Re: Stuck in a slump

看板Diamondbacks作者mittermeyer (真的真的好想休息)時間12年前 (2012/10/03 22:30)推噓0(0推 0噓 0→)

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BY JUNE 22, the Diamondbacks have won 10 of 15 games, pulling themselves to a .500 record, 6 1/2 games behind the division-leading Dodgers. The streak coincides with renewed production from Upton, who bats .327, hits two home runs and drives in eight runs during the stretch. 到6月22日，響尾蛇近15場贏了10場，勝率提升至五成，落後分區首位道奇6場半，Upton 在這段期間也打出0.327，2發全壘打，8分打點。 At lunch one afternoon in Scottsdale, Upton rattles off his team's lineup. Paul Goldschmidt, the 24-year-old first baseman in his second season, is slugging .505 and is on his way to becoming a dominant middle-of-the-lineup player. Second baseman Aaron Hill, 30, is having a near-career season, with an OPS of .859. Leftfielder Jason Kubel, also 30, has a .297 average and nine home runs. "That guy is good, man," Upton says of Kubel, who signed with Arizona in the offseason after seven seasons with the Twins. "Who was behind [Joe] Mauer in the lineup when he won the MVP? Who was behind [Justin] Morneau when he won his MVP? Kubel. And now he's behind me, so I'm next in line." Upton smiles. "I'm just going to nestle myself into the three hole and hack," he says. "I'll take this lineup against anyone." 某天在Scottsdale的午餐，Upton背出隊上的打線。Paul Goldschmidt，24歲的一壘手，繳出0.505的長打率，正往優秀中心打者之路邁進。二壘手Aaron Hill，30歲，打出近生涯顛峰的OPS 0.859。同樣30歲的左外野手Jason Kubel，今年打出0.297，9發全壘打。「這傢伙好樣的。」Upton談到這位待過雙城隊7年，今年轉到響尾蛇的球員。「誰打序在當年拿下MVP的Mauer後面？誰保護拿到MVP的Morneau？就是Kubel。他現在在我後面，所以該我了！」Upton微笑道。「這條打線是萬人敵。」 While Upton can bask in his team's recent success, his benching earlier in the month has troubled him far more than the comments from Kendrick, whom Upton texted shortly afterward. "He said what he meant ... but he has my back," Upton says. He thinks Gibson's decision, on the other hand, has hurt him in ways most people can't see -- or hear. To Upton, the forced days off gave Arizona fans a target for the team's sluggish season. Out there, all by himself in rightfield, Upton began hearing boos, taunts from the people wearing D-backs jerseys. 當Upton沉浸於隊上近期的成功時，早先被板凳的效應襲來，更勝於之前Kendrick對他的評論。他之後對評論回應：「他就是這個意思...，但他是我的靠山。」他認為Gibson的調度，一方面也對他造成無形的傷害。對Upton來說，自己的降板給了球迷們目標，宣洩今年不好的表現。在那輝煌象徵的右外野，Upton開始聽到球迷的噓聲，身穿響尾蛇球衣的人對他冷嘲熱諷。 "Granted, Gibby was trying to help me, but he could have rethought that," Upton says. "It wasn't his intention, but he sure threw me into the street." Gibson disagrees. "I'm on his side; I'm not against him," he says. "I'd do anything I could for the kid. Anything." 「當然，Gibby試著想要幫助我，但他應該要再想一下。」Upton說：「這不是他的本意，但他像是把我扔到街上。」Gibson不同意：「我是站在他這邊的，為了他我會盡我所能，不管是任何事。」 Upton seethes privately, angry at himself for hearing the boos. The past few weeks have seemed like an avalanche of negativity, and he's gotten caught up in it. So he's disabled the Twitter application on his phone to block out what fans are saying about him. He also refuses to watch video of his poor at-bats after he gets home at night. "If I look stressed out, I am," he says as he sits at a restaurant table and sips lemonade. "I'm pushing myself. I'm going to be pissed and disappointed in myself if I don't perform." Upton私底下很激動，聽到噓聲讓他很自責。過去幾周就像一連串的厄運襲來，他被吞沒在其中。他把手機的推特APP關了以擋掉球迷對他的留言，當深夜回到家，他也不去看自己表現不好的影片。「如果我看起來壞掉了，那我的確是。」他在餐廳裡邊吸著檸檬水邊說：「我鞭策著自己，如果打不出來，我對自己會很怒很失望。」 Later that night, Upton and Ashley Borror, his girlfriend of four years, return to their townhome following a 10-5 win against the Cubs, a game in which the outfielder hit his seventh home run. Upton heads for the refrigerator and grabs a yogurt container. The 27-year-old Borror, an attractive former teacher with a wide smile, opens a box of flaxseed crackers, takes a bite and frowns. "This doesn't taste right," she tells Upton. "Want some?" 當天稍晚，Upton跟他交往四年的女朋友Ashley Borror回到家中，那天球隊以10比5打敗小熊，他也打了第7發全壘打。Upton往冰箱走去，拿了一杯優格。27歲的Borror，一位充滿魅力的前任教師帶著滿滿笑意，打開了一盒香蔥餅乾，吃了一口然後皺起眉頭，「吃起來怪怪的...」他告訴Upton：「要吃點嗎？」 A few minutes later, as baseball highlights play in the family room, Borror curls up on a couch and reads emails on her laptop while Upton pulls a seat from the granite-topped kitchen island and mixes granola into his yogurt. The couple are building a 12,000-square-foot home a few miles away in Paradise Valley, and it's on Upton's mind. He wants to decorate the basement with a series of clear mannequin-like figures on which he'll hang game jerseys from players he respects. "Damn, Ash, Seattle was just in town and I didn't get an Ichiro," he tells Borror. "Or a Felix? Man, I could have had a Felix." 幾分鐘後，棒球精華在家人房裡播放，Borror縮在沙發上用電腦讀信，Upton則從花崗岩做的島式廚房拿了一張椅子，把麥片加進優格中。這對情侶正在Paradise Valley幾英哩外的地方蓋新房，Upton十分重視。他想要在地下室放一些展示用人型，好讓他們穿上自己崇拜的球員球衣。「媽呀，Ash，西雅圖正在作客，我卻沒拿到Ichiro的球衣。」他告訴Borror：「還是Felix，天，我應該要拿到的。」 "I'm sure you can still get one," Borror calls from the couch. "You know, you have people who can do that." 「我確定你能拿到。」Borror在沙發上說：「你知道的，有人可以做到。」 "I guess you're right," Upton says. "Man, why didn't I just get those guys when they were here?" 「我想你是對的。」Upton說：「嗯，我為什麼不趁他們來的時候找他們呢？」 He pulls out his phone and looks at the Diamondbacks' remaining schedule. "Maybe I'll get an old-school Ryan Howard when we're in Philadelphia," he says. "And you know I have to get a Roy Halladay." 他拿出手機查響尾蛇的賽程：「也許在費城我能拿到復古版的Ryan Howard，還有Halladay 也是非到手不可。」 The television flashes a highlight of Upton's home run, although he barely notices. A Kubel ground-rule double follows, and Upton looks up. "He smoked that," he says, then goes back to his phone. 電視播著Upton的全壘打，雖然他幾乎沒注意到。然後是Kubel的場地二安，Upton看到了。「他尻中那球。」說完他便轉回電話上。 "I thought you looked good too," Borror says. 「我想你也很棒。」Borror說。 Anyone who knows him says this is the real Upton -- the guy at home, watching baseball with his girlfriend, scrolling through his phone. "I try to be a normal guy," he says. In Scottsdale, where there's an abundance of young wealth, there are always parties and dinners and clubs. Upton, though, has settled into a different, quieter lifestyle. "We go out," Borror says, "but it's not crazy. Sometimes, we kind of feel like the old couple." 任何認識他的人都會說這是真實的Upton─他在家裡跟女友看棒球，拿著手機畫來畫去。「我想成為一個普通人。」他說。在Scottdale，一個充滿年輕商機的地方，到處都是派對、晚宴跟夜店，但Upton已經步入截然不同、恬靜的生活方式。Borror說：「我們會出去，但不會這麼瘋狂。有時，我們就像老夫老妻。」 Much of the time, Upton is content to go sneaker shopping or to play dominoes with Young. Recently, Upton and Borror hired a chef to prepare healthy meals for them. Upton cut junk food from his diet a few months ago -- except for an occasional pizza with Young -- and he started getting up earlier. "My rookie year, I'd wake up at 12:30, go to get fast food on my way to the yard," Upton says. "Or I'd get up at 1:30 and never eat." The couple also recently began attending church. "He was so cocky when he was younger," Borror says. "But he's grown up." 多數時間，Upton滿足於逛球鞋店或是跟Young玩骨牌。最近則是跟女朋友熱衷於養生飲食，雇了廚師做菜。Upton幾個月前為了減肥戒掉垃圾食物─除了偶爾跟Young吃Pizza 外，也開始早起。「新人那年，我12點半起床，去球場的路上買速食當午餐。」Upton 說：「不然就1點半起床，然後不吃東西。」他們最近開始上教堂。「年輕的他很狂傲。」 Borror說：「但他長大了。」 Upton's watch soon reads 1:25 a.m. He pushes away from the counter and stands up to go to bed. But before he goes upstairs, Borror says he first needs to see his Silver Slugger Award that arrived in the mail a day earlier. The award is given to each league's best offensive players by position. Borror and Upton walk downstairs, to a rectangular cardboard box next to their garage. Borror bends down and untangles the bubble wrap protecting the trophy. Finally, she sets it on the floor. The award -- a gleaming bat attached to a black background, with a cutout at the bottom that looks like home plate -- shines under the house lights. "This," she says, and gingerly hands it to Upton. Upton錶上的時間來到凌晨1點25分，他離開吧檯，站起來準備去睡覺。但他走上樓之前， Borror說他要先看昨天才送到的銀棒獎盃，這個獎項是頒給各聯盟每個位置的最佳攻擊球員。Upton跟Borror步下樓梯，走向車庫旁一個四方型的厚紙箱。Borror彎腰弄開泡棉，最後，他把獎盃放在地上。這個獎盃─發光的棒子附在黑色背板上，底部裁切成像本壘板一樣，在燈光下閃閃發亮。「這個。」她說著，然後小心的遞給Upton。 "I'm scared to scratch it," he says. 「我很怕刮傷它。」他說。 "Where are you going to put it?" she asks. 「你想把它放在哪？」她問道。 "I don't know," Upton says. "How about a centerpiece on the table?" Borror laughs. 「我不知道耶。」Upton回答。「不然放在桌子中間好了。」Borror笑了。 Names are engraved on a plaque to the side of the bat. It's a who's who of baseball stars: Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton. Upton holds the trophy in front of him and breaks into a wide grin. He pulls it close to his face. Then he kisses the bat. 名字被刻在棒子旁邊的銘版上，這是球星版的猜人名遊戲：Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Matt Kemp, Justin Upton。Upton把獎盃拿到身前，滿足的笑著。他又把獎盃靠近臉，然後親了上面的棒子。 (待續...) -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 118.169.200.70 ※ 編輯: mittermeyer 來自: 118.169.200.70 (10/03 22:33)