The B.O.A.R.D.: Tony Wolters says hello
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Each October, the MLB postseason belongs to someone or something. With so much good baseball packed into one month, it's sometimes tough to follow all the madness, so we created the Baseball October Arbitrary Ranking Device (The B.O.A.R.D.) to keep track of it all.
It did not take long for the 2018 postseason to remind us why October is the best month of the year. The NL Wild Card Game between the Cubs and Rockies went 13 innings, keeping us all wide awake until Scott Oberg struck out Albert Almora Jr. just after midnight local time. This marathon of a game truly had it all, from the traditionally bizarre cameo by the Wrigley Field ivy to an unexpected hug on the basepaths.
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It was a thrilling way to kick off this wonderful stretch of baseball and immediately introduced a new set of heroes to the baseball world, namely Rockies starter Kyle Freeland and backup catcher Tony Wolters . Freeland threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings in the biggest start of his young career, while Wolters notched the go-ahead RBI single in the 13th inning.
Freeland's stellar outing was in line with the rest of his excellent 2018 season, which has arguably been the best ever by a Rockies starting pitcher. Wolters, meanwhile, hadn't recorded a hit in nearly a month. But the Rockies couldn't have advanced without both of them stepping up.
So which player's heroics deserved a higher spot on the B.O.A.R.D.? Check out the video at the top of the page to find out.