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The National League Central Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. It was created in 1994, merging two teams from the West (Cincinnati and Houston) and three teams from the East (Chicago, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis) divisions of the National League. In 1998 it became the largest division in Major League Baseball, with the addition of a sixth member (Milwaukee). The most recent team to win the division is the St. Louis Cardinals.
This division has been dominated by St. Louis and Houston, who have accounted for all but 4 of the official division titles (from 1995 onward), as well as 3 of the 4 wild card berths from the division. The Cubs have been rising to prominence in the division recently, capturing the division's first wild card berth in 1998, and winning the division in 2003, 2007, and 2008 while also fielding strong teams in other years.
§ - Due to the players' strike on August 12, no official winner was awarded. Cincinnati was leading at the time of the strike.
† - The Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals finished the 2001 season tied for first place with identical records and both teams were awarded division championships.
For the purpose of playoff seeding, the Astros received the NL Central slot and the Cardinals received the Wild Card seeding. 2001 is considered by MLB to be the first shared divisional championship in MLB history.
National League Championships
The division has produced three National League Pennant winners: St. Louis in 2004 and 2006 and Houston in 2005. In both 2004 and 2005 the American League Champions swept the World Series and in 2006 the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in five games.
The wild card was first introduced in 1994 and is the team in each league with the best record that did not win its division. The system, however, was not implemented until 1995, as a player strike prematurely ended the 1994 season. Since its implementation, five NL Central teams have won the wild card.
† - 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.