Re: Stuck in a slump
ON MAY 17 in Denver, the Diamondbacks and Rockies are tied 7-7 in the top of
the ninth when Upton walks to the plate with a runner on third. Upton is
batting .218 with 10 RBIs. He's still stuck on three homers. Even worse, he
has only three hits in 27 at-bats with runners in scoring position. With the
count 1 and 2 and the home crowd cheering for a strikeout, Rockies reliever
Rafael Betancourt fires a fastball over the outside part of the plate. Upton
spears it. The ball flies high to rightfield; Upton follows the ball's arc
with his bat head. It clears the fence, several seats up. The crowd hushes.
Upton runs the bases, touches home and disappears into his dugout among a sea
of high-fives.
5月17日在丹佛，九局上，蛇蛇跟洛磯打到7平，Upton在三壘有人時上場打擊，當時他
打擊率0.218，只有10分打點，全壘打數依然卡在3，更慘的是，得點圈打擊27支3。兩
好一壞，地主球迷歡呼準備迎接三振，洛磯投手Rafael Betancourt丟了一顆外角直球，
Upton掃中，球往右外野飛去，他用球棒為球畫出了一道弧，球出了牆，上到牆後的幾
排觀眾席。球迷們鴉雀無聲，Upton繞過壘包，踏上本壘板，回到休息室，然後消失在
隊友們的擊掌中。
Upton has been working with Baylor nearly every day, but his titanic power --
especially to leftfield -- has evaporated. A few weeks later, entering June,
he has only five home runs, fewer than half the number he'd belted at the
same time a year earlier. His injured thumb makes it difficult to grip his
bat, and it pains him to twist his left hand when he swings in the cage.
Upton has taken to using a small rectangular pad on his thumb to protect it
when he hits, but it's no use. During games, his rhythm has been thrown off.
He is now worried that mechanical flaws are becoming ingrained in his
carefully constructed swing. He's lost confidence and seems indecisive.
Before long, he's leading the majors in strikeouts looking.
Upton每天與Baylor一起練習，但是他那巨大的長打力─尤其是往左拉的力量，像是蒸發
了。幾個禮拜後的六月初，他仍只有5發全壘打，比去年同期的一半還少。受傷的拇指使
他連握棒都很難，打擊練習時左手痛到整個扭曲。球隊讓他戴上四方形的護具作為揮擊
時的保護，但沒有效。比賽中，他的打擊節奏完全走調。他擔心打擊機制的缺陷影響精
心設計的揮擊動作，他完全失去信心，猶豫不決。不久後，他在倒K領先全聯盟。
The Diamondbacks are 23-29, and Upton is hitting .249 entering their game
against the Padres on June 2, when manager Kirk Gibson benches rightfielder.
Gibson does it again three days later, before a 10-0 win against the Rockies.
The decision agitates Upton, who always imagines he is one big game from
righting himself. "So I'm supposed to get better by not playing?" he grumbles.
Gibson makes it clear later that keeping Upton out of the lineup isn't a
punishment. "Justin was never benched," the manager says. "I sat him down for
a couple days so he could get a breath."
蛇蛇23勝29負，Upton在6/2教士戰前打擊率0.249，教頭Kirk Gibson決定把他放上板凳，
三天後對洛磯又一次，那天他們10-0贏球。這個調度打亂了Upton，他總認為自己只差一
步就回來了。「所以我靠冥想來調整就對了？」Upton抱怨道。Gibson澄清這不是懲罰性
調度：「我不會讓Justin坐冷板凳，我讓他休息幾天好讓他喘口氣。」
Gibson, who was named the Diamondbacks' manager midway through the 2010
season and is most famous for his game-winning homer in Game 1 of the 1988
World Series as a Dodger, is in a unique position to handle talented young
players. A former first-round pick himself, he arrived in the majors in 1979
as a 22-year-old with the Tigers. He battled through countless slumps during
a 17-year career, most notably in 1983, when he was booed mercilessly by
Detroit fans. He lashed out at the media and lost his temper in public and in
private. After that season, he enrolled at the corporate mind-building
Pacific Institute in Seattle, where he learned to think positively through
visualizing himself in successful situations. "I had to do that stuff because
I was a lunatic," Gibson says. "Justin is not. He's further along than I was.
But we're a lot alike. We're competitive. I just want him to trust in his
abilities."
10年才上任總教練，生涯最有名的球是88年世界大賽第一場，為道奇打出致勝全壘打的
Gibson，現在處於非常特殊的立場來協助他的年輕有天分的球員們成長。身為第一輪選
秀球員，22歲那年就登上大聯盟，他走過無數的低潮，最有名的是83年，球迷們無情的
噓他。那年季後，他跑去西雅圖專門做心理建設的Pacific Institute，學會了用自己
成功的一面來樂觀處事。「我一定要這樣做因為我那時已經瘋了。」Gibson說：「Justin
則不是，他狀況比我更糟，但我們很像，我們都很努力，我只想要他相信自己的能力。」
The night he sits out against Colorado, Upton spots a gaggle of reporters
waiting outside his locker. He thinks they'll ask about not playing. Instead,
they want to know whether he had heard the comments Diamondbacks managing
partner Ken Kendrick made during a radio interview that day. In the
interview, Kendrick called Upton an enigma and added: "He's certainly not the
Justin Upton he has been in the past and we would expect of him. He's 24
years old. It's time for him to be a consistent performer, and he's not been
that."
那晚他整場都沒上，Upton看到一群記者在他的衣櫃前等著，他以為他們要問今晚怎麼沒
上，但記者們更想知道他對大老闆Ken Kendrick在廣播上談話的想法。Kendrick在節目上
直指Upton根本是個謎團，還說：「他現在顯然不是過去的那個Justin Upton，也不是我
們期待的他。他已經24歲了，是要穩定表現的時候，但他沒做到。」
Upton feels blindsided. "It was one of the more frustrating days of my life,"
he says a few days later while downing an Italian stuffed sandwich at a
Scottsdale restaurant. "I know I haven't played well, but being called out?
Keep that stuff in-house." He ends up talking to Young about it. "What
bothered him wasn't the fact that his numbers weren't where he felt they
should be," Young says. "It was that his work ethic got questioned. His head
got questioned. His priorities got questioned. But in the clubhouse, we know
he's doing 100% of what's in his control to get his game right."
Upton混亂不已。「這是我一生中最難過的日子之一。」幾天後他在一間義大利餐廳吃飯
時說道。「我知道我打得不好，但公開批評？至少關起門說吧。」後來他跟好麻吉Young
討論這件事。「讓他難過的不是數據沒有以前好。」Young說：「而是他的工作態度被質
疑，他的想法被質疑，他的用心被質疑。但在隊上，每個人都知道，他已盡了他所能做的
100%，去把球賽打好。」
(待續...)
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