The 2000 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 2000 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three NL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—participating in two best-of-five series. They were:
- (1) San Francisco Giants (Western Division champions, 97–65) vs. (4) New York Mets (Wild Card, 94–68): Mets win series, 3–1.
- (2) St. Louis Cardinals (Central Division champions, 95–67) vs. (3) Atlanta Braves (Eastern Division champions, 95–67): Cardinals win series, 3–0.
The higher seed (in parentheses) had the home field advantage (Games 1, 2 and 5 at home), which was determined by playing record. The Cardinals were awarded home field advantage rather than the Braves due to their 4–3 advantage in head-to-head play.
The Cardinals and Mets went on to meet in the NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Mets beat the Cardinals four games to one to advance to the 2000 World Series, where they would face the American League champion New York Yankees. With their division rival Atlanta Braves losing to the Cardinals, the Mets run to the World Series became much easier.
Famous quotes containing the words national, league, division and/or series:
“Thinking is the most unhealthy thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease. Fortunately, in England at any rate, thought is not catching. Our splendid physique as a people is entirely due to our national stupidity.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Stereotypes fall in the face of humanity. You toodle along, thinking that all gay men wear leather after dark and should never, ever be permitted around a Little League field. And then one day your best friend from college, the one your kids adore, comes out to you.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“O, if you raise this house against this house
It will the woefullest division prove
That ever fell upon this cursed earth.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)