It was that bad. There were times when his cell phone would ring, and he would see his father's number flash, and he'd choke back tears. I was afraid I was letting him down. I was ready to quit. I thought, If this is my childhood dream, I need to do something different or get out.
Nothing's that fricking important.
Doug heard this, but he also knew there was a stack of paper back in his parents' house that contained every boxscore of every game he had ever played. He knew his father hitched the satellite dish to the trailer every time they went out of town for a vacation, so they wouldn't miss a game. He knew the folks at DirecTV got a load of angry e-mails from his parents every Wednesday, when rights restrictions prohibited it from airing a Twins game. Nothing's really changed. Some of the stories are incredible.