Led by NL MVP Dale Murphy, the Braves finally reached the postseason after a long stretch of futility. They had outhomered the Cardinals during the regular season, 146-67, but this was a much different kind of mobile Redbird club than the last one that appeared in a postseason -- back in 1968, the year before the LCS round was added.

Phil Niekro, who had gone 17-4 for Atlanta in the regular season, had two rounds of tough luck that eventually proved too costly for the Braves. He had started Game 1, and the Braves had been three outs away from an official game with a 1-0 lead when the rains came and forced postponement (from the start) to the next night. Then Niekro started Game 2 and was protecting a 3-2 lead when he was pulled for a pinch-hitter -- worth second-guessing after the Cardinals proceeded to score in each of the last two innings for the win.

Path to the NLCS: St. Louis (92-70) won the NL East by three games; Atlanta (89-73) won the NL West by one game 

Managers: Whitey Herzog, STL; Joe Torre, ATL

MVP: Darrell Porter