In 1999, Arizona won 100 games in only its second season to win the NL West title.

The team finished the 2002 season with a 98-64 record and won the NL West Division Title, but were swept out in the NLDS by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The following year, Robinson won the American League Most Valuable Player award, thus becoming the first ( and so far only ) man to win the MVP in each league ( Robinson won the NL MVP in 1961, leading the Reds to the pennant ).

Near the end of the first decade of the double-Bills ' guidance, the Cubs won the NL pennant in 1929 and then achieved the unusual feat of winning a pennant every three years, following up the 1929 flag with league titles in 1932, 1935, and 1938.

With strong defense – Dernier CF and Sandberg 2B, won the NL Gold Glove-solid pitching and clutch hitting, the Cubs were a well balanced team.

The Cubs won the NL East once again that season winning 93 games.

Jim Leyland, a two-time NL Manager of the Year who had won the World Series with the Florida Marlins two years earlier, was expected to bring the Rockies back into contention in 1999.

Thompson won the 1887 NL batting championship, making him the only NL batting winner from the traditionally AL city.

* Dontrelle Willis ( 2003 – 2007 ) — The " D-Train " was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 2003 and showcased his remarkable ( for a pitcher ) hitting ability by going 3-for-3 with a triple while scoring a run during Game 4 of the 2003 National League Division Series, which the Marlins won 7 – 6 over the San Francisco Giants to advance to the NL Championship Series.

In 1957, he won the NL Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) Award, while that same year, the Braves won the World Series.

In 1957, Aaron won his only NL MVP Award.

In the 1973 National League Championship Series, the Reds met a New York Mets team that won just 82 regular season games, but boasted three of the best starting pitchers in the NL, future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack.

The Brewers faced the NL West Champion Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS and won the first two games at Miller Park, with Yovani Gallardo pitching 8 stellar innings in a 4-1 Game 1 win.

This National League pennant was notable because it was the only NL East title between 1970 and 1980 that wasn't won by either the Philadelphia Phillies or the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Mets turnaround was complete in the 2006 season as they won 97 games and the NL East crown behind new acquisitions Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, as well as young superstars Jose Reyes and David Wright.

Nicknamed " The Wizard " for his defensive brilliance, Smith set major league records for career assists ( 8, 375 ) and double plays ( 1, 590 ) by a shortstop ( the latter since broken by Omar Vizquel ), as well as the National League ( NL ) record with 2, 511 career games at the position ; Smith won the NL Gold Glove Award for play at shortstop for 13 consecutive seasons ( 1980 – 1992 ).

A 15-time All-Star, he accumulated 2, 460 hits and 580 stolen bases during his career, and won the NL Silver Slugger Award as the best-hitting shortstop in 1987.

After a run of three straight division titles from 1976 to 1978, the Phillies won the NL East in 1980 behind pitcher Steve Carlton, outfielder Greg Luzinski, and infielders Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, and Pete Rose.

The 2010 Phillies won their fourth consecutive NL East Division championship despite a rash of significant injuries to key players, including Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz.

During the period of two-division play ( 1969 to 1993 ), the two National League East division rivals won the two highest numbers of division championships, reigning exclusively as NL East champions in the 1970s and again in the early 1990s, the Pirates 9, the Phillies 6 ; together, the two teams ' 15 championships accounted for more than half of the 25 NL East championships during that span.

* No-Hitters: Marlins pitchers have issued four no-hitters in team regular-season history, all coming against teams in the NL West.

He was on the NL All-Star team 15 times, received 12 Gold Glove Awards, and led the NL in batting average four times.

Despite initial excitement, the guidance of longtime baseball executives, Eddie Leishman and Buzzie Bavasi as well as a new playing field, the team struggled ; the Padres finished in last place in each of its first six seasons in the NL West, losing 100 games or more four times.

During his four full seasons at the helm ( 1985 – 1988 ), the Reds posted four second-place finishes in the NL West division.

The following season, Baltimore and Cleveland again finished first and second in the NL, but in the battle for the 1896 Temple Cup, the second-place Spiders were swept in four games.

A sterling defensive player, he won the first three Gold Glove Awards and led the NL in double plays four times and in putouts, assists and fielding percentage three times each.

The eight players most frequently referenced as members of the Big Red Machine include baseball's all-time hit leader in Rose ; three Hall of Fame players in Bench, Peréz and Morgan ; six National League MVP selections ; four National League home run leading seasons ; three NL Batting Champions ; 25 Gold Glove winning seasons, and 63 collective All-Star Game appearances.

At the end of August, the Phillies faced the Mets, whom they trailed in the NL East by six games, for a four game series.

The Pirates won the 1927 NL pennant ; Lloyd then batted. 400 in his first and only World Series, but the New York Yankees won in four games.

* 1 – 10 October — St. Louis Cardinals ( NL ) defeats Philadelphia Athletics ( AL ) to win the 1931 World Series by four games to three

Bresnahan batted. 284 in the 1904 season, playing 96 games in the outfield, ten games at first base, four games at shortstop, and one game apiece at second base and third base, as the Giants were champions of the NL.

He hit 244 home runs and batted in 1, 063 runs, led the NL in home runs four times, and surpassed 100 RBIs six times.

In 1984, Gossage clinched another title, earning the save in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series and sending the Padres to their first World Series ; after San Diego had scored four runs in the seventh inning to take a 6-3 lead against the Chicago Cubs, Gossage pitched the final two innings, getting Keith Moreland to hit into a force play for the final out.

On July 10, 1936, Klein became the first NL player to slug four home runs in a game in the 20th century.

He led the National League in stolen bases in 1991 and 1992, was a member of the NL All-Star team in 1993 and 1994, and won four consecutive Gold Gloves, the first coming in 1993.

He was on four NL pennant-winning teams and one World Series champion ( 1933 ).

He was named the NL Player of the Week for July 1 through 7 after hitting four home runs and accumulating 10 RBIs.

After the 1899 season, the NL voted to contract four teams, which included the Orioles.

When the midsummer classic went into extra innings, Smith pitched the 10th, 11th and 12th innings, striking out four and getting credit for the win when the NL scored the only two runs of the game in the 13th.

While the upgraded Giants improved their final standings by finishing in third place among eight teams in the NL, and had a four game lead over the Chicago Colts on June 16 when Rusie held them scoreless, and were 2. 5 games behind the Colts on September 19, they were 13 games back at the close of the season.

Doyle, who also became the roommate of Christy Mathewson for several years, followed up with a season in which he led the NL in hits ( 172 ) and was among the league's top four players in batting (. 302 ), slugging (. 419 ), home runs ( 6 ) and total bases ( 239 ).

He umpired in 10 World Series – a total exceeded only by the 18 worked by Bill Klem, whose hiring O ' Day had recommended – including four of the first five played ; for the first three, he was the only NL umpire for the Series: 1903, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1916, 1918, 1920, 1923 and 1926.