NLCS is an acronym that stands for National League Championship Series. It is the penultimate series of the playoffs, with the winner going on to represent the National League in the World Series. It is a best-of-seven series, with the first two and last two games of the series played at the team's ballpark which holds the home-field advantage in the series.
Home-field advantage is determined as follows: Division champions have home-field advantage over a wild card team, and if both participants are division champs or both are wild card teams, then the team with the better regular season record gets home-field advantage for the series.
History of the NLCS
Up until 1969, the National League team with the best regular season record went to the World Series without a playoff. In 1969 the National League split into two divisions (East and West), and the teams with the best record in each division would face off in the NLCS to see who would go to the World Series. This was a best of 5 series until 1985 when it went to a best of seven, which it still is today.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have played in the most National League Championships, with 15 appearances. They also hold the record for wins, with 8. The St Louis Cardinals have won in 7 of their 14 appearances, while the Atlanta Braves have won 6 of their 13 appearances. The most frequent matchup has been the Cincinnati Reds vs The Pittsburgh Pirates, with the Reds going 4-1 in those matchups, and the Philadelphia Phillies vs the Dodgers, with the Phillies leading 3 games to 2.
