[外電] The Universal Language (下)

看板Dodgers作者redstone (REDSTONE)時間15年前 (2010/03/16 20:53)推噓4(4推 0噓 5→)

留言9則, 7人參與討論串1/1

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/columns/story?id=4983116 （文章很長，只翻譯大意而非逐字翻） Saturday night, Taipei 台北，星期六晚上 Hong-Chih Kuo had known something wasn't wrong for a few days now. Something in his elbow wasn't right. Not necessarily wrong, but not right either. Which is normal this time of year, but always something to worry about when you make your living throwing 97 mph fastballs with an elbow that's been under the knife four times already. 幾天前郭就知道狀況沒什麼不對。他的手肘怪怪的，不是受傷，但也不是沒事這在這個時節（春訓）很正常，但如果你是靠拿開過四次刀的手投97英里的球吃飯的，就得要擔心些 Still, Kuo was hoping the soreness would just go away after a few days, so he kept it to himself at first. No way he was going to stay back in Arizona and miss the Dodgers' trip to his homeland over a little spring training soreness. 但郭原本還是希望過個幾天就會沒事，所以一開始什麼都沒說他可不想因為一點春訓的小小酸痛，就錯過回家鄉的機會，留在亞利桑那 But the elbow didn't feel better after the long flight on Wednesday. Or Thursday. Or Friday after he did a throwing session during the opener of the Dodgers three-game series here against an all-star team of professional Taiwanese players. 但星期三長途飛行之後，手肘沒有比較好；星期四也沒有到了星期五牛棚練投之後，依然沒有比較好 Saturday morning he finally had to speak up and tell the training staff. Later that afternoon he had a chat with Dodgers manager Joe Torre. 星期六早上，他不得不告訴防護員，下午和Torre來了個面對面談話 Torre wouldn't budge. Kuo was not going to pitch on Sunday. Torre just could not take the chance of his dynamic left-handed relief pitcher risking further injury by starting Sunday's game. Torre絕不讓步，郭星期天不準投球，Torre不要他的牛棚大將冒受傷的危險 It was a pretty clear-cut decision. But that didn't make it any easier for Kuo to inform the Taiwanese press of the situation after Saturday's game. Already they were disappointed the second-game of the series had been rained out, now this. 決定很清楚明瞭，但，這不會讓郭在星期六賽後告知台灣記者的任務變簡單他們已經因為第二場比賽被取消而感到很失望了，現在還要加上這件事 There were no fewer than 60 reporters, camera crews and photographers in the hallway of Taipei's Tien Mu Stadium when Dodgers public relations man Josh Rawitch had to break the news to them. A few minutes later Kuo came around the corner and tried to explain the situation himself. 道奇公關Rawitch發表消息時，有超過六十個記者集合在天母球場的走道稍後，郭出來親自向大家說明 I don't speak Mandarin, but the expression on Kuo's face said it all. He was sullen and emotionally drained. This clearly was a huge disappointment. Not just for him personally, because he was planning to leave over 100 tickets for family and friends to Sunday's game, but for his country, which had so thoroughly embraced him, the Dodgers and baseball during this trip. 我聽不懂中文，但郭的表情很明白－－非常鬱悶無力很顯然，這不只讓他個人失望（有超過百人的親友團要來看球）也讓全心擁抱道奇、棒球、以及他的國人失望 Later, when he came over to address the small contingent of American media covering the series, he admitted that he nearly broke down in tears when he was explaining the situation. 之後，當他過來和美國媒體談話時，承認他那時都快哭了 I'm not sure I fully appreciated what Kuo and his countryman Chin-lung Hu mean to their fans back home until this moment. Until then, their rock-star status in Taiwan was somewhat of a curiosity. Teammates would tease Kuo about his amusing Subway commercials, or ask Hu about the sheer number of camera crews that had been assigned to follow the two local stars every move during this trip. 在此之前，我還不完全明白郭和胡對家鄉同胞的意義是什麼他們在台灣的明星身份比較像是新鮮有趣的事情隊友會拿郭的Subway廣告開玩笑，或者問胡大批追著他跑的攝影記者的事 (Seriously, how many television stations are there in Taiwan? Every time we leave the ballpark there are dozens of crews stationed at the exits. Then every time we arrive back at the Sherwood Hotel there are dozens more. They can't be the same people, right?) （台灣到底有多少電視台？我們每次離開和到達一個地方時都有幾十部攝影機等著）（不可能在兩個地點都是同樣一群人吧？） But all that stuff is superficial. Fluffy novelty that could be true in any country, for any foreign-born major league player. This moment with Kuo in the hallway near tears was something else entirely. 但這些都是表面的而已，郭在走廊上幾乎淚目卻是完全不同的等級 This came from the heart and hurt in his gut. 這是來自內心的 "I hope they understand,'' Kuo said. "They have to I guess. [But] It's very sad, very tough. I wanted to pitch for my family. ... I will sign a lot of autographs [instead].'' 郭說：我希望他們能理解，我猜他們也非理解不可但真的很難，我想在家人面前投球...我會簽很多名（代替） As Kuo explained his feelings, I thought back on a conversation I'd had with Hu the day before we'd left. Baseball, Hu explained, was the national pastime in Taiwan. Not soccer like everywhere else in the world but America. Baseball. 就在郭解釋他的感受時，我想起之前和胡的對話，他說，棒球是台灣的國球 As we travelled around this island nation once known as Formosa, which has been passed back and forth between Japan and China over the centuries, it was clear why baseball, with its reverence for history, detail and discipline is so beloved here. 走過這個曾經名為福爾摩沙、在日本和中國間來去的島嶼，才理解棒球為何受到熱愛 Taiwan is one of the most modern nations in Asia. Parts of downtown Taipei rival the poshest sections of the grand European capitals of London or Paris or Berlin. Business is conducted at light speed. Engineering marvels, like the world's fastest elevator which ascends the Taipei 101 tower at 1010 meters/minute are celebrated as national treasures. 台灣是亞洲最現代化的國家之一，台北某些地方就像歐洲城市般商業發達、各種工程奇蹟被視為國家寶藏 Baseball players who've mastered the unique skill set of the game, players like Kuo and Hu who have brought honor to their nation by reaching the pinnacle of the sport in America, are reverential figures. 像郭、胡一樣球技傑出、到達棒球最高殿堂為國爭光的球員備受尊崇 "They never boos the players here,'' Kuo told me, when I asked why fans had cheered the success of the Dodger players during the games. "Never the players. The players are very respected. If they ever boo, it's the umpires.'' 當我問郭，為什麼（台灣）球迷會幫道奇球員加油時，郭說：他們從來不會噓球員，球員很受尊重；如果會噓也是噓裁判 It was this weight of expectation and responsibility that Kuo and Hu carried with onboard for this trip home. I can't even imagine how difficult it must've been for Kuo to disclose his injury to the Dodgers staff, knowing that it might jeopardize his ability to pitch on his home soil. 郭與胡踏上歸鄉旅程時，就是肩負著期盼與責任的重擔我沒有辦法想像，郭要告知教練他的狀況時有多困難明知這樣會影響到他在家鄉投球的機會 All he could do was hope they understood. 他能做的，只有希望他們能理解 Taipei to Kaohsiung to Phoenix, Sunday （Shelburne戰南北） Yes, all of that was "Sunday.'' I use the term loosely because we crossed the international dateline on the way home, meaning that we actually landed in Phoenix Sunday night three hours before we took off from the Southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung (pronounced, Cow-shUNG). And you thought Daylight Saving Time messed with your body clock. 台北、高雄、鳳凰城全都在同一天內－－因為我們跨過國際換日線比夏季日光節約時間還擾亂身體時鐘 As grueling as the day was -- starting with a 6:30 a.m. wake-up call, a 90-minute high-speed train ride from Taipei to Kaohsiung, a baseball game in weather that would make Houston in July feel balmy, a mad dash to the airport and a 12-hour flight home to Phoenix -- something about this day felt refreshing. 即使從清早6:30離開台北、搭乘90分鐘高鐵到高雄、在大熱天中比賽、又飛了12小時這一天、棒球、還有（台灣）這地方與她的人民，讓人依然感到神采奕奕 About the day, about the baseball game, about the place and the people. Maybe it was simply that what had been accomplished in this whirlwind trip was finally sinking in. At the start of it I had felt like there wasn't enough time for anything lasting to take hold. A few days of front-page headlines, a flurry of attention, a couple of games that may or may not be memorable. All of which could be forgotten in a few days or weeks time. 也許是因為，現在終於能體會這趟旋風似旅程所達成的一切一開始，我以為沒有足夠的時間可以留下長久的影響幾天的頭版新聞、注目、幾場比賽，也許沒什麼讓人難忘的過個幾天或幾星期，就沒有人記得了 Baseball was already Taiwan's national pastime. It had been sullied of late by a gambling scandal. But the sport still had a place in the bones and blood of this nation. 棒球已經是台灣的國民休閒，也許一時受賭沾污，但依然在這個國家的血肉裡 A three-game exhibition tour would do little more than spike the blood pressure here. 三場表演賽，也不過就是讓棒球血稍微熱點而已（譯註：原文說血壓，但這樣翻譯可能比較合中文用法） But everything that happened on Sunday made me realize how wrong that assumption was. 但星期天所發生的一切，讓我了解到，原本的想法是錯的 It started with the sendoff from Taipei, where a hundred or so fans gathered at the entrance to the Sherwood Hotel to see the team off despite the early-morning departure. 一切從數百名球迷大清早集結在飯店外歡送我們開始 Another group of fans was waiting at the train station, holding baseballs and hats and hoping for one last autograph or picture. Because of the hurry to catch the train, the players could only smile and wave, but you got the sense that even that was special for the people on the receiving end. 車站裡，另一群球迷等著我們，手拿棒球或球帽，希望有最後機會要到簽名或照片因為趕著搭車，球員只能揮手微笑，但感覺得出來，這對球迷已經很特別了 In Kaohsiung the reception at the train station and the ballpark was much of the same. 在高雄車站與球場得到的歡迎也差不多 "The people have been terrific,'' Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "The people couldn't have been more enthusiastic or more cooperative. The security has been great and it's been necessary. But it's been necessary because of the enthusiasm of the people.'' Torre說：這裡的人很棒，極熱情合作保全非常好，也非常必須，因為大家太熱情了 Though the quick train ride had made the distance feel short, it was quickly apparent this part of Taiwan was quite different from the north. It was warm and humid here, without being sticky. Everything was greener and more lush. 雖然高鐵讓兩地的距離感覺很短但我很快就發現南台灣與北台灣大不相同溫暖、溼度高但不至於黏膩，所有東西都更綠更豐美 The soft breeze coming in from the South China Sea always seemed to blow at just the right time. 微微的海風也總能適時吹來 Earlier in the trip, Chin-Lung Hu had told me that this part of Taiwan was baseball country. He and Hong-Chih Kuo had grown up about an hour north of here, in the coastal city of Tainan. But the feel there was much the same as in Kaohsiung. 旅程之初，胡金龍告訴我，這裡才是台灣的棒球之鄉他和郭泓志成長於離此北邊一小時左右的台南，但高雄的氣氛也很像 Baseball may be the national pastime in all of Taiwan, but it is an obsession in the south. 棒球或許是全台灣的休閒，但在南部，它是執迷 The stadium here held four times as many fans as Tien Mu Stadium in Taipei and it filled up early. About an hour before the game, the drums started to beat. 這裡的球場容量有天母的四倍，而且早早就坐滿離比賽還有一個小時，鼓聲就開始了 A baseball game here feels like a ritual. Drums beating before every at-bat, chants and cheers echoing down from the stands. 此地的棒球賽有如祭典儀式，每次打擊前，都從觀眾席傳來鼓聲、歌聲、歡呼 Outside the stadium life seemed to stop. Those who'd missed out on tickets gathered outside the stadium gates to watch on big screens. 球場外一切似乎都暫停了，沒買到票的人聚集在外面看大螢幕轉播 "I was tapping my foot by the end of the game,'' Torre said "The fans really made the trip for me, not only at the ballpark but in and around Taipei and Kaohsiung. Torre說：「球賽到後來我都跟著打拍子了台北、高雄球場裡外的球迷讓我這趟旅行很成功盡興 "Just to come this far and to realize how small our world is in regard to baseball is wonderful. Baseball has been my life and this was a great experience for me.'' 「光是來到這麼遠的地方，了解到棒球讓世界變小了，感覺就很美好棒球是我的人生，這一趟對我而言是很棒的經驗。」 Torre's done about a half a dozen of these goodwill trips in his career, starting in 1974 as a player for the Mets when he went to Japan. His experiences, from Japan in 1974 with the Mets and 2004 with the Yankees, to China in 2008 with the Dodgers and now Taiwan in 2010 serve as a de facto time-lapse photographic essay on the growth of baseball in Asia and around the world. Torre已經去過許多次推廣棒球的旅行，從他走過的地方就可以看出棒球在亞洲和全球的成長 It's when you ask why he keeps wanting to make these grueling trips that you realize how important they are. 當你問起他為何願意踏上這些累人的旅行時，才知道它們有多重要 "I just love the game,'' he says simply. "It's a great game.'' 他說：「我就是愛棒球。它很棒。」 It's that love that connects men like Torre and the players who volunteered for the trip to the fans waving from the street corners Kaohsiung as the bus drove away and the trip came to a close. 正是對棒球的愛，連結了Torre、自願來的球員、以及在高雄街角對巴士揮手的球迷 It's why, occasionally, I'd even see major-leaguers like Angel Berroa, James Loney and even Manny Ramirez waiving back. 也正是因為如此，連大聯盟球員如Berroa、Loney、甚至Manny都揮手回禮 We touched down in Phoenix around 6 p.m. "Sunday'' night, everyone still a bit weary from the long day and plane flight home across the Pacific Ocean. The crew aboard the EVA Airlines charter flight had offered one last thanks before the flight landed, expressing how much the Dodgers visit had meant to the people of Taiwan. 我們在星期天晚上回到鳳凰城，下機前，長榮機組人員再度向我致謝 After that, life went back to what it had been. Four players who'd made the trip had learned after Sunday's game they'd been sent down to minor league camp. 之後，一切回到常軌，四名參與台灣旅的球員在星期天賽後得知他們將被下放 Torre was due back in the office Monday morning. 星期天早上Torre會回到辦公室 The team's excellent clubhouse manager Mitch Poole gave instructions on what should be done with all the gear everyone had taken on the trip. Travel manager Scott Akasaki made sure everyone filled out their customs declarations forms correctly. 球團人員提醒大家怎麼處理他們帶去台灣的球衣球具、確認所有人正確填報申報單 There were no crowds waiting at the gate. 沒有大批人馬歡迎我們 An hour and a half later, the team buses pulled back into the empty parking lots at Camelback Ranch. Eleven hours later, players would begin arriving for another routine day of spring training. The game goes on. 一個半小時後，球隊巴士來到Camelback Ranch空曠的停車場十一個小時後，球員即將報到，開始另一天的春訓比賽繼續 -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 123.110.168.18 ※ 編輯: redstone 來自: 123.110.168.18 (03/16 21:17)