The2002National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a playoff series inMajor League Baseball’s2002 postseason played from October 9 to 14 to determine the champion of theNational League, between the Central Division champion and third-seededSt. Louis Cardinals and the wild-card qualifyingSan Francisco Giants. It was a rematch of the1987 NLCS, in which theCardinals defeated theGiants in seven games. The Cardinals, by virtue of being a division winner, had the home field advantage.

The two teams were victorious in theNL Division Series (NLDS), with the Cardinals defeating the West Division champion and defending World Series championsArizona Diamondbacks three games to none, and the Giants defeating the East Division champion and heavily favoredAtlanta Braves three games to two.

The Giants won the series in five games but were defeated by theAnaheim Angels in seven games in theWorld Series.

San Francisco won the series, 4–1.

Wednesday, October 9, 2002, atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

The Giants struck first in Game 1 off Matt Morris with two on viaBenito Santiago's RBI single to scoreKenny Lofton from second. Next inning, Morris struck out David Bell andKirk Rueter, but then gave up four runs before finally retiring Reggie Sanders. Lofton singled, stole second, and scored onRich Aurilia's RBI single. AfterJeff Kent singled,Barry Bonds's two-run triple scored Aurilia and Kent before Bonds scored on Santiago's RBI single, giving the Giants an early 5−0 lead. The Cardinals got on the board in the bottom of the inning off Rueter onFernando Viña's RBI groundout with runners on second and third, but solo home runs by Lofton in the third and Bell in the fifth off Morris gave the Giants a 7−1 lead. Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth off Rueter cutting the Giants' lead to 7−3, but the Giants got those runs back in the sixth on Santiago's two-run home run offMike Crudale. The Cardinals cut the lead to 9−5 on Miguel Cairo's two-run home run in the bottom of the inning, then made it 9−6 on J.D. Drew's home run in the eighth offTim Worrell, but Robb Nen pitched a scoreless ninth for the save as the Giants went up 1−0 in the series.

Thursday, October 10, 2002, atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri

In Game 2, the Giants went up 1−0 on Rich Aurilia's home run in the first offWoody Williams. His two-run home run in the fifth made it 3−0, also off Williams. Those were the only runs Williams allowed in six solid innings, but Giants starter Jason Schmidt pitched7+2⁄3 shutout innings before allowing Eduardo Pérez's home run in the eighth for the only run the Cardinals would score. The Giants added a run in the ninth onRamón Martínez's groundout offJason Isringhausen with runners on first and third while Robb Nen pitched a scoreless bottom of the inning for his second consecutive save. The Giants went up 2−0 in the series heading to San Francisco.

Saturday, October 12, 2002, atPacific Bell Park inSan Francisco

In Game 3, the Giants loaded the bases in the second with no outs offChuck Finley, but only scored once on Rich Aurilia's sacrifice fly. The Cardinals responded in the third offRuss Ortiz withÉdgar Rentería's sacrifice fly andJim Edmonds' RBI groundout scoring a run each after managing to put runners on second and third. They extended their lead to 4−1 on solo home runs by Mike Matheny in the fourth and Edmonds in the fifth, but Barry Bonds' three-run "splash hit" home run intoMcCovey Cove in the fifth tied the game, 4−4. This was the first (and, so far, only) time a Giants player had recorded a "splash hit" in the postseason. In the sixth,Eli Marrero hit a leadoff home run off Jay Witasick to take back the lead for the Cardinals. In the ninth,Jason Isringhausen walked Bonds with one out, but then retiredBenito Santiago andReggie Sanders to seal the Cardinals' 5−4 win and cut the Giants' series lead to 2−1.

Sunday, October 13, 2002, atPacific Bell Park inSan Francisco

In the first inning of Game 4, the Cardinals took an early 2–0 lead off Liván Hernández, scoring on Jim Edmonds' RBI groundout and Tino Martinez' RBI single. After being held scoreless for the first five innings, the Giants' bats would answer in the sixth, when J. T. Snow hit a game-tying two-run double to score Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds. In the eighth, Benito Santiago would deliver the key blow for San Francisco with a two-run home run following an intentional walk to Bonds. In the ninth, the Cardinals would threaten against Robb Nen, cutting the deficit to 4–3 with Edmonds' RBI single, which put runners at first and third base with one out for slugger Albert Pujols. However, Nen struck out Pujols and J. D. Drew to give the Giants a 3–1 series advantage.

Monday, October 14, 2002, atPacific Bell Park inSan Francisco

Game 5 was a pitchers' duel between Matt Morris and Kirk Rueter throughout the first six innings as the Giants looked for their first pennant since 1989. The Cardinals got on the board in the seventh with a sacrifice fly by Fernando Viña, but the Giants responded in the eighth with a sacrifice fly by Barry Bonds. In the ninth, Morris retired Ramón Martínez and J.T. Snow before giving up back-to-back singles to David Bell and Shawon Dunston. Steve Kline was then brought in to pitch to Kenny Lofton, who had yelled at the Cardinals dugout earlier after an inside pitch. On the first pitch, Lofton delivered a walk-off RBI single to right field, scoring Bell as J.D. Drew's throw was off-line, giving the Giants their first pennant since 1989.

2002 NLCS(4–1):San Francisco Giants overSt. Louis Cardinals

In theBarry Bonds era (1993-2007), the 2002 postseason would be the only October where the Giants experienced a run of team success, let alone win a playoff series (winning two). However, it still did not lead to an elusive World Championship for San Francisco. In the2002 World Series against theAnaheim Angels, the Giants were eight outs away from winning the Series in Game 6, but late game home runs byScott Spiezio andDarin Erstad, as well as a two-RBI double byTroy Glaus helped the Angels overcome a five-run, seventh-inning deficit to win.^[6] A three-run double byGarret Anderson was the difference in the Angels' Game 7 win to clinch the World Series.^[7] In the Series, the two teams set the record for combined runs over the course of the series. The Giants did not win aWorld Series until 2010.

DespiteDusty Baker's success in San Francisco, he had an increasingly strained relationship with ownerPeter Magowan, one that even the Giants' first pennant in thirteen years could not mend. Baker and the Giants mutually parted ways after the season. Baker was not out of work for long as he was quickly snatched up by theChicago Cubs to become their manager. Baker's Cubs reached the2003 National League Championship Series, but the teamfamously fell apart in Game 6 when the Cubs were up 3-0 and five outs from their first World Series appearance in almost 60 years.^[8] He would experience success managing theCincinnati Reds (2010-2013),Washington Nationals (2016-2018), and theHouston Astros (2020–2023) in later years. In 2012, his Reds faced his former team the Giants in theNational League Division Series. Like many times before with his previous teams, Baker’s Reds fell apart after leading the series 2–0, eventually losing to the Giants in five games. Baker eventually achieved World Series glory as manager, winning a World Series in2022 with the Astros. He retired the following season at the age of 73, after the Astros lost in theAmerican League Championship Series to the eventualWorld Series championTexas Rangers.^[9][10]

The St. Louis Cardinals continued to be a perennial playoff team until 2016, winning two World Championships in2006 and2011. Meanwhile, San Francisco began re-tooling their roster after losing a closeNL West race to the Dodgers on the last weekend of the season in2004.^[11] They did not make the postseason from 2004 to 2009.

The Giants continued their winning ways in the October against St. Louis, beating them in the2012 National League Championship Series and the2014 National League Championship Series, on their way to a World Championship in both seasons. In their2014 meeting, the Giants again clinched the pennant with a walk-off hit, when outfielderTravis Ishikawa hit a three-run home run offMichael Wacha to send the Giants to theWorld Series. Overall, it was the third time the Giants clinched a pennant on a walk-off hit, followingKenny Lofton in the 2002 NLCS andBobby Thompson'sShot Heard' Round The World.

In 2021, Dusty Baker andTony La Russa would face off again in theAmerican League Division Series. By then, the two men were the oldest managers in MLB at a combined age of 149. Baker's Astros beat La Russa's White Sox in four games on his way to his fourth League Championship Series as manager. He proceeded to winthat series, which made him at the age of 72 the second oldest manager to appear in aWorld Series, with the 19-year gap between pennants being the second longest for a manager in MLB history.^[12]

• 2002 NLCS at Baseball-Reference

• National League Championship Series
• 2002 Major League Baseball season
• San Francisco Giants postseason
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• 2002 in sports in California
• 2002 in sports in Missouri
• 2002 in San Francisco
• 2002 in St. Louis
• October 2002 sports events in the United States

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• Use mdy dates from November 2013