Baseball in October is still baseball – for the most part. Regulation games remain nine innings, there are three outs per inning, four balls a walk, Angel Hernandez and iconic broadcasting calls. It’s played in the same stadiums with the same teams.

However, once Game 162 is over, it’s no longer just a leisurely summer afternoon. Every pitch, every hit and every run becomes more meaningful and amplified during this time: the postseason.

The postseason is where superstars become legends, fan favorites are immortalized and pitching performances become stuff of legend.

There’s Mr. October and Mr. November. Both Hall of Famers received their nicknames for their dominance and excellence in the seven most meaningful games of baseball, the World Series.

Bullpens and relievers take over the games, starters get less rest in between starts, defenses and shifts get tighter, the crowd amplifies to 1000 and the entire nation is fervor of who will be immortalized next.

This World Series features two villains: Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies, who many argue is the most overrated and vilified player in the MLB and the Houston Astros who have the trashcan banging and other cheating scandals looming over them.

Someone will have an iconic moment in this series. We don’t know who yet.

While we’re waiting for the first pitch, here are ten of the most iconic moments in World Series history.

Cubs win the chip for the first time

For the first time in over 100 years, the lovable losers finally won the World Series. People forget Rajai Davis was almost the Series hero, blasting a home run in the 8th to give the Indians the lead. Off Aroldis Chapman, no less. But history remembers the winners. For the Cubs to comeback from a 3-1 deficit the same year LeBron James famously comes back from a 3-1 lead, you have to be on this list.

1956 Don Larsen’s perfect game

There has only been one perfect game in World Series history, and it happened 57 years ago. Once again, I was not born when this series was played. But when you’re the only person to do something on the biggest stage of your profession, you’re making the list regardless. Yankees pitcher Don Larsen would collect the first of his two World Series rings, eventually landing him in the Breitbard Hall of Fame by the San Diego Hall of Champions.

2020 Pandemic World Series

Roast me in the comments section. Mickey Mouse Championship! “It doesn’t count” – look, say what you want, but we all went through a global pandemic. The Los Angeles Dodgers were the favorites heading into the season. Achieving anything during a global pandemic should be regarded higher, but it isn’t for the boys in blue. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Bonds blasts one out of Anaheim

Oh, Joe Buck. At least the call didn’t ruin the moment. For context, Barry Bonds from 2000-2004 was the most feared player in baseball. Yes, the obvious steroids and BALCO scandal aside, the ball was hit so hard the score changed before the ball officially counted as a home run. At a projected distance of 485 feet, the ball attempts to exit the stadium through a stairway that leads to the right field exit. The camera cuts to Angels outfielder Tim Salmon saying, “That’s the farthest hit ball I’ve ever seen in my life.” Though Bonds and the Giants lost the series, it’s the farthest hit home run in postseason history.

Bumgarner…

Arguably the best postseason pitcher in MLB history, Madison Bumgarner established himself as a household name with the San Francisco Giants as their ace in three World Series championship runs. The stats are video game-like: 2-0 in games started, a 0.43 ERA and 52 and ⅔ innings to capture the 2014 World Series MVP.

Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7, World Series-winning home run

I wasn’t alive to see this game or anything prior to 1998. But you don’t have to be a genius to include Bill Mazeroski on this list. If you look at his career stats, they don’t jump off the statsheet and say Hall of Famer, but many argue that the game 7 walk off was more than enough to immortalize the Pirates legend in Cooperstown.

18 inning classic at Blue Heaven

As if baseball games during the postseason were long enough, faithful fans who endured this 18 inning slugfest between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox were in for a rollercoaster of emotions for those nine extra innings, capped off by a Max Muncy blast into the pavilions off Nathan Eovaldi. Though the 2018 World Series winners were the Boston Red Sox, it’s safe to say the Dodgers won in the long run, acquiring former Red Sox superstar outfielder Mookie Betts two years later.

“Touch ‘em all Joe!”

Canada, stand up! Though not quite the walk off juice, Hall of Fame first baseman Joe Carter did his best Bill Mazerowski impersonation. The iconic Tom Cheek home run call, “Touch ‘em all Joe! You’ll never hit one bigger than that,” lives forever in Cooperstown and baseball lore, capping off back-to-back World Series wins for the Toronto Blue Jays.

1903 1st World Series

Again, I wasn’t alive to see this game. It’s literally more than a hundred years older than me. You must pay homage and acknowledge the past greats. Back then, it was an 8-game series as opposed to the modern 7-game series. This would be the Red Sox’s first of five World Series trophies over the next 16 years, before the Curse of the Bambino.

1919 the Black Sox scandal

After the other Sox team began winning hardware, the Chicago White Sox wanted to get in on the fun. However, this series and the consequences to follow, are more iconic than the games played. Eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate led by Arnold Rothstein. All would receive lifetime bans from the sport and excluded from the Hall of Fame, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, forever blackmarking the game.