2011 MLB Playoffs: Ranking the 9 Most Shocking Upsets in NLCS History

The Major League Baseball postseason has been riddled with upsets over the years. While it isn't quite the NCAA tournament, the National League Championship Series in particular has seen a few shocking upsets over the past 42 years.

As we prepare for this year's version, let's take a look back at the top nine shocking NLCS upsets in the past 42 years.

9. Colorado Rockies Versus Arizona Diamondbacks, 2007

The remarkable part about this NLCS is not simply that the Colorado Rockies won. They were one game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the loss column over the season, so the results should have been approximately equal.

That really didn't happen. The Colorado Rockies took down the Arizona Diamondbacks in four straight. However, the upset part comes in the fact that the Rockies only batted .222 as a team over that series, whereas the Diamondbacks were able to hit .254.

Why did this happen? The Rockies delivered on timely hits. However, this feels like an upset in my book because this difference in batting averages does not seem to correlate with a four-game sweep.

8. Atlanta Braves Versus Pittsburgh Pirates, 1991

This is the year that the Braves dynasty began. However, to establish themselves, they had to overcome ace pitcher Doug Drabek and sluggers Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. Drabek pitched excellently, as he seemed to do a lot. However, Bonds struggled mightily, hitting just .148 through the series.

On the other hand, the Atlanta Braves were able to get huge starts from Tom Glavine and Steve Avery and a huge Game 7 start from John Smoltz. Ron Gant, Brian Hunter and Greg Olsen provided the firepower that carried the Braves eventually to a dramatic win and the beginning of an incredible streak of success.

7. Cincinnati Reds Versus Pittsburgh Pirates, 1990

The Pittsburgh Pirates had the powerful bats of Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla carry them all season. However, during the series, Bonds hit just .167 and Bonilla hit a little better at .190. Ace pitcher Doug Drabek did well, but it simply wasn't enough to overcome the Cincinnati Reds.

There were actually co-MVPs for the Cincinnati Reds; Rob Dibble and Randy Myers combined to come out of the bullpen for 10 and two-thirds innings of shutout baseball. The Reds were able to knock off the Pirates 4-2, even though the Pirates had been better throughout the season.

6. St. Louis Cardinals Versus New York Mets, 2006

In 2006, the Mets were in a remarkable position. They won 97 games and were solidly behind the bats of Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and a young David Wright. The Mets were finally on top of the Braves for the first time in a long time, and life seemed good.

However, it didn't end so well for the Mets. The St. Louis Cardinals (only 83-78 on the season) were led by Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina during this series, and they outlasted the Mets over seven games. Jeff Suppan won the MVP for only allowing one run over 15 innings of work.

5. San Diego Padres Versus Chicago Cubs, 1984

The San Diego Padres went down 2-0 in the series to the Chicago Cubs, who had been better throughout the entire season. However, the Padres were able to come back and win three in a row to knock off the Cubs.

Tony Gwynn and the eventual MVP Steve Garvey were fabulous at the plate for the Padres, and Craig Lefferts outdueled 20 game winner Rick Sutcliffe in the deciding Game 5. It was just like it always is in Chicago, "Wait till next year."

4. San Francisco Giants Versus Philadelphia Phillies, 2010

The Philadelphia Phillies were coming into the NLCS as arguably the best team in the National League last season. They were led by the trio of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels on the mound. At the plate, they had Ryan Howard and Chase Utley mashing the ball. However, they still managed to lose.

Although it takes more than one man to win, Cody Ross was pretty much amazing during that series. He hit .350 with three home runs, scored four runs and had five RBI. To put it in perspective, the Phillies as a team only scored 20 runs. Ross was roughly responsible for almost half as many runs as all the Phillies scored put together. The Giants won 4-2 and went on to take down the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

3. Florida Marlins Versus Atlanta Braves, 1997

I don't mean to pick on the Atlanta Braves. But let's face it, they had so many amazing years during the 1990s that every time they didn't make it to the World Series, it was basically an upset. They were led by the deadly trio of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine.

This time, I think it was an even bigger upset though because the Florida Marlins had only played four seasons before this. However, they were able to take down the perennially strong Braves behind an MVP performance from Livan Hernandez. The Braves won 101 games this season, but they couldn't finish off the Marlins.

2. San Diego Padres Versus Atlanta Braves, 1998

I know that many people are saying that the Philadelphia Phillies have the best pitching staff that has been seen in baseball for a long time. However, here is the staff that they are normally compared to. At this point, the Atlanta Braves were led by a trio of stars in Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine.

Even this amazing pitching staff was not capable of overcoming the San Diego Padres. The Braves simply could not find their bats even though they had managed to win 106 games that season. They were not able to defeat some excellent pitching from the likes of Kevin Brown, Sterling Hitchcock and Andy Ashby and run production from Ken Caminiti.

1. New York Mets Versus Cincinnati Reds, 1973

Who would have thought that the epic Big Red Machine would fall at the hands of the New York Mets who were barely over .500 in 1973? This team featured Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez to name a few. How could they lose? Well, it happened.

The 82-79 New York Mets lost the opening game behind Tom Seaver, but they manage to scratch their way back and eventually won the series 3-2. Seaver himself came back to win the deciding Game 5 while only allowing one earned run and one unearned run over eight and one-third innings.