There is only one month in the baseball calendar that can guarantee legend status for those who would conquer it. And that month is October.

Since we have a few days to kill until the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees start their World Series, it's a good time to remember guys who did exactly that.

We're going to look back on and rank the 10 greatest October heroes from the last 10 complete postseasons. This means 2014 through 2023, though we will first acknowledge some honorable mentions who are crushing the 2024 playoffs.

To clarify, this is about individual playoff runs and not total bodies of work. It's mostly about stats, but also about moments. Because if a player really wants to be a postseason legend, it's as much about making memories as running up numbers for Baseball Reference.

Ultimately, two things informed the rankings: What each player did in the postseason in question, and whether it still feels as impressive today as it did in the moment.

Honorable Mentions for 2024

Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers

Stats: 11 G, 52 PA, 4 HR, 12 RBI, .296 AVG, .404 OBP, .659 SLG

Betts' postseason track record was a relative weakness coming into these playoffs. Whereas the 2018 AL MVP had a .900 OPS for the regular season between 2014 and 2023, his 58 playoff games in that span only yielded a .710 OPS.

He's obviously off to a heck of a start in changing the narrative. His 1.063 OPS is easily his best for any of the postseasons he's played in so far, with his four homers already matching how many he had hit in the playoffs prior to this year.

Juan Soto, New York Yankees

Stats: 9 G, 41 PA, 3 HR, 8 RBI, .333 AVG, .439 OBP, .667 SLG

Soto has been there and done that as a playoff hero before. He played a huge part in leading the Washington Nationals to World Series glory in 2019, homering five times and putting up a .927 OPS.

He is nonetheless trying to outdo even that effort this year, and his most recent act of heroism is arguably his greatest yet in October. Not many players can claim to have hit pennant-clinching homers, as he now can.

Giancarlo Stanton, New York Yankees

Stats: 9 G, 39 PA, 5 HR, 11 RBI, .294 AVG, .385 OBP, .794 SLG

Though it was Soto who added the exclamation mark, it was Stanton who won MVP honors for the Yankees' win over the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Championship Series. He homered in four of the five games, and in increasingly clutch ways to boot.

With 16 homers in only 149 plate appearances, Stanton is the most prolific postseason power hitter this side of Babe Ruth. Which basically means he might as well be calling his shots at this point.

10. Daniel Murphy in 2015

Team: New York Mets

Stats: 14 G, 64 PA, 7 HR, 11 RBI, .328 AVG, .391 OBP, .724 SLG

Accolades: NLCS MVP

How He Did It

"Power hitter" is not how anyone would have described Daniel Murphy going into the 2015 playoffs.

He had just 62 homers to show for his first seven seasons as a big leaguer. And even in setting a career high for home runs during the 2015 regular season, he still only hit 14.

So, go figure that Murphy would be the one to set a Mets postseason record by hitting half that many in the '15 playoffs. And all seven of his home runs came just in the first two rounds, including in a record-setting six games in a row.

The homer that Murphy hit off Zack Greinke (who had a 1.66 ERA in the regular season) in Game 5 of the NLDS was the one that got the Mets to the NLCS. And once there, he homered in all four games of a sweep that put the Mets in the World Series for the first time since 2000.

How It Holds Up

The catch, of course, is that as suddenly as Murphy's power came, it went away just as suddenly opposite the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. He went 3-for-20 with not one long ball in a five-game defeat for the Mets.

As such, you can be forgiven if you had forgotten all about this until just now.

9. Jon Lester in 2016

Team: Chicago Cubs

Stats: 6 G, 5 GS, 35.2 IP, 27 H (3 HR), 30 K, 6 BB, 2.02 ERA

Accolades: NLCS MVP, World Series Champion

How He Did It

Jon Lester already had a rep as a clutch playoff pitcher when he joined the Cubs ahead of the 2015 season. He had won two World Series and was the owner of a 2.57 playoff ERA.

In 2016, he lived up to all this and more in helping to lead the Cubs to their first World Series championship in 108 years.

The lefty did no wrong in his first three starts of the playoffs, logging eight scoreless innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against the San Francisco Giants and then racking up 13 innings of two-run ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. The Cubs won all three games.

Though Lester lost Game 1 of the World Series, he was the winning pitcher when the Cubs started their comeback from a 3-1 deficit versus Cleveland in Game 5. And when he handed the ball to Aroldis Chapman in Game 7, the Cubs had a 95 percent chance of winning.

How It Holds Up

Alas, what happened after Lester gave way to Chapman wiped the slate clean for other heroes to rescue the Cubs. Ben Zobrist answered the call with his go-ahead double in the 10th inning.

This pretty much gets at the truth of Lester's role with the Cubs in the 2016 postseason. Perhaps he was their center of gravity, but he alone didn't make them turn.

8. Jeremy Peña in 2022

Team: Houston Astros

Stats: 13 G, 61 PA, 4 HR, 8 RBI, .345 AVG, .367 OBP, .638 SLG

Accolades: ALCS MVP, World Series MVP

How He Did It

Before 2022, there had never been a case of an American League player capturing the MVP awards for both the League Championship Series and the World Series.

Then Jeremy Peña came along, and this was notably after he had already played hero with his series-clinching homer in the 18th inning of Game 3 of the ALDS.

The rookie shortstop hit safely in 12 of the 13 games he played in during the 2022 playoffs. And the hits only got more consistent the deeper he played, as he followed his .250 average in the ALDS with a .353 average in the ALCS and a .400 average in the World Series.

At the time, Peña was only the fourth rookie to ever contribute at least 20 hits to a World Series-winning cause in the playoffs. Two of the other three (Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones) are in the Hall of Fame.

How It Holds Up

Though Peña was consistently at the center of things, it didn't feel even in the moment like the Astros' run to the championship revolved around him.

It was Yordan Alvarez who provided the two most memorable hits the Astros got that October. A whole bunch of pitchers otherwise formed the backbone of the run, and never more so than in the combined no-hitter in the third game of the World Series.

7. Bryce Harper in 2022

Team: Philadelphia Phillies

Stats: 17 G, 71 PA, 6 HR, 13 RBI, .349 AVG, .414 OBP, .746 SLG

Accolades: NLCS MVP

How He Did It

If we're going to talk about Bryce Harper in the 2022 playoffs, then we naturally have to start with the swing of his life from Game 6 of the NLCS:

That alone is one of the most memorable hits in recent playoff history, and it wasn't even Harper's only game-winning moment in the 2022 NLCS. He drove in the decisive run in three of the Phillies' four wins over the San Diego Padres.

All this happened smack in the middle of a nutso 11-game run for the two-time NL MVP. Between Game 2 of the Wild Card Series and Game 1 of the World Series, Harper hit .455 with five home runs, 10 runs scored and 11 runs driven in.

Numbers-wise, anyway, Harper's run through the 2022 playoffs still looms as arguably the greatest by any Phillies hitter ever.

How It Holds Up

Though Harper was responsible for one of the five home runs the Phillies hit off Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3 of the World Series, the series did not end well for him. He managed just one hit as the Phillies lost the next three games.

This should not and does not cheapen anything that had come before. It does, however, add a "what might have been" flavor to Harper's 2022 postseason.

6. Randy Arozarena in 2020

Team: Tampa Bay Rays

Stats: 20 G, 86 PA, 10 HR, 14 RBI, .377 AVG, .442 OBP, .831 SLG

Accolades: ALCS MVP

How He Did It

The 2020 postseason was the one in which Randy Arozarena went from relative unknown to bona fide household name, and all it took was setting a few records.

The 10 home runs he hit set a record, as did his 29 hits. He also tied one with 14 extra-base hits.

The expanded format of the 2020 playoffs indeed allowed Arozarena to tie the all-time record for plate appearances in a single postseason, but that alone doesn't explain his dominance with various counting stats. Even if you lower the bar to just 50 plate appearances, his 1.273 OPS is still the seventh-best for a single postseason.

The other thing about Arozarena's 2020 onslaught is just how unrelenting it was. After starting out at .250 through one game, his average never dipped below .354 after that. He also never went more than two games between home runs.

How It Holds Up

Four years later, the numbers from Arozarena's 2020 postseason still leap off the page. But can anyone point to a specific moment as being especially memorable? For that matter, does anyone remember the 2020 postseason, period?

It definitely happened, but it didn't rise above the sense of unreality that was hanging over the whole danged world at the time. Because of that, Arozarena's exploits feel almost dream-like in the here and now.

5. Corey Seager in 2020

Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

Stats: 18 G, 80 PA, 8 HR, 20 RBI, .328 AVG, .425 OBP, .746 SLG

Accolades: NLCS MVP, World Series MVP, World Series Champion

How He Did It

As amazing as Randy Arozarena was in the 2020 playoffs, Corey Seager was the one who made a run at the all-time playoff RBI record and, oh yeah, actually won a championship.

He was a veritable RBI machine, and especially as the Dodgers got closer to their first World Series title since 1988. In 12 contests between Game 2 of the NLCS and Game 6 of the World Series, Seager went deep seven times and drove in 16 runs.

He was especially crucial in spearheading the Dodgers' comeback from a 3-1 deficit against Atlanta in the NLCS. His seventh-inning homer in Game 5 effectively put the game out of reach, while his first-inning homer in Game 6 started the scoring.

Seager also provided the hit that tied the score in Game 6 of the World Series, which the Dodgers went on to win. That pretty much sealed the deal on him becoming only the eighth player to ever be named the MVP for the NLCS and the World Series.

How It Holds Up

If it's fair to hold the general unreality of 2020 against Arozarena, then it's only fair to hold it against Seager as well.

Plus, it's that much harder to zero in Seager's 2020 postseason as evidence of his October greatness when one knows what we all know now: That he would outdo himself three years later.

4. Corey Seager in 2023

Team: Texas Rangers

Stats: 17 G, 82 PA, 6 HR, 12 RBI, .303 AVG, .439 OBP, .667 SLG

Accolades: World Series MVP, World Series Champion

How He Did It

On numbers alone, you can make the case that Corey Seager's 2020 postseason always was and still is superior to his 2023 postseason.

At no point in 2020, though, did Seager have a hit as seismic as the game-tying home run that he clobbered in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 2023 World Series.

That is one of only six game-tying homers to ever be hit in the bottom of the ninth of a World Series game. And it was part of an increasingly incredible act on Seager's part. Of the five long balls he hit in the ALCS and World Series, three either tied the score or gave the Rangers the lead.

When the World Series ended, Seager took his place as one of just four players who have ever won multiple World Series MVP awards.

How It Holds Up

There is nothing unreal about what Seager did in the 2023 season. Unless, of course, you want to use that word in its more hyperbolic sense, a la "unbelievable."

Rather, really the only thing to hold against Seager's 2023 postseason is that he wasn't even the most dominant hitter on his own team that October.

3. Adolis García in 2023

Team: Texas Rangers

Stats: 15 G, 68 PA, 8 HR, 22 RBI, .323 AVG, .382 OBP, .726 SLG

Accolades: ALCS MVP, World Series Champion

How He Did It

Taken as a whole, Adolis García's 2023 postseason is one of the best ever. He's one of only six players to hit eight homers in a single postseason, and he owns the record for RBI.

It is nonetheless when García was at his absolute best that really sticks in the memory, and strong enough to be one of those "Where were you when..." things.

Between the fourth game of the ALCS and the first game of the World Series, García went 11-for-21 with six home runs and 15 runs batted in. His last hit in this span was his biggest, as it was the one that gave Texas the win in Game 1 of the World Series:

This, mind you, was immediately after García had become the first player to rack up four hits and five RBI in the seventh game of a League Championship Series. He also hit two homers in that game, bringing his total for the last four games of that series to five.

How It Holds Up

If we want to pick nits, we can point out that García was his usual volatile self even when he was at his hottest in the 2023 playoffs. He whiffed 18 times, including four times in one game on two separate occasions.

He also, you know, missed Games 4 and 5 of the World Series with an oblique strain. Not exactly an ideal way to end an otherwise historic run.

2. Stephen Strasburg in 2019

Team: Washington Nationals

Stats: 6 G, 5 GS, 36.1 IP, 30 H (4 HR), 47 K, 4 BB, 1.98 ERA

Accolades: World Series MVP, World Series Champion

How He Did It

The Nationals' World Series run in 2019 was replete with heroes on the offensive side, where Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto and Howie Kendrick, especially, just kept producing clutch hits.

And yet, all of those likely would have been for naught if Stephen Strasburg hadn't shoved so thoroughly every time he took the mound.

The Nationals won all six of the games he appeared in, for which he personally became the first pitcher to ever go 5-0 in a single postseason. Further, only Curt Schilling has had a postseason with more strikeouts than Strasburg had in 2019.

It all led to arguably the signature performance of Strasburg's career. With the Nationals facing elimination in Game 6, he became the first pitcher since Orel Hershiser in 1994 to pitch eight innings and get a W in a World Series elimination game.

How It Holds Up

If Strasburg hadn't done what he did in October 2019, he might not get that seven-year, $245 million contract in the offseason. Accordingly, an all-time bust would have been averted.

But this is basically the only way to put a negative spin on Strasburg's heroics from five years ago. It is the last great case of an ace pitcher grabbing hold of October, and who knows when (or if) that will ever happen again?

1. Madison Bumgarner in 2014

Team: San Francisco Giants

Stats: 7 G, 6 GS, 52.2 IP, 28 H (3 HR), 6 BB, 45 K, 1.03 ERA

Accolades: NLCS MVP, World Series MVP, World Series Champion

How He Did It

Just as we can confidently say that no player has ever single-handedly won a World Series, we can confidently say that Madison Bumgarner gave it a pretty good shot in 2014.

His six starts saw him log no fewer than seven innings and allow no more than three runs. He pitched two shutouts, making him one of only nine pitchers to do so in a single postseason.

He was also the first to record four wins and one save in a single postseason, and it suffices to say the save was hard-won. It came when he closed out Game 7 of the World Series with five scoreless innings.

In all, Bumgarner set a playoff record for innings and ended up with the third-lowest ERA and second-lowest WHIP among pitchers who have ever thrown so many as 30 innings in a single postseason. He is one of four pitchers to earn LCS and World Series MVP honors.

How It Holds Up

There is nothing—literally not one thing—that can be held against what Bumgarner did in the 2014 playoffs.

Especially considering its ultimate fruitfulness, it might be the best wire-to-wire playoff run by a single player ever. And he had very little help in getting the Giants across the finish line, as they were otherwise devoid of effective starters and hot hitters.

Hold his beer. All six of them.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.