14 August 2062
Boise, Idaho
**********************************
by Les McBurney
SP Doug Eckhoff
33-year-old Doug Eckhoff walked away from Boise GM Ben Teague's office appearing as composed and stoic as was possible. He knew the emotions would come later, but for now Teague's voice was a dry strumming in his ears. "Doug," he had said, "I wanted to be the one to tell you that the organization does not plan to pick up your option for 2063. We just aren't comfortable with what we've seen the last couple of seasons. You'll get the rest of 2062 to display your skills for free agency, but we just can't bring you back. These decisions are never easy, I know you understand that."
Eckhoff cast his memory back to the start of his journey. After being drafted by the Seattle Storm as the 7th overall pick in 2049, he went to work in their minor league system. He impressed not only those in the Storm front office but ML scouts as well. He was named the #80 prospect in the BBA that year and would rise as high as #12. Of course, none of that mattered back then as one moment outshined them all.
In 2052, while in the middle of his 2nd sensational season with Seattle's AAA team the Pasco Platypus, having only made 5 starts, the manager called him into his office to tell him he was headed up to the Show. He expected it because he had lived it since his first pitch in high school back in 2043. This wasn't an award he was being granted but a goal he had worked for, trained for, bled for, and for which he had spent many painful days in the trainers' room. A goal not just him but his entire family had sacrificed to realize.
Still, the bright lights of Seattle's stadium as he took the mound for the first time had lulled him to sleep many times. There is nothing like the rookie debut of a starting pitcher. You are not out there with 8 other guys soaking up the atmosphere. You don't share your first at bat with the pitcher 60-feet away. No, a starting pitcher gets to pause time. Eckhoff had done so, maybe a bit too long, and just let it soak him through before he got to work. He thought about the birth of his two children. Those were the two best memories in his life. But that beginning was, just, a different kind of best.
They made it clear he was not up for an audition, the job was his sink or swim. He gave no thought to the former option. He set himself almost arrogantly against the stories of guys that had just struggled for a bit to stick in the majors. 7-14 with a 5.88 ERA and +1.4 WAR. He would never forget that stat line. It was etched in the cornerstone of everything that was too come. It wasn't enough and no amount of praise from the manager, the press, or the fans was going to fade those metrics. He returned in 2053 and earned a selection to the All-Star game. He was building a legacy. A name that no one would ever forget.
Eckhoff spent four more seasons with Seattle, following the team to their new home in Bikini Atoll, and was ultimately traded in 2057 to his long-term home here in Boise. He was 28 and a veteran. Again, as in Seattle, he set himself against the challenge of earning the respect of a new management team and new fans. In 2058, his family was rewarded for so much patience, so much absence, when Boise signed him to a 5-year contract worth $42 million. But he still had much to prove. To himself if no-one else.
That season he would earn his 2nd All-Star nod and follow it in 2059 with his third. That 2059 selection came after his only career no-hitter which came against San Antonio. By that time his mind was beginning to make memories and not challenges. His divorce that year had broadened his perspective perhaps. And his body was doing the same. He posted a +3.0 WAR in 2060. That would be the last year he reached that threshold.
When he reached home his agent was on the phone quickly with his client. He reminded Eckhoff that he had a solid career to take into free agency. 345 games pitched, 118 wins, 4.77 ERA, and a +24.2 WAR in nearly 2000 innings. Nearly. That word stopped him. It seared itself as much in the capstone of his journey as indelibly as the words of the cornerstone far below. 62.1 innings. That's all he needed to reach 2000.
He didn't know how many more innings he would get in Boise this year. He allowed himself, maybe for the first time ever, to hope he signed with a new club in the offseason. Hope. Here was a foe he could not stare down. Steeling himself to overcome it changed nothing. He was 33-years-old, and by 33 baseball players are humbled. It was unavoidable.
But, later that night as he digested the evening, the thought could not escape him. He had set himself against so many challenges. So many of them were no match for his will and determination. But not this challenge. Not with a contract option put before him. He considered for a moment that this memory could overcome the thoughts of those lights in Seattle so long ago. This night, they did.