Re: [討論] 這篇有人要翻嗎

看板A-Rod作者stupidtabo (Fong)時間18年前 (2007/10/03 17:03)推噓14(14推 0噓 3→)

留言17則, 12人參與討論串3/3 (看更多)

(上略) 續 THE PHOTOS 這些照片 (原網站上放了兩張綜合照, 一張是對戰紅襪時的拍球照, 一張是球迷海報對他的嘲笑和 A-Rod落寞的身影, 看了真心酸) Rodriguez started spring training working on his abs and his fortress. He would follow Jeter, with a bit of DiMaggio in his back pocket, in dealing with the tight spots. Like Jeter, he would be polite but direct, answering questions out of professional obligation, but offering no invitations into his living space. That part of his life, once up for discussion, would now be fortified by an invisible fence. Even the top reporters around the Yankees, the most connected, do not have a home or cell phone number for Jeter, and what was good enough for the captain would now be good enough for A-Rod. A-Rod向Jeter學習生存法則 Yankees officials say Rodriguez spent parts of the offseason practicing his new all-business approach: less small-talk with the writers, fewer tacit pleas for acceptance. They say he worked with his agent, Scott Boras, on being less personable. Rodriguez always had been world-curious, once engaged with writers on subjects beyond what pitch he hit in the sixth. Now, he would control his universe. 就是少跟記者打交道 He had tried it the other way, gloss and polish and refinement, and they -- the press, the public and many of his peers around the league -- ridiculed him for it. Reggie told him this would happen, that he would always be set apart and the biggest mistake he could make was to think he could bridge the gap. For example, the admission of visiting a therapist might have given him a humanity that should have been universally respected, but all Rodriguez really did was hand his enemies ammunition, all prettily gift-wrapped. Use that distance of your greatness and make it your ally, Reggie told him, because New York is a shark tank. Reggie教A-Rod不用試圖當好人, 因為紐約是個競爭激烈的鯊魚箱 He was hitting .235 for May when, on the penultimate day of the month, came his New York moment. The night of May 30, he left his Toronto hotel with a woman not his wife. Page Six pounced, and A-Rod was truly indoctrinated. The photos in the New York Post were embarrassing, as were the screaming tab headlines: "STRAY-ROD: Alex Hits Strip Club with Mystery Blonde." 五月金髮脫衣舞孃事件 This, thought Yankees intimates, was it. The team was in last place. His exclamation-point statement -- he hit .355 in April -- had dulled to a period, and an old-fashioned New York sex scandal would beat him down once again. 隊友認為A-Rod四月表現比較好, 以為他又會被醜聞擊倒 Rodriguez, however, adopted the DiMaggio approach, essentially cutting off the Post entirely. It was against his nature to be inaccessible, but New York can do things to a man. Steve Bort, who recruited Rodriguez as a 15-year-old to play on a traveling all-star team that included Todd Helton and Johnny Damon, remembers that Rodriguez even then was sensitive, in need of constant reassurance. 但是他挺過來了, Steve Bort遙想當年 "He was a tall, weak, skinny kid," Bort recalls. "He was a nice kid, respectful, one of the kids who said, 'Yes, sir' and 'No, sir.' He batted ninth for me one year and asked me if I would invite him back the next year because he wasn't happy with how he swung the bat." 青澀的小A-Rod Bort and Rodriguez are still close. Rodriguez and his wife Cynthia took Bort to Spark's steakhouse for Bort's 50th birthday last year. 15年後他們還是很好的朋友 Reggie told Rodriguez that he might not yet know it, but he was the biggest shark in town and all he had to do was bite back once in awhile, even if he wasn't quite comfortable doing so. Reggie要A-Rod當紐約最大的鯊魚王, 即使對一些手段還不太自在 This time, the shark bit back. Traditionally, New York stars know the game, and separate the baseball beat guys from the tabloid sections of the paper. Not A-Rod. Once considered close, Rodriguez has not spoken to the Post's King since the story ran. 這次鯊魚王果然反咬回去了, 再也不甩報導金髮脫衣舞孃的記者 "I actually think all that stuff kind of helped in a weird way," Damon says. "He was already focused, and now he really focused. It was like, 'Write what you want. I don't care.' I really think his attitude was 'screw it.' I think it was kind of liberating to him, to know that they could only touch him if he let them." 大門稱讚A-Rod專注度更高 After the photos appeared in the Post, Rodriguez hit .402 over the next 27 games, with nine home runs and 39 hits. He built the wall just a little higher. The interviews got shorter. As Damon said, the focus tightened. A-Rod不被雜事影響, 持續火熱手感 "When is he just going to say, 'I'm the baddest [dude] out there?' " Orioles first baseman Kevin Millar says. " 'I hit .320 with 40 and 130 RBIs, every [stupid] year, and what about it?' What is anyone going to say to that? Nobody can challenge him in this game because nobody else is that good. He spent a lot of time trying to be liked. I just want him to say, 'Don't [mess] with me, because none of you [guys] can do what I do.' That's all he has to do, 'cause he's a straight-up gangster." 米辣說A-Rod應該向那些幹譙他的雜魚嗆聲, 因為A-Rod的表現無人能及 THE KING OF NEW YORK 紐約之王 That there is a question about the future between Rodriguez and the Yankees speaks to the unique New York dynamic, which is not exactly a compliment. A Hall of Fame player producing Hall of Fame statistics is not usually cause for friction, but only the people in this town can even attempt to explain what it means to be the king of New York. Outside of the 212, the 718 and the 917, the Rodriguez standard is barely comprehensible. A-Rod進名人堂時的球隊是否會掛上洋基還是個問號 Bob Ramsaran, the 36-year-old accounting manager for Kimco Realty in New York, spent much of the 2006 season e-mailing his Yankees fan cohorts that Rodriguez, who had just driven in 121 runs and hit 36 homers, had to go. He had even created a can't-miss scenario: Cashman needed to call Terry Ryan, the Minnesota GM, and trade Rodriguez for Santana, the brilliant lefty. 有資深老球迷在2006年時一直慫恿洋基拿A-Rod去換山大王 Ramsaran grew up in Washington Heights, near Yankee Stadium, and now lives on Long Island. He is "one of them," fan at age 5, awash in the shadow of Reggie. Minutes before kickoff of the 2006 Seattle-Pittsburgh Super Bowl, an agitated Ramsaran called a friend, concerned about the Yankees' roster. A-Rod had to go. The friend, fellow accountant Christopher Sauceda, responded, "Why are you calling me right now? It's the Super Bowl! I don't think Brian Cashman is thinking about his lineup right now. I think he's watching the game." 就算在超級盃的賽事中也念念不忘要趕走A-Rod "That was last year, because of what we saw," Ramsaran says of wanting A-Rod gone. "Obviously, we're not in the clubhouse, but it didn't seem like he could handle the New York pressure, and it didn't look like he was that jolly in the clubhouse. Who really knows outside? But I'll admit it: I was one of the ones that said pull the trigger on an A-Rod deal and get Santana. I was wrong." 今年他不這麼認為了, 但事情還沒完 Sauceda is a 35-year-old accounting consultant whose baseball sensibilities were shaped in a different culture, on the East Bay side of the Bay Area. Sauceda moved to New York in 2000, and finds himself routinely confounded by the New York thirst for perfection and, falling short of that, blood. "None of this happens without [Rodriguez]," he says. "I just don't understand this. Where are they without his production? Why doesn't that matter?" 沒那麼資深的球迷覺得紐約很嗜血, 沒有A-Rod洋基今年早收工了, 還在嫌個刁 When Sauceda becomes agitated, as he does when his New York co-workers trade e-mails about how Rodriguez might have done everything for his team and yet has accomplished nothing, his voice rises to a squeak, accompanied by a quick, flustered stutter: "These people, these-these people ... they just don't deserve him." 當其他人又在嫌東挑西時, 這位球迷火大了: 你們這些人… 根本不配讓A-Rod替你們賣命 THE HOMELESS LEGEND 無家可歸的傳說 If there is an element to the Rodriguez saga that seems most vexing, it is the idea Rodriguez could decide to leave New York just when he seems so close to accomplishing all he claims to crave. Despite the persistent idea that he must play big this playoff month to retain his growing congregation, Rodriguez appears to have converted many of the most stubborn critics. A-Rod今年跌破眾人眼鏡, 無論最後是否離開紐約 During this season of game-winners and grand slams, Rodriguez has even done something no Yankees hired gun had ever dreamed of: if he did not overshadow the great Jeter, he finally created his own formidable space, beyond the comparisons, the rivalry and the hype. When Jason Giambi arrived, he received the fanfare; he was supposed to be the new Joe Namath, Steinbrenner's Reggie. By the second month of the season, when Giambi sank beneath the weight of the city's expectations, Jeter was still there, comfortable in the torrent, rapping out clutch hits, winking at the kids while in the on-deck circle. A-Rod擺脫Jeter的陰影找到自己的一片天 For the first three years of the Rodriguez tenure, despite an MVP award, Rodriguez could not match Jeter's ability to rise in the New York way. But this season was different. In terms of raw power and production, Jeter had never been in A-Rod's class, for they are completely different players. But the Rodriguez sphere of influence has grown, and so has his comfort level. If he still remains in the shadow of Reggie -- and it is true that Jackson is the only one of the Steinbrenner Fort Knox purchases to stand at the center of a championship celebration -- Rodriguez nevertheless no long plays in the immense shadow of Jeter. 兩人各有所長 Across 161st Street, the new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium -- the first newly constructed, not-merely-renovated Yankees ballpark since 1923 -- is under construction, expected to be ready for Opening Day 2009, with Rodriguez and Jeter expected to be the linchpins of a new era. 人們期待A-Rod和Jeter在2009年能和新球場一起邁入新的年代 And perhaps most importantly, Rodriguez is no longer just the biggest name on a team full of them, but has morphed into something unexpected: a mentor to two of the keys to the Yankees' future, center fielder Melky Cabrera and second baseman Robinson Cano. Both follow Rodriguez constantly. 而其中牛奶弟和小Q扮演重要的角色 Cabrera is nicknamed "Leche," which means "milk" in Spanish. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz recalls one day when Cabrera joined Rodriguez for a workout and his batting average soared. "Once Leche went with Alex, it clicked for him," he says. "And I think it helped Alex, too, because he could focus on things other than himself. That relaxed him, I think." 小明認為A-Rod和牛奶弟教學相長, 對雙方都有幫助 Cano and Cabrera follow Rodriguez to such a degree that Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay calls him "the Pied Piper," and their relationship is not insignificant, for when Cano and Cabrera succeed, it is the one moment when the public is allowed to see over the wall Rodriguez has constructed for himself. Rodriguez will sit in the dugout looking the part of the proud uncle, allowing their precociousness to release the pressure valve, to allow him to smile. Michael Kay認為這三人感情深厚, A-Rod督促著小Q和牛奶弟的進步, 也讓他釋放些許壓力和更多笑容 "He is there for me," Cano says. "He makes being a major leaguer easier. There is nothing you can't talk to him about. He will come up and volunteer things, tell you what he knows from being in the game. He's special. I don't think people see that part of him." 小Q說A-Rod的好很多人看不到 All of which would suggest a Rodriguez decision to start anew to be nothing less than incongruous. He has conquered virtually all demons, and now at 32 is an elder statesman to two important players. He appears to be perfectly positioned. A-Rod的未來該何去何從 In the upper decks and the bleachers where the real city lives, the battleship A-Rod has lurched and turned toward the sun. Perhaps the fans can see the end, just as the playoffs are beginning. That Saturday afternoon against the Blue Jays, just as during the stretch when he hit seven home runs in five games, he had won. The idea of whether there is another, better place for him only enhances the drama of each at-bat of the postseason. 季後賽定生死 "That love-hate relationship, I think that's gone," Ramsaran says. "We love him and we don't want him to leave. He has earned his pinstripes. He'd earned it before, and to me, he is a Yankee. Even if he leaves, he is still a Yankee. They were in last place, 14? back, 8? back in the wild-card [race]. He led the charge and got the Yankees into the playoffs. That's a leader. That's someone who took charge. He got them exactly where they were supposed to go." 資深老球迷說人們現在很喜歡A-Rod, 即使他最後選擇離開, 球迷們也會把他當洋基人 Should he leave New York, Rodriguez would risk becoming that most dreaded of personalities, the homeless Hall of Famer. Winfield played for seven teams, was at his best with the Yankees, works for the San Diego Padres and won his championship with Toronto. Rickey Henderson is the greatest leadoff hitter ever, yet played for Oakland three different times, both New York teams, also won a title in Toronto and appeared in the playoffs for five clubs. Paul Molitor played in the World Series for two teams, spent most of his career with Milwaukee but isn't an easily connectable legend to any team. A-Rod也許會因為不想成為沒有歸屬感的名人堂球星而留下, 許多名將待過太多隊, 在進名人堂時要決定所掛名的球隊成了難題 "Alex has an unbelievable sense of baseball history," says Kay, who believes fans see Rodriguez as sympathetic for toughing out the New York storm. "That sense of belonging, I think, matters to him. If he opts out and leaves, he'll come back on Old-Timer's Day and the applause will be pleasant, polite. But he won't be beloved. He won't be beloved anywhere. He won't be part of the pantheon. If he stays, he's got it all, right now. He'll have a plaque in Monument Park. He'll be immortalized. The city will belong to him, immediately." Michael Kay認為歸屬感對A-Rod很重要, 只要他留下, A-Rod會成為洋基甚至紐約的一部份 Over the next month, Alex Rodriguez will attempt to write a melody that, to this point, has always become a torch song. Following that, when it is time to do business with the Yankees, he'll look New York in the eye and decide if he'll take that hug, once and for all. But in the end, his status will remain unchanged, for he will stand in the same position he has been in since he was a teenager: at the center of his universe, with all the planets in orbit around him, locked into his gravity. 只要過得了十月份, A-Rod的地位將不可動搖, 所有的榮耀都將屬於他 Join the conversation about "King of Gotham?" Howard Bryant is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached via e-mail at howard.bryant@espn3.com. Header photo by Tom DiPace. 譯者後記: 整篇都在對A-Rod動之以情, 希望他別走, 最後兩段超級灑狗血, 嘖~ 回想起去年啊, 怎麼沒人雪中送炭, 有的只是雪上加霜, 還是等季後賽打完再說吧, 現實的紐約人, 哼! -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 61.230.127.214