Traditions die hard, and this was the reason why many people were outraged when the National League re-aligned.  However, commissioner Fay Vincent had the power to do what he felt was best for Baseball, and he made a controversial decision that changed Baseball forever.

It was on this day, July 6th, 1992, that the Cubs, Cardinals and Rockies were forced to move to the Western division.  They joined the Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Astros to make up the complete NL West.  The Cubs strongly disagreed with the move, and they appealed the process, but it was to no avail.

As fate would have it – this wasn’t the last major realignment in the National League.  Down the road, the NL would open up an entirely new Central division, splitting the NL in 3 leagues.  This allowed for two extra playoff teams as a wild card was added to the mix so that each the National and American league could have 4 teams making the post season as opposed to two.