National League

The term National League generally refers to the organization more properly referred to as the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the older (founded on February 2, 1876) of the two leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States of America and Canada. (The other major league is the American League.) Beginning with the 1903 season, the regular season champions of the two leagues have met in the World Series. (The Series was not played in either 1904 or 1994.)

The National League, which for the first 93 years of its existence competed equally in a single grouping, re-organized into two divisions of 6 teams (East and West) in 1969, with the division champions meeting in the National League Championship Series (an additional round of postseason competition) for the right to advance to the World Series. Beginning with the 1993 season, the league has been divided into three divisions (East, West and Central), with the addition of a Wild Card team (the team with the best record among those finishing in second place) to enable four teams to advance to the preliminary Division Series.

The National League is also known as the Senior Circuit, due to the fact that it has existed 25 years longer than the American League. Often characterized as being a more "traditional" or "pure" league, the National League never adopted the designated hitter rule(as did the AL during the 1970s). This means the role of the manager is more important in terms of actual play and there are perceived to be fewer home runs and big offensive plays due to the presence of the pitcher in the batting order, although this is not always the case.

Teams

Central Division

• Chicago Cubs
• Houston Astros
• St. Louis Cardinals
• Milwaukee Brewers
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Cincinnati Reds

The Central Division is the only division in either league to have six teams; the others all have fewer.

West Division

• Colorado Rockies
• Los Angeles Dodgers
• San Diego Padres
• Arizona Diamondbacks
• San Francisco Giants

East Division

• Atlanta Braves
• Florida Marlins
• Philadelphia Phillies
• New York Mets
• Montreal Expos

See also

• 19th century National League teams
• National League pennant winners 1876-1900
• National League pennant winners 1901-68
• National League Championship Series (NLCS)

Major League Baseball
American League		National League
Anaheim Angels | Baltimore Orioles | Boston Red Sox | Chicago White Sox | Cleveland Indians | Detroit Tigers | Kansas City Royals | Minnesota Twins | New York Yankees | Oakland Athletics | Seattle Mariners | Tampa Bay Devil Rays | Texas Rangers | Toronto Blue Jays		Arizona Diamondbacks | Atlanta Braves | Chicago Cubs | Colorado Rockies | Cincinnati Reds | Florida Marlins | Houston Astros | Los Angeles Dodgers | Milwaukee Brewers | Montreal Expos | New York Mets | Philadelphia Phillies | Pittsburgh Pirates | San Diego Padres | San Francisco Giants | St. Louis Cardinals
World Series | All Star Game | MLBPA | Minor Leagues

National Hockey League, the major league of ice hockey in the United States and Canada, and the National Football League, the major league of American football. In addition there was once the National Basketball League, which merged with its rival the Basketball Association of America to form the National Basketball Association - the surviving major league of basketball in the United States and Canada.