National League pennant winners 1876–1968

Each season, a National League team wins the league's pennant, signifying that they are its champion and they win the right to play in the World Series against the champion of the American League. In addition to the pennant, the team that wins the National League playoffs receives the Warren C. Giles Trophy, named after Warren Giles, who was the league president from 1951 to 1969. Warren's son Bill Giles, the honorary league president and owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, presents the trophy to the National League champion at the conclusion of each National League Championship Series (NLCS). The current National League pennant winners are the Chicago Cubs, who won their 17th NL pennant in October 2016.

For most of the history of the National League (94 years), the pennant was presented to the team with the best win–loss record at the end of the season. The first modern World Series was played in 1903, and after a hiatus in 1904, continued until 1994, when a players' strike forced the cancellation of the postseason, and resumed in 1995. In 1969, the league split into two divisions, and the teams with the best records in each division played one another in the NLCS to determine the pennant winner. The format of the NLCS was changed from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven format for the 1985 postseason. In 1995, an additional playoff series was added when Major League Baseball restructured the two divisions in each league into three. As of 2010^[update], the winners of the Eastern, Central, and Western Divisions, as well as one wild card team, play in the National League Division Series, a best-of-five playoff to determine the opponents who will play for the pennant.

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