This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the National League West (the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros) and three teams from the National League East (the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals).
When the division was created in 1994, the Pirates were originally supposed to stay in the East while the Atlanta Braves were to be moved to the Central from the West.
However, the Braves, wanting to form a natural rivalry with the expansion Florida Marlins, requested to remain in the East.
§ – Due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike on August 12, no official winner was awarded.
By virtue of the eight-team postseason format used for that season, division runner-up St. Louis (30–28, .517) also automatically qualified for the playoffs.
The wild card was introduced in 1994 and was initially assigned to the team with the best record in each league that did not win its division.
Those teams faced each other in the Wild Card Game to determine the final participant in the National League Division Series.