[翻譯] 光芒隊迫不及待殺出美聯東區

看板MLB作者sucka (JJ)時間16年前 (2008/05/05 16:30)推噓11(11推 0噓 4→)

留言15則, 14人參與討論串1/1

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-rays050108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns Rays won’t play waiting game in AL East 光芒隊迫不及待殺出美聯東區 By Jeff Passan Troy Percival tried to explain the success of the Tampa Bay Rays, and he kept talking, like he needed to reinforce the whole believability of the thing, because the Rays have been baseball’s real-life Charlie Brown, only with a rap sheet, and now they’re headed to Boston this weekend with first place in the American League East on the line, the thought of which finally prompted him to pause, before finishing his soliloquy with this: “And we haven’t got Kazmir yet.” Troy Percival試著解釋目前坦帕灣光芒隊的成功，他說個不停，彷彿這樣能增強他所言的可信度一般。因為光芒隊一直都是棒球版的查理布朗(史努比角色、是倒楣的、討人喜愛的輸家)。雖然過往的成績不盡理想，但本週末他們將要前往波士頓試圖爭取美聯東區的王位。而這個想法中止了Percival的獨白:"我們還缺了王牌投手Kazmir呢"。 Two lockers over from Percival’s, after the Rays’ 4-2 victory to take a series from Baltimore, Scott Kazmir pulled on a dress shirt and readied for the trip to Boston. He rejoined the Rays earlier this week after missing the first month with a strain in his pitching elbow and was stunned at what he saw. Success is to the Rays as taste is to tofu, and for them to sit atop the titan of baseball divisions percentage points ahead of the defending world champions – and three games up on the $200 million Yankees – in May. Well, it made Kazmir a little self-conscious. “I just want to stay out of the way,” he said. 在光芒隊以四比二擊敗金鶯隊並且拿下系列賽勝利之後，離Percival的置物櫃僅有兩格之遙的Kazmir換上了襯衫並且已經準備好前往波士頓了。這禮拜稍早這位王牌投手在手肘扭傷的傷勢復原，並讓他錯過了第一個月的球季後重新歸隊，而他對他所看到的情況相當震驚。贏球對光芒隊來說嚐起來就像豆腐一樣，而對他們而言，能在美聯東區這個火藥庫稱王，領先衛冕冠軍波士頓紅襪和團隊總薪資超過兩億美金的紐約洋基--雖然才五月，這個事實讓Kazmir有了一些些自覺。他說"我只是想排除路上的所有障礙。" The left-handed Kazmir is one of baseball’s best young starters, an unquestioned No. 1, and for the Rays to be 16-12 without him epitomizes the surprise of their start. They were supposed to be good. The unspoken part of that forecast was the assignment of time: in a few months, maybe, or in a year, or by the beginning of the next decade. But now? This soon? Tampa Bay’s culture change has been years in the making, and it underwent its most drastic overhaul this offseason and spring. The Rays traded troubled outfielder Elijah Dukes, his propensity for allegedly smoking weed before games and the death threat toward his ex-wife and children to Washington. They unloaded talented outfielder Delmon Young to Minnesota for talented pitcher Matt Garza, who shut down the Orioles on Thursday. And they hammered out an unprecedented contract for third baseman Evan Longoria, preparing to guarantee him $19 million over six years and up to $44 million over nine before he played a day in the major leagues. 左投手Kazmir是目前聯盟當中最好的年輕先發投手之一，無庸置疑的光芒隊王牌，而光芒隊在沒有他的情況下，開季驚奇地打出十六勝十二敗的戰績，目前看起來他們狀況極佳。但預測中沒被提到的部份是時機，大家都認為光芒隊可能幾個月或幾年之後會是一支強隊，但大家沒想到的是這麼快就發生了?就是現在? 坦帕灣的球隊文化在過去幾年當中已經逐漸改變了，尤其是季末和春訓的大動作補強和整修。光芒隊把涉入賽前據傳使用菸草而且威脅前妻的麻煩人物--外野手Elijah Dukes送到華盛頓國民隊，並且把尚未發揮潛力的外野手Delmon Young送到明尼蘇達雙城隊以換取有天份的投手Matt Garza，而他週四完封了金鶯隊。隨後他們和還未打過一天大聯盟的三壘手Evan Longoria簽下了史無前例的合約--六年一千九百萬美金，加上選擇權，光芒隊可以只用四千四百萬的代價換得Longoria九年的服務。 For years, the Rays have parlayed high draft picks into deep caches of talent, and the process has been like growing asparagus in a garden: it took three years to really develop, but when it did, the harvest was plentiful and satisfying. “I’ve known it was going to be the case since I got drafted,” Longoria said. “I was glad to be coming here, and it’s why I was comfortable signing. It’s not as much about the talent we’ve got but the direction we’ re going. That’s what’s exciting.” 過去幾年，光芒隊都和高順位選秀談合約並且儲藏天份，這個過程就像在花園裡所生長的蘆筍，雖然要等待三年的時間才能收割，但真的等到收穫時的滋味卻是那麼豐富和滿足。 "自從我被選中之後我已經知道情況大概會如何"Longoria說，"我很高興能來到光芒隊，而這也是我為何能輕鬆地簽下合約的原因，不是因為我們隊上擁有多少天份而是因為我們正在進行的方向，這真令人振奮。" Up and down the Rays’ roster there’s promise. Longoria is a power-hitting, good-fielding third baseman, and the type of person Rays management thinks can turn into the AL version of David Wright. Carl Crawford is a demon in left field, B.J. Upton a burgeoning star in center and even Dioner Navarro is a potential big bat behind the plate. No one worried about the Rays’ hitting. Their pitching, ever-troubled, was considered a weakness, and yet with Kazmir coming off the disabled list to start Sunday against Boston, the Rays need to make a roster move and are genuinely conflicted on whether to take second-year starter Andy Sonnanstine out of the rotation or risk losing fifth starter Jason Hammel by designating him for assignment. Safe is Edwin Jackson, who finally is coming through with the promise he showed as a 20-year-old with the Dodgers. “These are good decisions that we’ve never had to make in the past,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. 回顧一下光芒隊的陣容，這個陣容充滿了前景。Longoria是個守備佳，大炮管的三壘手。光芒隊的管理階層認為他將來能夠成為美聯版的David Wright。還有左外野的魔鬼--Carl Crawford，崛起迅速的明星中外野手B.J. Upton，還有可能長成大棒子的捕手Dioner Navarro。沒人會擔心光芒隊的打擊陣容，但他們的投手陣容一向被視為是他們的弱點，在Kazmir從傷兵名單復出並且在週末先發對上紅襪隊之前，光芒隊需要做出陣容調整。而真正困擾他們的是要把第二年的先發投手Andy Sonnanstine移出輪值還是冒著失去第五號先發投手 Jason Hammel的風險將他DFA。而比較可靠的是終於實現他二十歲被道奇隊簽下時的期望的Edwin Jackson。 "這些好決策是我們過去從來不用去下令執行的"光芒隊總教練Joe Maddon說。 Never have the Rays had the luxury of a pitching plethora. They don’t want to mess with their bullpen, and for good reason: three more scoreless innings Thursday dropped its earned-run average to a major-league-best 2.44. Percival, the 38-year-old who was retired at this time last year, has allowed three baserunners and no runs in 10 innings. His setup man, Dan Wheeler, pitched two perfect innings Thursday and has a 1.20 ERA. On and on it goes, down to J.P. Howell and Scott Dohmann, two Kansas City castoffs who have been innings-eating stalwarts. And to think that last season the Rays trotted out the worst bullpen since the Eisenhower administration, a 6.16 ERA that might as well have been 6.66 for all the hell it brought them. 光芒隊從未有投手過多的煩惱，他們也不想搞砸了他們的牛棚。一個好的原因是在週四以前他們只需要再三局無失分就能把牛棚防禦率降到聯盟最佳的2.44。去年的這個時候宣佈退休的三十八歲終結者Percival，在十局的工作中沒有失掉任何分數而且只讓三名打者上過壘。光芒的第八局投手Dan Wheeler，在週四投出了完美的兩個半局使他的防禦率降為 1.20，被堪薩斯皇家隊丟棄的兩個投手J.P. Howell和Scott Dohmann則是穩定的吃下後援局數。想到上季光芒隊寫下了自從艾森豪(美國第三十四任總統)任期以來最難堪的牛棚防禦率紀錄--6.16，也許就像666這個數字(代表魔鬼)所帶給他們的那樣難堪。 “We’re coming out on a daily basis and we believe we can win that game,” Maddon said. “Regardless of who we’re playing, who’s pitching against us, we believe we can win that game, and that matters.” Last weekend, the Rays swept Boston, Dohmann vulturing wins in the first two games and erstwhile ace James Shields outdueling Josh Beckett in the finisher. It was something of a coming-out party, the capper on a six-game winning streak, and it alerted everyone what the Rays have told themselves since the spring: it’s not going to be three months, or a year, or a few years. It’s now. Maddon說"我們照著每天的行程按表操課並且相信今年我們會有一番作為。" "不管我們會對上誰，也不管誰將會先發對上我們，我們相信我們能夠贏得比賽，這就是重點。" 上週末，光芒隊橫掃了紅襪隊。Dohmann在前兩場比賽渴求勝利，而前任的王牌James Shields在最後一場的系列賽技壓了Josh Beckett。那就像是初入社交場合的派對一樣，一波六連勝為所有人帶來了警告，光芒隊從春訓就告訴自己:成為贏家不用等到三個月，或一年甚至幾年之後，就是現在。 They’re past Dukes and all his law-enforcement travails – at least for the most part, as reliever Al Reyes brought a little Devil back to the Rays when he got slugged in the face and tased while celebrating his birthday just a little too hard. They’re not succumbing to adversity, the Kazmir injury a great example, and perhaps the strained shoulder Upton sustained Thursday – Maddon said it was less severe than a previous one that kept him out for three games. Most of all, they’re adopting the attitude of winners. It’s a chicken-and-egg debate in baseball, whether winning creates the chemistry that players so often cite as imperative or chemistry leads to winning. Whatever it is, the Rays comport themselves like successes, laughing and smiling and joking. 所有Dukes和他的法律事件所引起的陣痛都已成過去，至少是其中的大部分。後援投手 Al Reyes帶回給了光芒隊一點爭議--當他在慶生時臉部遭到重擊，光芒隊不會對逆境屈服，Kazmir的受傷就是個最好的例子，也許在周四肩膀扭傷的Upton持續出賽也是。教練說這次的傷勢比上次讓他缺賽三場的輕微。最重要的是，他們正在適應如何去當個贏家，就像是棒球裡的先有雞還是先有蛋的爭論，到底是勝利創造了球員能夠時常負起責任的化學效應，還是先產生化學效應才有勝利?不管真相究竟為何，光芒隊的球員藉著勝利、歡笑和開玩笑來讓自己更舒服。 “You think we need you?” Percival said, glancing at Kazmir. “I really feel welcome,” Kazmir said. “Sorry,” Percival said. “They had a dinner planned and didn’t invite any of the relievers.” “You know why we did that?” Kazmir said. “The starters got left out opening day.” “That was get-to-know-your-‘pen day,” Percival said. “Oh, OK,” Kazmir said. “Let’s get to know our starters then.” They looked at each other and laughed. It’s good to be a Ray. And that wasn’ t the punch line. Percival看了一下Kazmir，說道"你覺得我們需要你嗎?" Kazmir說"我覺得很受歡迎阿。" Percival說"不好意思，他們辦的晚餐沒有邀請任何的後援投手。" "你知道為什麼我們要這麼做嗎?"Kazmir說"先發投手在開幕戰那天就被遺忘了。" Percival說"那是要認識大家的"牛棚日"" "喔，好"Kazmir說 "那我們現在來認識我們的先發投手吧。" 他們看了一下彼此然後笑了出來，當個光芒隊的成員真好，而且這還不是最妙的一句話。 P.S:後面的美式笑話還真是有夠難翻，知道的大大歡迎指正一下吧! -- http://www.wretch.cc/blog/randyorton 無聊碎碎唸 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.122.110.220

推

xyzzz

05/05 16:35, , 1^F

05/05 16:35, 1^F

推

kimberiea

05/05 16:36, , 2^F

05/05 16:36, 2^F

推

adamp3

05/05 16:40, , 3^F

05/05 16:40, 3^F