| League | National League |
|---|---|
| Sport | Major League Baseball |
| Founded | 1969 |
| No. of teams | 5 |
| Most recent champion(s) | Philadelphia Phillies (2024; 12th title) |
| Most titles | Atlanta Braves (18) |
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.
After having internal, informal divisions for scheduling purposes during the pre-expansion era,[1] the division was formally created when the National League (NL) (along with the American League) added two expansion teams and divided into two divisions, East and West effective for the 1969 season. The National League's geographical alignment was rather peculiar as its partitioning was really more north and south instead of east and west. Two teams in the Eastern Time Zone, the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, were in the same division as teams on the Pacific coast. This was due to the demands of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who refused to support expansion unless they were promised they would be kept together in the newly created East division.
During the two-division era, from 1969 to 1993, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates together owned more than half of the division titles, having won a combined 15 of 25 championships during that span.[2] They were also the only teams in the division to have won consecutive titles during that span.[3][4][5]
When the National League realigned into three divisions in 1994, the Pittsburgh Pirates were originally supposed to stay in the East while the Braves were to be moved to the newly created National League Central. However, the Braves, wanting to form a natural rivalry with the expansion Florida Marlins, elected to be placed in the East. Despite the Marlins offering to go to the Central, the Pirates instead gave up their spot in the East to the Braves.[6] Since then, the Pirates have tried several times unsuccessfully to be placed back in the East.[7]
- ^ "Boston Braves go to Milwaukee". Pittsburgh Press. United Press. March 18, 1953. p. 1.
- ^ Collier, Gene (September 27, 1993). "Pirates, Phillies Have Owned the Outgoing NL East Division". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D1.
- ^ Collier, Gene (July 4, 2005). "Pirates—Phillies: A Rivalry Lost and Missed". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. D1.
- ^ Von Benko, George (July 7, 2005). "Notes: Phils–Pirates rivalry fading". Philadelphia Phillies. Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- ^ "Pirates perform rare three-peat feat 4-2". USA Today. September 28, 1992. p. 5C.
- ^ Chass, Murray (September 16, 1993). "BASEBALL; Pirates Relent on New Alignment". The New York Times.
- ^ "Starkey: Pirates in American League' Yes!". TribLIVE.com. June 16, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2014.