Fans(2)

Silence soon takes over the ballpark. Juan stands up and looks at Dan. He walks to the mound, "Hey, don't worry. It's just one run. Forget about it and let's focus on the next one." Dan looks at him and nods. Juan pats Dan on the shoulder and tells him to stay focused. Then, the catcher goes back to his position, he gets down, giving Dan a sign of fastball. Dan reads the sign and nods. He gets set once more, then starts his pitching motion again.

The third pitch comes in, the batter swings his bat and makes the same thing happen again, so does the next one. After eight pitches in the first inning, Dan has given up three runs. Nobody is expecting that. Dan turns back to look at the scoreboard and doesn't understand what's going on. "Did I just give up three home runs in the first inning?" He thinks to himself.

The pitching coach calls a timeout and goes to Dan. The coach, Juan, and Dan gather around on the mound. "Hey, kid. Are you okay?" He asks Dan, but Dan is still recovering from the damage of three home runs he gives up and not responding. "How was his pitching?" The coach sighs and turns to Juan.

"In my opinion, they were not bad. They could have been a little bit lower but the speed was good." Juan replies. "It's good in general. Just bad luck. The batters got him."

The coach nods and says a few words to them to help Dan stay focused before he leaves the mound. "Ok, buddy, shake it off and get yourself together. We got a game to play." Juan pats Dan's shoulder and peaks. Dan looks at him and nods. The catcher walks down the mound and heads back to his position.

On the mound, the pitcher is standing alone, "Ok. Shake it off. It's only three runs. First thing first, get the first out." Dan grunts.

Before the game started, everyone thought it would be the beginning of a legend. However, during the match, people start to have different thoughts.

Three hours pass by, the game is over, Dan sits on the bench with his head down. It Started with the ambition to dominate the game, but things didn't go as well as he expected. Dan completed his first game by allowing seven runs with only one hitter out. In the dugout, Josh and Matt keep a small distance from him and discuss.

"Should we go talk to him?" Josh asks.

"I don't know. He looks depressed. Maybe we should give him some space." Matt says.

"Don't worry. I will take care of him. You guys can go." Leo shows up and joins them.

"You sure?" Matt and Josh turn to him, and Leo and just smiles and nods.

"Yeah, I got this. You two go ahead." Leo says.

"If you say so." Matt says.

When everyone's gone, Dan's still in the dugout. He stares at the field, trying to figure out what went wrong. "It wasn't supposed to end that way." Dan says.

Leo walks to him and says "Hey, boy, it's time for a shower. Let's go. Stop thinking."

Dan glances at him and nods. He walks to the locker room with Leo. From the dugout to the locker room, there is an open aisle where fans can interact with players with fences between them. Walking down the aisle, Dan hears some voices coming from fans cheering him up, telling him that it was ok, they are looking forward to his next game. However, Dan isn't in a great mood. It's hard for him to believe how he screwed up his first game and he feels disappointed. Right before he reaches the entrance, Dan explodes. He turns to the fans and yells. "Shut up!! How was that okay? That was a disaster. What's wrong with you?"

After yelling at fans, Dan walks in the locker room, leaving them and Leo stunned. Seeing what happened in front of him, Leo rushes into the locker room and grabs Dan's arm. "What the hell do you think you were doing? You shouldn't have yelled at them. They are here to support you." Leo says.

Dan replies with anger, and he's annoyed. "Then what was I supposed to do? I'm not in a good mood, ok? I just screwed up my first game." He glares at Leo.

"So? Listen, I know you are upset. But no matter how pissed you are, you don't yell at fans. You are a professional athlete, you are supposed to give them dreams, not be mad at them. It was unprofessional." Leo says.