AN: FINALLY THE NASTY ONE HAS COME BACK TO FANFICTION WITH A NEW STORY!

What's up everyone? I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgivings with your families and are doing well. Today I've decided to delete one of my stories to make room for this one, since the other wasn't receiving any reads for the last five months or so. This new story takes us inside the life of Charlie Brown as he tries to make it big as a Pitcher in the major leagues. This will be mainly following my play through as him in the Road To The Show game mode for MLB® 15 The Show™. I may have some filler chapters in there from time to time to show him interacting with his old pals from the Peanuts™ but I'm not sure yet. So anyway I want everyone to sit back, relax, and enjoy my new story "Road To The Show™: The Journey of a Blockhead".

Disclaimer (This is going to be the only one I write so pay attention that it's here.): I own nothing from the Peanuts®, MLB®, or Road to The Show™. The only thing of mine are this story and the gameplay of Charlie Brown during the story.

Chapter 1: The Topps® Showcase

'All my life I've always been overshadowed whether it be in the social rings at school, love, work, or even in sports. I've always been the second fiddle whether it be to Peppermint Patty back in high school, or Jose Peterson back at the University of Minnesota. I've never had the chance to shine and make a name for myself. That all ends today, I'm done hiding in the shadows of others, today is my time to shine.'

Those were the thoughts that were running through our protagonist's head as he stood out in front of the complex where this year's Topps® showcase would be held. The 21 year old Caucasian male, had his Minnesota University ball cap perched on his rather large round head to cover his closely shaved blonde hair except for the small curly hair that remains ever present on his forehead. He's wearing a yellow t-shirt with a black zigzag pattern on the front, a pair of black basketball shorts, a pair of brown running shoes. Having hit a growth spurt in high school he now stands at 6'4'' and has put on some muscle to weigh in at 225 lbs. This solid person standing before the complex is none other than Charlie Brown the former second pitcher from the University of Minnesota's baseball team, and current resident of St. Paul's, Minnesota.

All his life it's been one series of disappointments after the other whether it be managing a losing baseball team in his youth, being bullied constantly due to his appearance and lack of skills, or being overlooked by all his coaches and teachers for others' efforts, Charlie Brown has always been considered a loser. Only a few people he's met recognized his potential and encouraged him to pursue his dream of playing in the majors, while others chastised him for his dream and told him to stop living in the clouds. Those were the only people that he cared about now and moving forward he cut himself off from a majority of the people he grew up with, with a few exceptions of course. (I'll reveal them later in the chapter). Now he stands out in front of the complex, which is the last big step before his dream of being drafted becomes a reality.

The Topps® Showcase is where baseball players from across the USA, and around the world come to compete and be scouted by the 30 major league teams as potential draft picks. The prospects were divided into 4 teams of 25 representing the four regions the prospects came from which were the Eastern United States (East), the Central United States (Central), the Western United States (West), and from outside the United Stated (International). Being from Minnesota, Charlie Brown had been assigned to the Central team and was currently heading down to the team's locker room to get ready for the 4:30 game time.

Walking in he noticed that most of the players had yet to arrive and only a handful were actually suited up and chatting amongst themselves. Charlie Brown had done his research prior to arriving, and was able to recognize a handful of the players already present on his team. Two of those actually stood out to him because he knew that he'd be interacting with them the most. The first player was C Freddie Hale from the University of Nebraska. Hale stood at 6'1'' and weighed in at 235 lbs. He was known as great backstop as well as a decent power hitter, having led Nebraska in homers that season with 10. Charlie knew he was going to be pitching to him so he would need to go over his repertoire later. The other player was SS Tim Brown from the University of Oklahoma. Brown was African-American, stood at 6'3'' and weighed in at 220 lbs. He was the leader in batting average and steals for the Big 12™ conference the past season and was known for making great plays with his glove. A fellow Junior along with Charlie, he was still debating about going pro or not but wanted to attend the showcase to see where he would be drafted.

The other players weren't that memorable, so Charlie just minded his own business and proceeded to get dressed in the tan jersey with "Central" written on it in big white letters, tan ball cap, and white pants provided by the showcase officials. After he finished dressing, he made his way over and struck up a conversation with Brown and Hale.

"Good afternoon guys. Excited to be here?" asked Charlie to break the ice with his temporary teammates.

"Stoked actually! Never thought I'd be here as a kid. Name's Tim Brown and I'm the Shortstop for the showcase." replied Tim as he shook hands with Charlie.

"More nervous than anything. I want to do well and get noticed. O, I'm Freddie Hale by the way and the team's catcher." replied Freddie as he to shook Charlie's hand.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Charlie Brown and I'll be the Starter for all three showcase games." replied Charlie as he had been informed ahead of time that he'd be starting.

"Wicked! Glad you got here early then so we can go over pitches." replied Freddie as he wanted to build up a nice relationship with all his pitchers to know how they tick and operate in games.

"Respect man. Hopefully we all do well and can all get drafted." stated Tim.

"My sentiments exactly, let's get to know each other better so we can operate better out in the field." said Charlie as the three proceeded to spend the rest of the time available to them conversing before warm-ups began.

== Time-Skip after Topps® Showcase Game 1 (Central vs. West)==

The weather itself was very gloomy as it was raining lightly over the complex. It matched the atmosphere inside Charlie's mind as he replayed the team's gut wrenching loss in extras. He himself only had a semi-good outing in his appearance. In his three innings Charlie gave up 4 hits (H), 1 walk (BB), 1 earned run (ER) on a shallow bloop hit to right field, while only managing to record two strikeouts (K's). Tim had gone 3 for 5 with three singles and 2 Runs Scored, while Freddie was 1 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI's. Despite this the team still lost 4-3 in 11 evenings thanks to an error made by the right fielder.

'Well hopefully, we can pick it up next game. I need to step up or else the naysayers will be proven right.'

== Time-Skip after Game 2 (Central vs. East)==

Despite the sunny weather that greeted the crowd still watching the afternoon's second game. Charlie Brown was only gazing on with half-interested eyes as he was still going over what went wrong in his second start. The team lost 6-1 and didn't score in the three innings that he pitched in, causing him to get the loss. His stat line was a little bit better with only 3 H, 1 ER on a sharp double in the right center gap, and getting 3 K's. Tim had gone 4 for 4 with 4 singles and two stolen bases, while Freddie was 1 for 3 with a homerun giving them their only run of the day. Charlie was happy that his teammates were doing well, but he still hasn't done enough to make himself stand out.

'At least I've improved my draft stock a little bit with today's performance. However, I'm still not good enough to be anything special. Tomorrow needs to be good otherwise I'm still a nobody.'

== Time-Skip after Game 3 (Central vs. International) ==

Charlie Brown was currently sitting in his team's locker room getting unchanged as he felt a little better about his chances of being drafted, however he was still kicking himself over making a silly mistake in his third inning. He was one strike away from having a clean three innings and giving his team a 1-0 lead before he hung a fastball which was deposited over the right field fence to tie the game up. He escaped the inning without any more damage thankfully, but his bullpen blew the lead again giving them a 3-1 loss and going 0 and 3 in the showcase. Despite that, Tim had gone 3 for 3 with two doubles, a run scored, and a walk, and Freddie was 2 for 3 with two doubles and a walk. Both of them were going to be early draft picks, but Charlie wasn't secure with his position.

'I know I'm going to get drafted, which is good but I'm only going to be a mid round pick. Teams only use those for minor league depth and don't expect much from them. Even after all my hard work I'm still nothing special. I can't give up now though, otherwise I'll just be proving all the people who put me down right. I'll never give up. I'll make this work!'

His thoughts were interrupted when Tim sat down next to him, already changed out of his uniform and getting packed up to head back to Oklahoma until draft night. Tim seemed to be contemplating something and Charlie had a good idea of what it was. Over the days they'd played together Tim and Charlie had become what one would consider good friends and shared their pasts with one another. Tim had been saddened by Charlie's lack of friends and support, but was glad that he found a small group to lean on and stay in contact with. Charlie was glad to hear that Tim was one of the smartest people in his college, and was surprised that he'd decided to leave early when his teammates didn't have other solid people to take over as team captain. Tim also revealed that his parents wanted him to finish college as he would be the first person in his family to do so, instead of going to the majors early. Tim had been debating it the entire time they were there and still had not reached a decision.

"Still thinking about the decision Tim?" asked Charlie as he finished getting changed out of his uniform.

"Yeah I still have no idea what I'm doing." replied Tim in a stressed tone.

"Would you like to hear my opinion Tim?"

"Sure Charlie. An outside look may help me make some sense of this situation."

"I think you should go back for your last year. You have people back there that are your friends who are going to miss you once you start your career, plus you want to do what makes your parents happy. My parents know that this is my one chance to impress others and want me to live a successful life, and as you know I only have a small amount of friends that know I would do much better out here in the world than back at home so they're willing to let me do this. If you go back, you can give your friends the proper closure so they don't miss you as much, and your parents will be very proud of you. Sorry didn't mean to start lecturing you. Take your time Tim, you don't need to make your final decision until after the draft so you still have a few weeks."

"Thanks Charlie Brown. You know what, you really are a good friend."

"I try my best to be one. I'll see you on draft night man take care."

"Alright man later."

The two proceeded to share a goodbye bro hug, before they headed off to their respective hometowns to prepare for draft night.

== Time-Skip Draft Night ==

Charlie Brown was sitting in his apartment with his few close friends as they began watching the draft night for all the prospects hoping to hear their names being called by commissioner Rob Manfred. Tim had called earlier that night and told Charlie that he would take his advice to return for his final year at Oklahoma. Charlie was proud for him and wished him luck, Tim returned the wishes and said he'd keep in contact over the season with Charlie.

Charlie had decided not to attend the event being hosted on MLB® Network as that was usually reserved for first and second round picks only, and Charlie estimated himself to be a mid round pick at best. Looking around his apartment he saw that all of his close friends and family had been able to attend this event with him. Both of his parents had shown up after his father's barbershop had been closed down for the night, his sister, Sally, and Linus Van Pelt, his best friend, had arrived together since they had started dating back in high school. His old catcher Schroeder had cancelled his meeting with a record producer to be here, (he was a successful classical piano composer) and his former teammate Pig Pen had stopped working on his farm to come celebrate with Charlie Brown since he was the only one who appreciated his ability to be dirty no matter what.

The others who attended were Peppermint Patty who was still in college at Minnesota as head of the softball team, she was their best player by far and determined to lead them to a championship. Franklin who was a former player on Patty's ball team and was a great player back in his youth, but decided to pursue a career in robotics and was currently working on a new design for the Mars Rover. He had left work at NASA to fly back up here to attend. The final person to attend the party was Marcie who was Peppermint Patty's best friend. She had pursued a degree in Nursing from Minnesota, and had passed all her tests and was going to become a registered nurse at a hospital of her choosing. She had always secretly admired Charlie Brown back when he was younger, and was proud that he was going to be getting drafted.

As the draft started, the people gathered around anxious to see where Charlie Brown was going to be drafted, Tim had been selected with the tenth pick of the first round by the Cincinnati Reds™ but had already informed the team he would be returning to college. In the second round, Freddie had managed to also be drafted as the tenth pick by Cincinnati, he had called Charlie after calling his folks to tell them the good news. He wished Charlie luck and hoped he would be picked by the same team later on.

The third and fourth rounds came and went, but the group refused to give up hope. They knew that Charlie Brown had worked too hard to be turned down now. He deserved this more than anybody, plus with all his bad luck he needed something to go his way now. After nine picks, Charlie's cell phone rang and he picked it up.

"Hello."

"Hello Charlie. This is Walt Jocketty, President of Baseball Operations of the Cincinnati Reds™ as well as the GM. How are you this evening?"

"I'm good, a little nervous though."

"That's fine most people are when they're waiting to be drafted. I'm going to get right down to it, we're selecting you with our fifth round pick. Are you still interested in joining the team?"

"Absolutely sir it's been my dream since I was little."

"Great! I'm sending my scout to you later this week to sign the contract. Once that's done you're to report to our AA affiliate in Pensacola, Florida for Spring Training in February. Congrats and celebrate with your family and friends! Have a good night."

"You as well sir." replied Charlie as he hung up the phone and started crying tears of joy. His dream was finally being realized. He grabbed the remote and turned the volume up so the others can understand why he was acting this way. They saw the commissioner about to announce the tenth pick for the round.

"With the 10th pick in the 5th round of the 2014 MLB® 1st-Year Player Draft, the Cincinnati Reds™ select Charlie Brown, Staring Pitcher from Minnesota University." announced the commissioner.

The rest of the night was spent celebrating as the others were also proud of Charlie's accomplishment. The first big step of his journey was completed, now he'd just have to succeed in the minors to make it to the majors.

AN: And that's where I'm going to end the first chapter of this new story. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed righting it. Remember to leave a review with your thoughts if you think there's something I could improve, or if you just want to say how much you like it. I'll reveal Charlie's equipment and ritual next chapter when he makes it to the team's complex and has his first game of the AA season. Remember to follow and favorite and tell your friends about this story so it can be seen by more people. Later everybody. This is "The Nasty One" signing off.

-PRAK