1996 National League Division Series

DatesOctober 1 – 5TelevisionESPN (in St. Louis)
NBC (in San Diego)TV announcersChris Berman and Buck Martinez (in St. Louis)
Bob Costas, Joe Morgan, and Bob Uecker (in San Diego)RadioCBSRadio announcersGene Elston and Gary CohenTeamsDatesOctober 2 – 5TelevisionESPN (Game 1)
Fox (Games 2–3)TV announcersChris Berman and Buck Martinez (Game 1)
Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Games 2–3)RadioCBSRadio announcersJerry Coleman and Jim HunterUmpiresJim Quick, Gerry Davis, Dana DeMuth, Frank Pulli, Harry Wendelstedt, Greg Bonin (Padres–Cardinals, Games 1–2; Braves–Dodgers, Game 3)
Steve Rippley, Eric Gregg, Tom Hallion, Terry Tata, Bruce Froemming, Bill Hohn (Braves–Dodgers, Games 1–2; Padres–Cardinals, Game 3)

The 1996 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the National League side in Major League Baseball's 1996 postseason, began on Tuesday, October 1, and ended on Saturday, October 5, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. The teams were:

• (1) Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champion, 96–66) vs. (4) Los Angeles Dodgers (Wild Card, 90–72): Braves won series, 3–0.
• (2) San Diego Padres (Western Division champion, 91–71) vs. (3) St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division champion, 88–74): Cardinals won series, 3–0.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves both swept their Division Series, and went on to meet in the NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Braves would rally to win that series four games to three and become the National League champion, but would lose to the American League championNew York Yankees in the 1996 World Series.