He was the kid who learned to earn attention with strikeouts and satellites of confidence—until the game that defined him began to take everything it had given. In this episode, Michael Bugary tells a raw, unflinching story of wanting to belong so badly he built a life around being someone else: the baseball player, the prospect, the one everyone watched. From a scholarship to UC Berkeley to the lights of the Red Sox organization, his rise looks like the dream. But under the helmet, the pressure, injuries, and a secret dependence on substances hollowed out what he loved most.

This is not a tidy cautionary tale. It’s a messy, human journey through addiction, a devastating brain tumor, and the slow collapse of a carefully performed identity. Michael admits the things he tried to fix himself—human growth hormone, painkillers, the endless chase of performance—and how they pushed him toward the edge. He walks us through interventions, failed recoveries, and the numbness that made him incapable of seeing how his choices hurt the people who loved him.

Then something small and unexpected shifts the axis of his life: a therapy dog named Lingo. Brought into a house full of hurt, Lingo becomes the quiet instrument of change—teaching Michael what unconditional love feels like, nudging him into humility, and drawing him back into service. Together they enter children’s hospitals, where laughter replaces pride and compassion replaces ego. Through those visits, Michael discovers the truth behind the old phrase that the longest distance is between the head and the heart. He learns to cross it.

By turns heartbreaking and hopeful, this episode explores what it means to lose your identity—and to rebuild one without the applause. Michael’s story asks the listeners to consider: what would you be without your performance? How do you find meaning when the game is over? Told with candid honesty by Heather Holt and her guest, this episode is for anyone who has chased something until it hurt, who has been surprised by rescue in its smallest form, and who believes that healing can arrive in the wag of a tail.

Michael Bugary

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