10 things to read while you pass the time before the NL Wild Card Game

At 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, the Rockies and Cubs will square off at Wrigley in the 2018 NL Wild Card Game. Which means that, from now until 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, pretty much the only thing that Rockies and Cubs fans will be doing is thinking about the 2018 NL Wild Card Game.
And that's OK! You go to work all the time, but it's not every day that your favorite team finds itself in a do-or-die postseason game. It's perfectly understandable to be a ball of restless energy, counting down the seconds until first pitch. Which is why we've assembled some reading material on both squads below -- because if you're going to spend the whole day stressing about baseball, you might as well do it productively. 
The Rockies
1. Denver native and dark horse Cy Young candidate Kyle Freeland will take the mound for Colorado on Tuesday night. Get to know him a bit better -- and figure out just what the heck a Kyle Freeland Guy is -- by listening to his appearance on the Cut4Cast back in July. (You'll also pick up some handy mosquito prevention tips for your trouble.)
2. Of course, should Freeland not go the distance, he'll need some help from his mates in the bullpen -- a group that includes Adam Ottavino and his array of brain-melting sliders:

View this post on Instagram

Is that ball plastic?

A post shared by Pitchersnation (@pitchersnation) on Apr 16, 2018 at 9:54am PDT

Lucky for you, there's plenty more where that came from right here.
3. Thanks in large part to the two guys mentioned above, there's a good chance that this is the best pitching staff in Rockies history -- so save your Coors Field jokes and let MLB.com's Mike Petriello explain what makes them so good.
4. Of course, Colorado can score some runs, too. You know about guys like Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story, but you may not know about outfielder David Dahl. The Rockies' first-round pick back in 2012, Dahl was both frequently tantalizing but frequently on the DL. He's healthy now, though, and as MLB.com's Thomas Harding wrote, he's making good on all that potential (with some help from Blackmon).
5. Speaking of Story: Remember that time he hit three homers that traveled a combined 1,380 feet ... all in the same game? Let this post jog your memory, and feel free to rewatch this GIF 200-250 times.

The Cubs
1. When Chicago traded for Daniel Murphy back in August, they didn't just get a valuable veteran contributor -- they also got a guy who absolutely rakes at Wrigley Field in the postseason. We've got the video to prove it.
2. Fellow infielder David Bote, on the other hand, will make his October debut after a season of magical moments. Here's every fun fact you could possibly want to know about the North Side's newest folk hero.
3. When you think of Javier Báez, you probably think of his seemingly endless string of dazzling plays in the field and at the plate.

Starts with an M
Ends with a P

Not a cleaning instrument or a geographic chart. pic.twitter.com/eYiKwmR8hr

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 31, 2018

But, as Joe Maddon explained to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, he's also a much more cerebral player than you might realize.
4. And those smarts -- and unprecedented versatility -- are what drive his case for NL MVP.
5. The NL MVP of our hearts, however? Chicago's bullpen, whose dancing shenanigans found a whole new level this year. We encourage you to revisit them all, but our personal favorite is probably Duck, Duck, Goose: