to make their first appearance in the NLDS, which happened in 2013. The Milwaukee Brewers are special because they've played in Division Series in both the National League and the American League!

How the NLDS Works

The NLDS is a best-of-five series. This means a team needs to win three games to advance. Here's how the teams are matched up:

• The division winner with the best record plays against the winner of the Wild Card game (the team that won the single game between the two wild card teams).
• The division winner with the second-best record plays against the winner of the other Wild Card game (which is between the lowest-seeded division winner and the lowest-seeded wild card team).

The team with the better record during the regular season usually gets "home-field advantage." This means they get to play more games at their home stadium, which can be a big help! The wild card team never gets home-field advantage.

The games are played in a 2-2-1 format. This means:

• The team with home-field advantage plays the first two games at home.
• The other team plays the next two games at their home stadium.
• If a fifth game is needed to decide the series, it's played back at the higher-seeded team's home stadium. This format has been used since 1998, except for a brief change in 2012.

Results

Key

	Wild card

Year	Winning team	Manager	Games	Losing team	Manager
1981	Montreal Expos	Fanning, JimJim Fanning	3–2	Philadelphia Phillies	Green, DallasDallas Green
	Los Angeles Dodgers	Lasorda, TommyTommy Lasorda	3–2	Houston Astros	Virdon, BillBill Virdon
1994	No Series due to a players' strike.
1995	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox	3–1	Colorado Rockies	Baylor, DonDon Baylor
	Cincinnati Reds	Johnson, DaveyDavey Johnson	3–0	Los Angeles Dodgers	Lasorda, TommyTommy Lasorda
1996	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox	3–0	Los Angeles Dodgers	Russell, BillBill Russell
	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	3–0	San Diego Padres	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy
1997	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox	3–0	Houston Astros	Dierker, LarryLarry Dierker
	Florida Marlins	Leyland, JimJim Leyland	3–0	San Francisco Giants	Baker, DustyDusty Baker
1998	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox	3–0	Chicago Cubs	Riggleman, JimJim Riggleman
	San Diego Padres	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy	3–1	Houston Astros	Dierker, LarryLarry Dierker
1999	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox	3–1	Houston Astros	Dierker, LarryLarry Dierker
	New York Mets	Valentine, BobbyBobby Valentine	3–1	Arizona Diamondbacks	Showalter, BuckBuck Showalter
2000	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	3–0	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox
	New York Mets	Valentine, BobbyBobby Valentine	3–1	San Francisco Giants	Baker, DustyDusty Baker
2001	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox	3–0	Houston Astros	Dierker, LarryLarry Dierker
	Arizona Diamondbacks	Brenly, BobBob Brenly	3–2	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa
2002	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	3–0	Arizona Diamondbacks	Brenly, BobBob Brenly
	San Francisco Giants	Baker, DustyDusty Baker	3–2	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox
2003	Chicago Cubs	Baker, DustyDusty Baker	3–2	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox
	Florida Marlins	McKeon, JackJack McKeon	3–1	San Francisco Giants	Alou, FelipeFelipe Alou
2004	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	3–1	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tracy, JimJim Tracy
	Houston Astros	Garner, PhilPhil Garner	3–2	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox
2005	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	3–0	San Diego Padres	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy
	Houston Astros	Garner, PhilPhil Garner	3–1	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox
2006	New York Mets	Randolph, WillieWillie Randolph	3–0	Los Angeles Dodgers	Tracy, JimJim Tracy
	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	3–1	San Diego Padres	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy
2007	Colorado Rockies	Hurdle, ClintClint Hurdle	3–0	Philadelphia Phillies	Manuel, CharlieCharlie Manuel
	Arizona Diamondbacks	Melvin, BobBob Melvin	3–0	Chicago Cubs	Piniella, LouLou Piniella
2008	Los Angeles Dodgers	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–0	Chicago Cubs	Piniella, LouLou Piniella
	Philadelphia Phillies	Manuel, CharlieCharlie Manuel	3–1	Milwaukee Brewers	Sveum, DaleDale Sveum
2009	Los Angeles Dodgers	Torre, JoeJoe Torre	3–0	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa
	Philadelphia Phillies	Manuel, CharlieCharlie Manuel	3–1	Colorado Rockies	Tracy, JimJim Tracy
2010	Philadelphia Phillies	Manuel, CharlieCharlie Manuel	3–0	Cincinnati Reds	Baker, DustyDusty Baker
	San Francisco Giants	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy	3–1	Atlanta Braves	Cox, BobbyBobby Cox
2011	St. Louis Cardinals	La Russa, TonyTony La Russa	3–2	Philadelphia Phillies	Manuel, CharlieCharlie Manuel
	Milwaukee Brewers	Roenicke, RonRon Roenicke	3–2	Arizona Diamondbacks	Gibson, KirkKirk Gibson
2012	San Francisco Giants	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy	3–2	Cincinnati Reds	Baker, DustyDusty Baker
	St. Louis Cardinals	Matheny, MikeMike Matheny	3–2	Washington Nationals	Johnson, DaveyDavey Johnson
2013	St. Louis Cardinals	Matheny, MikeMike Matheny	3–2	Pittsburgh Pirates	Hurdle, ClintClint Hurdle
	Los Angeles Dodgers	Mattingly, DonDon Mattingly	3–1	Atlanta Braves	González, FrediFredi González
2014	St. Louis Cardinals	Matheny, MikeMike Matheny	3–1	Los Angeles Dodgers	Mattingly, DonDon Mattingly
	San Francisco Giants	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy	3–1	Washington Nationals	Williams, MattMatt Williams
2015	New York Mets	Collins, TerryTerry Collins	3–2	Los Angeles Dodgers	Mattingly, DonDon Mattingly
	Chicago Cubs	Maddon, JoeJoe Maddon	3–1	St. Louis Cardinals	Matheny, MikeMike Matheny
2016	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts	3–2	Washington Nationals	Baker, DustyDusty Baker
	Chicago Cubs	Maddon, JoeJoe Maddon	3–1	San Francisco Giants	Bochy, BruceBruce Bochy
2017	Chicago Cubs	Maddon, JoeJoe Maddon	3–2	Washington Nationals	Baker, DustyDusty Baker
	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts	3–0	Arizona Diamondbacks	Lovullo, ToreyTorey Lovullo
2018	Milwaukee Brewers	Counsell, CraigCraig Counsell	3–0	Colorado Rockies	Black, BudBud Black
	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts	3–1	Atlanta Braves	Snitker, BrianBrian Snitker
2019	Washington Nationals	Martinez, DaveDave Martinez	3–2	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts
	St. Louis Cardinals	Shildt, MikeMike Shildt	3–2	Atlanta Braves	Snitker, BrianBrian Snitker
2020	Atlanta Braves	Snitker, BrianBrian Snitker	3–0	Miami Marlins	Mattingly, DonDon Mattingly
	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts	3–0	San Diego Padres	Tingler, JayceJayce Tingler
2021	Atlanta Braves	Snitker, BrianBrian Snitker	3–1	Milwaukee Brewers	Counsell, CraigCraig Counsell
	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts	3–2	San Francisco Giants	Kapler, GabeGabe Kapler
2022	San Diego Padres	Melvin, BobBob Melvin	3–1	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts
	Philadelphia Phillies	Thomson, RobRob Thomson	3–1	Atlanta Braves	Snitker, BrianBrian Snitker
2023	Philadelphia Phillies	Thomson, RobRob Thomson	3–1	Atlanta Braves	Snitker, BrianBrian Snitker
	Arizona Diamondbacks	Lovullo, ToreyTorey Lovullo	3–0	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts
2024	Los Angeles Dodgers	Roberts, DaveDave Roberts	3–2	San Diego Padres	Shildt, MikeMike Shildt
	New York Mets	Mendoza, CarlosCarlos Mendoza	3–1	Philadelphia Phillies	Thomson, RobRob Thomson

Team Appearances and Wins

This table shows how many times each team has appeared in the NLDS, how many times they've won, and their winning percentage.

Years of Appearance by Team

This table lists all the years each team has appeared in the NLDS. Years in bold mean the team won that series.

Frequent Matchups in the NLDS

Here are some of the teams that have played against each other most often in the NLDS.

NOTE: The Houston Astros moved to the American League after the 2012 season, so the Braves vs. Astros series can't happen in the NLDS anymore.

See also