This team receives the Warren C. Giles Trophy and the right to play in the World Series against the champion of the American League (AL).
The trophy is named for Warren Giles, the league president from 1951 to 1969, and is presented immediately after each NL Championship Series (NLCS) by Warren's son Bill Giles, the honorary league president and former owner of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The pennant has been awarded every year since 1876, except for 1994, when a players' strike forced the cancellation of the postseason.
[6] In 1995, an additional playoff series was added when MLB restructured the two divisions in each league into three.
There was an earlier "World's Championship Series" played between the pennant winners of the NL and the American Association 1884–1890; from 1894 to 1897 the NL's first- and second-place teams played a postseason series for the Temple Cup, which was considered to be the league championship.
The
Philadelphia Phillies
won their second consecutive pennant in 2009 and lost to the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 NLCS.
The Pittsburgh Pirates
(back row)
won the National League pennant in 1903, and played in the first modern World Series in baseball history.
The New York Giants won their first World Series appearance in 1905 after their owner refused to take part in the 1904 World Series.
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The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series after capturing the National League pennant.
In 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers faced off in the National League championship series for the pennant; the Phillies won, four games to one.
The 19th century Baltimore Orioles team won three National League pennants, one of three defunct teams to have won the league.
The Detroit Wolverines won their only pennant in 1887, followed by a victory in the World's Championship Series.