Her husband had just slipped into their apartment just outside of Austin, Texas, late that Tuesday night following a Triple-A game when the phone buzzed. With it came the jubilation of a call-up to The Show. It was May 2, 2017, and Anthony Bass' baseball career was headed back in the right direction.
Like so many other fringe players in his cleats, he was never guaranteed a big league roster spot. Instead, it partnered with blood, sweat and fears—a constant anxiety that his foothold in the majors was on a sandy foundation that could erode beneath him at any moment.