[新聞] Once more with feeling
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BOSTON -- The more things change, the more they remain the Yankees and the Red
Sox. Or, at the moment, the Red Sox and the Yankees.
Here we are in another mid-September, and these two will be at it once again,
with something very substantial on the line. Earlier in the season, when the
Red Sox's lead over the Yankees in the American League East looked like
Franklin Delano Roosevelt over Alf Landon, people were saying that by the time
this final regular-season installment of the rivalry rolled around, the issue
would be completely settled.
[註]
substantial 1.真實的 2.堅固的 3.大量的 4.內容充實的 5.富裕的 6.基本上的
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1/30, 1882 – 4/12, 1945) 第32屆美國總統 羅斯福
Alf Landon (9/9, 1887 – 10/12, 1987) 第26屆美國總統
roll around 1.再次到來 2.流逝
No chance. Boston's lead in the AL East remains substantial, but it no longer
seems quite as insurmountable as it once did when the last meeting of these
two clubs began on Aug. 28. The Red Sox led the Yanks by eight games then.
Three days later, the lead was five games.
[註]
insurmountable 不能克服的
That sweep did not doom the Red Sox to another Yankees-induced swoon, but it
did point the New Yorkers in precisely the right direction. Since the beginning
of that series, the Yankees have made the AL East argument at least the
semblance of a race. More than that, they've taken over the AL Wild Card lead.
The Yankees' October future, not that long ago a flimsy concept, now looks to
be no worse than probable.
[註]
doom 厄運(n.) 判定(v.)
indeced 包括在內的
swoon 昏厥(n.)
semblance 1.外貌 2.假象
flimsy 1.脆弱的;易損壞的 2.輕薄的 3.淺薄的,不周密的 4.複寫紙
There is much to be said for the importance of the event if Boston hangs on and
wins the AL East, thus breaking a nine-year New York stranglehold on top of the
division. But it turns out to be not quite the same thing as eliminating the
Yankees from the postseason.
[註]
stranglehold 壓制;束縛
eliminate 淘汰
This may not be the last meeting of the calendar year between these two clubs.
And everyone who recalls the epic AL Championship Series of 2003 and '04 fully
understands what that means. The 2004 ALCS changed the face of the game itself,
making this rivalry into something other than a one-way street.
[註]
epic 史詩
one-way street 單行道 常用One-way traffic
But for now, this is more than enough -- three games at Fenway Park on Friday
night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday night. The Red Sox have Daisuke Matsuzaka,
Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling lined up to start. The Yankees will have Andy
Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang and Roger Clemens or, if the cortisone shots don't
work, Phil Hughes.
[註]
cortisone 可體松(治關節炎,過敏症等)
The Yankees have picked up the pace considerably in recent days. They stumbled
again after the Red Sox series and fell back to seven games behind, but they've
finally had a semblance of consistent pitching from their starters. Even Mike
Mussina, dropped from the rotation earlier, returned to form and to victory on
Wednesday night in Toronto.
[註]
stumble 1.絆腳,絆倒 2.踉蹌 3.結結巴巴 4.失足 5.碰巧發現
fall back 1.向後跌倒 2.退卻 3.地位退後,落後
And there was nothing ever seriously wrong with the Bronx Bombers' offense.
The work of Alex Rodriguez has been something like MVP-plus. This was the A-Rod
for which the Yankees had been waiting, hoping and, at least in part, paying.
The argument could easily be made that no single player is worth $252 million,
but you can see how this one could come the closest.
[註]
Bronx Bombers 洋基暱稱
closest 1.接近的 2.親密的 3.狹窄的 4.密切 5.悶熱 6.勢均力敵 7.封閉
The Red Sox have been without mainstay Manny Ramirez, who has been suffering
from a strained oblique muscle. And Matsuzaka has been more mortal than legend
recently, being knocked around in his past three starts, including a loss to
the Yankees. Tim Wakefield, so good for so long, has also been battered in his
last two starts.
[註]
mainstay 唯一的依靠
mortal 凡人的
Still, these Red Sox will come to this renewal of the rivalry with baseball's
best record and the AL's best team ERA. By this point in the season, the
element of chance has disappeared from those sorts of numbers. This is not a
Boston team whose offense batters the opposition. But over time, it has had
something even more reliable, pitching in both quality and quantity.
[註]
renewal 更新 修補
Whether or not Ramirez is available, David Ortiz will be. And there have been
stellar contributions from, for instance, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin
Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. And as far as giving this team a boost, the
no-hitter from Clay Buchholz is in a category by itself. When a 23-year-old
pitches a September no-hitter, shortly after a sweep by your biggest rivals,
it offers evidence that suggests that not only is all not lost, but this just
might be your year.
[註]
stellar 主要的;顯著的
evidence 證據;跡象
Two weeks have passed since the last series ended, and the distance between the
clubs has only changed by a half-game. That's good news for the Red Sox.
But they won't have the luxury of absorbing another sweep, not for their
well-being in the AL East standings, and not for their overall welfare as a
team with legitimate October aspirations. The Yankees have made the push you
always suspected they would make, but the Red Sox have not evaporated.
This rivalry, baseball's own discovery of perpetual motion, is fully on again,
one more time when it matters.
[註]
luxury 1.奢侈 2.享受;樂趣
legitimate 合法的
evaporate 蒸發 消失
perpetual 永久的;長期的
第一戰先發投手
W-L ERA G IP H R ER HR HBP BB SO WHIP SLG AVG
A.Pettitte 13- 8 3.78 32 192.2 209 87 81 14 1 61 131 1.40 .411 .283 今年
2- 1 4.91 5 29.1 36 16 16 4 1 11 19 1.60 .466 .310 vs BOS
D.Matsuzaka 14-12 4.44 29 184.1 175 91 91 23 12 70 179 1.33 .408 .250 今年
2- 1 6.98 3 19.1 19 15 15 3 3 8 16 1.40 .413 .253 vs NYY
其實雙方對對方的球員壓制力都不好
還有4小時就要開打了
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