It’s Fall 2011.
The incredible improbable implausible miraculous has just happened.
The greatest night of baseball in MLB regular season history, had culminated in a playoff clinching walk off home run courtesy of Evan Longoria. The Tampa Bay Rays had just won the 2011 American League Wild Card spot.
That was September 28th, and the American League Division Series began just two days later, on September 30th.
The Rays top two pitchers, David Price and James Shields, had started must-win regular season games and would be on short rest. Winning game 1, however, was crucial to getting the upper hand in the brief five game set.