National League East

The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central, it is one of two divisions to have every current member team win at least one World Series title; it is also the only division whose current members have all won the championship while playing there.
After having internal, informal divisions for scheduling purposes during the pre-expansion era, the division was formally created when the National League added two expansion teams and divided into two divisions, East and West, effective for the 1969 season. The National League's geographical alignment was rather peculiar as its geographic partitioning was less east–west than north–south. Two teams in the Eastern Time Zone, the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, were in the same division as teams on the Pacific coast. This was due to the demands of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who refused to support expansion unless they were promised they would be kept together in the newly created East Division.
During the two-division era, from 1969 to 1993, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates together owned more than half of the division titles, having won a combined 15 of 25 championships during that span. They were also the only teams in the division to have won consecutive titles during that span.
When the National League realigned into three divisions in 1994, the Pittsburgh Pirates were originally supposed to stay in the East while the Braves were to be moved to the newly created National League Central. However, the Braves, wanting to form a natural rivalry with the expansion Florida Marlins, elected to be placed in the East. Despite the Marlins offering to go to the Central, the Pirates instead gave up their spot in the East to the Braves. Since then, the Pirates have tried several times unsuccessfully to be placed back in the East.

Division membership

Current members

Atlanta Braves – Joined in ; formerly of the NL West
Miami Marlins – Joined in as an expansion team
New York Mets – Founding member
Philadelphia Phillies – Founding member
Washington Nationals – Founding member
Former members
Chicago Cubs – Founding member, moved to the NL Central in 1994.
Pittsburgh Pirates – Founding member, moved to the NL Central in 1994.
St. Louis Cardinals – Founding member, moved to the NL Central in 1994.
Membership timeline

'''Place cursor over year for division champ or World Series team.'''

Champions by year

Team names link to the season in which each team played

† – Due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, the season was split. Montreal won the second half and defeated first-half champion Philadelphia in the postseason.
§ – Due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike starting August 12, no official winner was awarded. Montreal was leading at the strike.
†† – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was shortened to 60 games. By virtue of the eight-team postseason format used for that season, division runner-up Miami also qualified for the playoffs.
††† – The Braves and Mets finished tied for first place with identical records. The Braves were declared division winners, due to having won the season series against the Mets, and the Mets received the wild card berth.

Other postseason teams

Year	Winner	Record	%	GB	Playoff Results
1997	Florida Marlins	92–70	.568	9	Won NLDS 3–0 Won NLCS 4–2 Won World Series 4–3
1999	New York Mets*	97–66	.595	6.5	Won NLDS 3–1 Lost NLCS 4–2
2000	New York Mets	94–68	.580	1	Won NLDS 3–1 Won NLCS 4–1 Lost World Series 4–1
2003	Florida Marlins	91–71	.562	10	Won NLDS 3–1 Won NLCS 4–3 Won World Series 4–2
2010	Atlanta Braves	91–71	.562	6	Lost NLDS 3–1
2012	Atlanta Braves**	94–68	.580	4	Lost NLWC
2016	New York Mets**	87–75	.537	8	Lost NLWC
2019	Washington Nationals**	93–69	.574	4	Won NLWC Won NLDS 3–2 Won NLCS 4–0 Won World Series 4–3
2020	Miami Marlins**	31–29	.517	4	Won NLWC 2–0 Lost NLDS 3–0
2022	New York Mets†††**	101–61	.623	0	Lost NLWC 2–1
2022	Philadelphia Phillies**	87–75	.537	14	Won NLWC 2–0 Won NLDS 3–1 Won NLCS 4–1 Lost World Series 4–2
2023	Philadelphia Phillies**	90–72	.556	14	Won NLWC 2–0 Won NLDS 3–1 Lost NLCS 4–3
2023	Miami Marlins**	84–78	.519	20	Lost NLWC 2–0
2024	Atlanta Braves††††**	89–73	.549	6	Lost NLWC 2–0
2024	New York Mets††††**	89–73	.549	6	Won NLWC 2–1 Won NLDS 3–1 Lost NLCS 4–2

* – Defeated the Cincinnati Reds in a one-game playoff for the Wild Card, 5–0.
** – From 2012 to 2019, and in 2021, the Wild Card was expanded to two teams. Those teams faced each other in the Wild Card Game to determine the final participant in the National League Division Series. In 2020 only, eight teams, including the three division winners, played in a best-of-three Wild Card Series, with the winners advancing to the Division Series. Starting in 2022, the Wild Card field was increased to three teams, and along with the lowest-ranked division winner, qualified for the best-of-three Wild Card Series to determine the remaining two slots in the Division Series.
††† – In 2022, the Braves and Mets finished tied for first place with identical 101–61 records. The Braves were declared division winners, due to having won the season series against the Mets, and the Mets received the wild card berth.
†††† – In 2024, the Braves and Mets finished tied for the second wild card berth with identical 89–73 records. The Braves won the second wild card berth, due to having won the season series against the Mets, and the Mets received the third wild card berth.

Season results

;Notes and Tiebreakers

New York and Cincinnati of the National League Central were tied for the wild-card berth and played in a tie-breaker game. The Mets won 5–0 to claim the wild-card spot.
Atlanta and St. Louis of the National League Central were tied for the second and third seed, but the Braves were relegated to the third seed by losing the season series 4–3.
New York and San Francisco of the National League West were tied for both wild-card berths, but the Mets claimed the first wild-card spot by winning the season series 4–3.
Atlanta and New York were tied for the division title, but the Braves claimed the National League East title by winning the season series 10–9.
Miami and Arizona of the National League West were tied for the fifth seed and the second wild-card berth, but the Marlins claimed the second wild-card spot by winning the season series 4–2.
Atlanta, New York and Arizona of the National League West were tied for the fifth seed and the second wild card berth, but the Braves claimed the second wild card spot by winning the season series 7–6 over the Mets, and the Mets claimed the third wild card spot by winning the season series 4–3 over the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks also lost to the Braves 5–2 in their season series.
New York and Cincinnati of the National League Central were tied for the sixth seed and the third wild card berth, but the Reds claimed the third wild card spot by winning the season series 4–2
NL East statistics
– Won division via tiebreaker

indicates no longer in division since 1994

Rivalries

Braves–Mets rivalry
Mets–Phillies rivalry
Nationals–Phillies rivalry