The National League West is one of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. For purpose of keeping a regular-season of 162 games, half of the teams were put into the new East Division and 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.

Geography

Despite the geography, the owners of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

insisted that their team be placed into the East Division along with the teams in New York City,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. Also, the owners of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

wanted that team to be in the same division with their natural rivals of 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 the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

and the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

consented to being placed into the West Division, even though

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

are both in the

Eastern Time Zone The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

. 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 the

Mountain Time Zone The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The clo ...

until 1993, when the Colorado Rockies were enfranchised). The East Division was spread over the Eastern Time Zone and the

Central Time Zone The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordinate ...

- 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 the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00) ...

. All of this increased the traveling distances and times for all of the teams, and it also made

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

and TV broadcasts of the games more difficult to schedule. The Braves and the Reds had to travel all the way to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

three times during each baseball season, and the three teams in California had to travel to Atlanta, Cincinnati, and

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

three times also. Sometimes, the trouble could be alleviated for them by playing some games in Chicago, St. Louis, or

on 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

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, the

, 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 the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

having lost 20 of its first 24 games. Beginning in mid-August the

and the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

started collapsing, leaving the Braves, the Reds, and the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

in 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 slugging

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Rico Carty Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty (born September 1, 1939), nicknamed "Beeg Boy", is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1963 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Atlanta Br ...

returned to the team after missing the first half of the season while he was recovering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Carty immediately resumed his starring role, adding to the powerful offensive line-up of the Braves that also featured the sluggers

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

and

Orlando Cepeda Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (; born September 17, 1937), nicknamed "the Baby Bull" and "Peruchin", is a Puerto Rican former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1958 to 1974, primarily the San Francisco Giants. A ...

and the good singles hitter

Félix Millán Félix Bernardo Millán Martínez (born August 21, 1943) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball second baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. He holds one of the best at-bat to str ...

who was on base to score a lot of runs. Aaron finished in third place for the N.L. Most Valuable Player Award, and the

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 31 ...

finished in second place for the N.L. Cy Young Award. Perhaps this latter pennant race was overshadowed by that of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

and the

, with the Mets coming back from trailing by nine-and-one-half games near midseason to overtake the

for the East championship. The sometimes called "Miracle Mets" won the first

National League Championship Series 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 ...

over the Braves three games to none, and then the Mets defeated the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

four games to one in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

in October 1969.

Divisional membership

Current members

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

- Joined in 1998 as an expansion team *

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

- Joined in 1993 as an expansion team *

- Founding member *

- Founding member

Former members

- Founding member - moved to the

NL East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

in 1994. *

- Founding member - moved to the

NL Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

in 1994. *

- Founding member - moved to the NL Central in 1994, then to the

AL West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

in 2013.

Division lineups

Place cursor over year for division champ or World Series team. : The creation of the division with the expansion of the league - with the Padres added. : With the Rockies added as an expansion team. : With the Braves moved to Eastern Division and the Reds and the Astros moved to the Central Division : With the Diamondbacks added as an expansion team.

Division champions

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 The League Championship Series (LCS) is the semifinal round of postseason play in Major League Baseball which has been conducted since 1969. In 1981, and since 1995, the two annual series have matched up the winners of the Division Series, and ...

" to determine the winner of the league pennant. This format was to be changed in 1994, though it was not carried out until 1995 due to the

1994–95 Major League Baseball strike The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike was the eighth and longest work stoppage in baseball history, as well as the fourth in-season work stoppage in 22 years. The strike began on August 12, 1994, and resulted in the remainder of that season ...

that 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 The Division Series is the quarterfinal round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Four series are played in this round, two each for both the American League and the National League. 1981 season The first use of the term "Division Series" date ...

" 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-seven

to determine the champion of Major League Baseball. *Team names link to the season in which each team played * – Defeated the

in a one game playoff for the division title, 7–1. ** – Defeated the

in a one game playoff for the division title, 5–2. † – Due to the

1981 Major League Baseball strike The 1981 Major League Baseball strike was the first work stoppage in Major League Baseball since the 1972 Major League Baseball strike that resulted in regular season games being cancelled. Overall, it was the fourth work stoppage since 1972, bu ...

, the season was split. Los Angeles won the first half and defeated second-half champion

(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 the players' strike starting August 12, no official winner was awarded. Los Angeles was leading at the strike. †† – The

and

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 A one-game playoff, sometimes known as a pennant playoff, tiebreaker game or knockout game, is a tiebreaker in certain sports—usually but not always professional—to determine which of two teams, tied in the final standings, will qualify for a ...

would have decided the division champion. ††† – Due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic, 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-up

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

(37–23, .617) also qualified for the playoffs.

Season results

;Notes and Tiebreakers * Houston and Los Angeles were tied for the division championship and played in a tie-breaker game. The Astros won 7–1 to claim the division crown. * San Francisco and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

of the

National League Central The National League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League ...

were tied for the wild-card berth and played in a tie-breaker game. The Giants lost 5–3 and were eliminated from postseason contention. * San 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. * Colorado and San Diego were tied for the wild-card berth and played in a tie-breaker game. The Rockies won 9–8 in 13 innings to claim the wild-card spot. * San Francisco and

of the

were tied for both wild-card berths but the Giants were relegated to the second wild-card spot by losing the season series 4–2. * San Francisco and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

of the

National League East The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. The division was created when the National Leag ...

were tied for both wild-card berths but the Giants were relegated to the second wild-card spot by losing the season series 4–3. * Los Angeles and Colorado were tied for the division championship and second wild-card berth and played in a tie-breaker game. The Dodgers won 5–2 to claim the division crown, while the Rockies were relegated to the second wild-card spot. * San Francisco and

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

of the

were 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).

Division titles won by team

^† indicates no longer in division since 1993 *indicates no longer in division since 1993, and no longer part of NL since 2013

References

MLB Final Standings By Year
{{San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball divisions Sports in the Western United States 1969 establishments in the United States

Geography

First season

Divisional membership

Current members

Former members

Division lineups

Division champions

Other postseason teams

Season results

Division titles won by team

See also

References