JUPITER, Fla. -- The weight of missed opportunities had left Brandon Moss a shell of that gregarious Georgia boy that Allison -- or Allie, as her husband calls her -- had fallen for years before at Loganville High School. He lugged his insecurities to the ballpark and returned home empty of confidence, day after day after day.
Career stops in Boston and Pittsburgh and Philadelphia had done little more than affirm to Moss that he wasn't ever going to be good enough and that this was no way to support a family. At 28 years old, it was time to relinquish the dream and seek a career.