Behind the big names are players who make their name in postseason

We know how much October loves stars in baseball, no doubt, we were just reminded of that all over again by Shohei Ohtani and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And of course, at the very end of the American League Championship Series, there was George Springer once more turning into a home run star for the Blue Jays the way he used to be for the Astros.

But October in general -- and the World Series especially -- also loves to make its own stars, and so often unlikely ones. It is why this time of year in baseball always sees the game’s biggest possible spotlight land on grinders, too.

The list is long and endless and random and pretty wonderful, from Bill Mazeroski to Al Weis to Jim Leyritz; from David Eckstein to David Freese to Scott Podsednik to Steve Pearce and Howie Kendrick and ... well ... yo