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 East (the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals). When the division was created in 1994, the Pirates were originally supposed to stay in the East while the Atlanta Braves were to be moved to the Central from the West. However, the Braves, wanting to form a natural rivalry with the expansion  Florida Marlins, requested to remain 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. Since then, the Pirates have tried several times unsuccessfully to be placed back in the East. In 1998, the NL Central became the largest division in Major League Baseball when the Milwaukee Brewers were moved in from the American League Central. In 2013, the Astros moved to the American League West. This division has been dominated by the Cardinals, who have accounted for 11 of the 25 division championships, plus  three wild card wins. Aside from the Cardinals, the Cubs have the second most division championships with six, as well as three wild card wins. The Astros have four division titles and two wild card wins. The Reds have three division titles, along with one wild card win. The Brewers have three divisional championships, with two wild card wins. The Pirates have not won the division since the division was created, but possess three wild card wins. The 2013 win was the Pirates’ first playoff berth since 1992. The current division champion for the NL Central is the 2021 Milwaukee  Brewers. This is the third division championship for the Brewers, winning last in 2018. Division lineups. Place cursor over year for division champ or World Series team. <nowiki>§</nowiki> – Due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike on August 12, no official winner was awarded. Cincinnati was leading by half a game over Houston at the time of the strike. Champions by year. <nowiki>*</nowiki> – The Astros and Cardinals finished with identical regular season records. Because the Astros edged the Cardinals in head-to-head games, 9–7, they were awarded the National League Central division title, and the  Cardinals were designated as winners of the National League Wild Card. † – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was shortened to 60 games. By virtue of the eight-team postseason format used for that season, division runner-up St. Louis (30–28, .517) also automatically qualified for the playoffs. National League Championships. The division has produced six National League Pennant winners: St. Louis in 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2013, Houston in 2005, and Chicago in 2016. Other postseason teams. The wild card was introduced in 1994 and was initially assigned to the team with the best record in each league that  did not win its division. The first year of implementation was 1995 as a player strike prematurely ended the 1994 season. Since implementation, each of the NL Central teams has won the wild card. In 2012, a second wild card was added to post-season play, and in 2022, a third was also added. <nowiki>*</nowiki> – Defeated the San Francisco Giants in a one game playoff for the Wild Card, 5–3. <nowiki>†</nowiki> – Finished with the same record as the Houston Astros, but Houston won the season series vs. the Cardinals that year, and were given the higher  seed in the playoffs. <nowiki>**</nowiki> – From 2012 to 2019, and in 2021, the Wild Card was expanded to two teams. Those teams faced each other in the Wild Card Game to determine the final participant in the National League Division Series. In 2020 only, eight teams, including the three division winners, played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, with the winners advancing to the Division Series. Starting in 2022, the Wild Card field was increased to three teams, and along with the lowest-ranked division winner, qualified for the Wild Card Series to determine the remaining  two slots in the Division Series. †† – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was shortened to 60 games. <nowiki>***</nowiki> – Finished with the same record as the San Francisco Giants but won the wild-card spot due to a superior intra-divisional record (Brewers went 19–21 vs. the NL Central while the Giants went 18–22 vs. the NL West). NL Central titles won by team. <nowiki>*</nowiki> – Won division via tiebreaker"Italics" indicates former division member