Can you imagine if last Wednesday had happened on a Sunday?

What if one of the most dramatic days in baseball history had had to butt heads with a regular season weekend in the NFL?

Major League Baseball did two things right this season - it moved up opening day a few days so it didn't coincide with the NCAA men's basketball title game, and it moved up the final day to a weeknight, where it had the stage to itself, rather than having to compete against the NFL.

The result was one wild, crazy - and frustrating - night.

To review:

3:49 p.m. - The Braves' lineup against the Phillies is posted. Because of an injury, Jack Wilson is listed at shortstop. Yeah, that Jack Wilson, who went from the Pirates to the Mariners two years ago. We all know how that turned out.

4:19 - Ryan Howard goes the other way, hits an RBI double down the left-field line to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the first. Considering the anemic Braves' lineup, that might be enough.

4:21 - I flip over to the MLB network to check on the other games. When did Brian Kenny leave ESPN?

4:28 - There is hope; Chipper Jones hits a sac fly in the bottom of the first to tie it at 1. The Braves have blown a big lead in the NL wild-card race, and enter the game tied with the Cardinals.

4:39 - No score in Baltimore where the Red Sox, who have blown a similarly big lead in the AL wild-card race, are tied with Tampa Bay heading into the final day. The Orioles have not been in contention all year - and haven't really been a factor for a couple of decades. You know manager Buck Showalter wants to have an impact on this race, but how bad do the Orioles want it?

4:50 - Dustin Pedroia's RBI single gives Boston a 1-0 lead. Is it over?

4:55 - Mark Teixeira hits a grand slam to put the Yankees up 5-0 at Tampa Bay.

4:58 — Cole Hamels comes in in the third inning to pitch for the Phillies. How nice is it to have someone like that you can bring in to get in a little work before the playoffs?

5:04 — Dan Uggla hits a two-run homer off Hamels to put the Braves ahead 3-1. Could it be?

5:07 — J.J. Hardy hits a two-run homer in the third to put the Orioles ahead 2-1. Maybe they do care.

5:11 — The Cardinals and Astros are under way in Houston. You talk about the Orioles — the Astros have lost 105 games, and will finish as the worst team in baseball. How much interest could they have in this game?

5:17 — The Cardinals score two runs in the top of the first before an out is recorded. They would go on to score five runs in the inning.

5:22 — Boston ties it at 2 in Baltimore on a balk.

5:37 — Teixeira’s solo HR makes it 6-0 Yankees in the fourth.

5:41 — Boston takes a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

5:54 — The Yankees now up 7-0 in the fifth.

5:58 — In the sixth, with runners at first and second and two out, Jack Wilson singles to right field. Perhaps a former Mariner is going to have an impact on the playoff race. But, alas, Uggla is thrown out at home by Hunter Pence. Still 3-1 Braves.

6:05 — Right fielder Jason Heyward of the Braves loses a fly ball in the lights for a double. The next batter singles, putting runners at first and third with one out.

6:08 — Jack Wilson boots a double-play grounder — in his defense, it was sharply hit — and a run scores. Phillies pull within 3-2. Wilson does turn a double play on the next batter.

6:10 — Cardinals now up 6-0 in the fourth in Houston.

6:21 — The Orioles’ Adam Jones — another former Mariner — comes up with runners at first and third with two out. He strikes out on a curve in the dirt.

6:22 — Lefty Jonny Venters comes on to pitch the eighth for Atlanta. The Braves’ three young relievers — Eric O’Flaherty pitches the seventh, Venters the eighth and Craig Kimbrel the ninth — are running on fumes at this point of the season because they have been used so much. Venters gives up a walk, hits Howard and walks another batter to load the bases with two out. But he strikes out Raul Ibanez — another former Mariner — to end the threat.

6:37 — There’s a rain delay in Baltimore, with the Red Sox up 3-2. Maybe the weather will help the BoSox make the playoffs.

6:46 — Kimbrel, who has set a rookie record with 46 saves, can’t close the door in an agonizing ninth inning. He gives up a leadoff single and walks two batters to load the bases with one out.

6:57 — Chase Utley — why is he always up in situations like this? — hits a sac fly to left to tie the game at 3. Pence walks, and Kimbrel is pulled after 29 pitches and a blown save.

7:02 — Yankees up 7-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Unlike the Phillies, who have kept a few of their regulars in, the Yankees, also with nothing at stake, are treating this like a spring training game. They trot out a bunch of relief pitchers in the final innings, none of which are named Mariano Rivera.

7:25 — Evan Longoria hits a three-run homer to cap a six-run eighth, pulling Tampa Bay within 7-6.

7:26 — The Cardinals finish off their 8-0 victory at Houston. The Braves, who started an hour earlier, are still playing.

7:35 — Chipper Jones’ line drive to deep center field with two outs in the 11th is run down by Michael Martinez. Had it fallen, Michael Bourn would have scored the winning run from first base. It would turn out to be the Braves’ best — and last — scoring chance.

7:48 — Tampa Bay’s Dan Johnson — who was hitting barely over .100 — homers to right field with two strikes and two outs in the ninth to tie the Yankees at 7.

8:01 — The Red Sox and Orioles resume play in Baltimore. When the rain started there, Tampa Bay was losing 7-0. As the Sox endured the rain delay, the Rays pulled even with the Yanks.

8:06 — Heyward, last year’s rookie sensation who slumped this year, opens the 12th with a single. Jack Wilson bunts him to second — Mariner ball! But then, just like the Mariners this season, the next batter strikes out, and the next one bounces to third, and Heyward is stranded.

8:30 — Pence breaks his bat, but manages an infield single between first and second to drive in a run and put the Phillies up 4-3 in the top of the 13th. It’s over.

8:42 — Heyward puts his team out of its misery by bouncing into a game-ending 3-6-3 double play. In Houston, the Cardinals celebrate winning the wild card. After Uggla’s homer in the third, the Braves did not score for the final 3 hours, 38 minutes of the game.

8:58 — Down to their last out in Baltimore, the Orioles get a double to temporarily quiet the Red Sox fans who are making a lot of noise in the Orioles’ stadium.

9:01 — Nolan Reimold — who had him on their fantasy roster? — doubles to right center to drive in the tying run for the Orioles. Red Sox fans thought all their demons had been exorcised by winning World Series titles in 2004 and ’07.

9:03 — Apparently not. Robert Andino — another household name — lines a single to left. Carl Crawford — Boston’s big free-agent signing over the winter — charges in but can’t come up with the ball, and Andino scores the winning run.

9:07 — Longoria, with his own flair for the dramatic, hits a line drive down the left field line and over the low fence for the game-winning homer and an 8-7 Rays win in 12 innings. Tampa Bay is in the playoffs. Boston, which 10 minutes earlier was looking at a tie-breaking game at the very least, is done for the season.

9:14 — Meanwhile, some 3,000 miles away in the Pacific Northwest, a meaningless season finale nears its conclusion between one team that never really had a chance all season, and another team that has been playing out the string since a 17-game nosedive in July.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com.