The year is 2287. The Calamity almost brought civilization to its end, but humanity survived. One of the tasks of the recovery was a combination large scale cleanup and cultural reconnaissance mission. Crews were told to sift through the wreckage of the past. "Look back before we step forward" they said.
One day, along the coastline of what used to Denver, CO a tattered, worn notebook was found. The inscription read: "The journal of Al, a baseball in service of the Major League and his imperial majesty, Robert Manfred." The words made little sense to the squad, with ideas and concepts that human culture had lost to a previous age.