Spring Training(2)
"Well, uh…I'm not sure why you're asking me this," Dan shrugs, "but I would say that I really want to be a good pitcher."
"Do you want to be good or great?" Ian keeps asking and looks Dan in the eyes.
Three of them stop in the hallway. Dan looks at Ian. "What do you mean?" He doesn't quite understand what Ian's asking.
Ian smiles, "From what I observed today, you have good talent, you just need the right training, and also a lot of effort to be great." and he pauses for a second continuing to speak. "If you want to go to the FBL and be great, here is my advice."
"What is it?" Dan gets excited. He's happy to hear a compliment from Ian. The young kid is curious and can't wait to hear the advice from his idol.
"I will give you my whole training program and you need to follow it. Not just that, you also need to quit your social life, which means, no hanging out with friends or going out with a girl. Spend all your time on baseball." Ian says.
"What?" Dan's shocked by Ian's advice; it takes him a second to respond, "I mean…wow…that's big. No social life?" He asks Ian to confirm. He's happy that Ian's willing to help him, but the part of no life is a hard one to swallow.
"Yes." Ian nods.
"Are these necessary?" Dan asks. He confirms again, hoping he can have a different answer. He's willing to sacrifice for baseball, but Ian's requests are still too much for an 18-year-old boy.
"Listen, do you want it or not?" Ian asks.
"Yeah, I do." Dan replies.
"Dan, you want to be the ace of the Fighters and win the champion title, right? None of these is normal or ordinary." Ian says.
Dan listens to Ian and remains silent. Ian stares at him and continues to go, "You need to understand that those are something special. If you are asking for something special, you have to do something special." he takes a breath and realizes he might have given Dan too many requests, "Okay, maybe not hanging out with friends is too much, but no girls. From now on, baseball is your girlfriend. I promise you, if you can do what I just said, follow my training plan, one year later, or even sooner, you will be pitching in Baku and you will become one of the greatest pitchers."
"You promise?" Dan asks.
"I promise, you just need to work hard and be patient, you will get to where you want to be. All you need to do is to sacrifice." Ian says, "We all need to do something to become someone, and once you're someone, you will have to do something."
"Do something?" Dan is confused.
"Yes." Ian nods, "Do something for others. Once you become the ace, it will be your responsibility to lead the team. Do you hear me?"
"Yes…" Dan hesitates
"You must know that great power comes with…" Ian says.
"Great responsibility?" Dan says it before Ian finishes the sentence.
"Exactly!!" Ian laughs. He turns to Leo, "See? This kid is brilliant."
"God…" Leo rolls his eyes, "No more spider man, please."
"Why? They're great movies." Ian asks.
"Just…Please." Leo grunts.
"Ah…" Dan looks at them.
"Let me explain this to you." says Leo, "He's saying that you'd need what it takes to replace this guy as the ace of the team." he points at Ian, "And once you get there, it'd become your job to carry the team with your strength."
"Ok…" Dan nods.
"Good." says Ian.