Giancarlo Stanton played 1,144 games before ever tasting the playoffs -- languishing in Miami, and having his offseason start more or less on the same day every year, around Oct. 1, regardless of whatever majestic feats he accomplished during the course of the summer. So when he settled in against Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning of Tuesday's do-or-die game against the Red Sox, it seemed like a prime moment to truly, really earn his postseason pinstripes.