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) of the National League. In 1998, the Central became the largest division in Major League Baseball when the Milwaukee Brewers were moved in from the American League. In 2013, the Houston Astros will be moving to the American League West as part of a realignment by Major League Baseball.
This division has been dominated by the St. Louis Cardinals, who have accounted for eight of the seventeen division championships, plus two "wild cards." Aside from the Cardinals, the Houston Astros have the next most division championships with four, as well as two wild card wins. The Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds are tied with three division titles, while the Milwaukee Brewers have one. The Pittsburgh Pirates have not made the playoffs since the division was created. The Brewers and Cubs also have one wild card to their credit.
Read more about National League Central: Current Members, Former Members, Division Lineups, NL Central Division Regular Season Champions, National League Championships, Wild-card Winners, NL Central Titles Won By Team
Famous quotes containing the words national, league and/or central:
“I submit all my plays to the National Theatre for rejection. To assure myself I am seeing clearly.”
—Howard Barker (b. 1946)
“Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward the Light Brigade!”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“There is no such thing as a free lunch.”
—Anonymous.
An axiom from economics popular in the 1960s, the words have no known source, though have been dated to the 1840s, when they were used in saloons where snacks were offered to customers. Ascribed to an Italian immigrant outside Grand Central Station, New York, in Alistair Cooke’s America (epilogue, 1973)