[轉錄]Re: [情報]TIME雜誌關於台灣棒球的報導

看板Eagles作者sasaya1 (莎莎亞)時間20年前 (2004/08/12 03:42)推噓1(1推 0噓 0→)

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※ [本文轉錄自 Baseball 看板] 作者: sykcurve (newone) 看板: Baseball 標題: Re: [情報]TIME雜誌關於台灣棒球的報導時間: Thu Aug 12 02:00:34 2004 ※ 引述《jerrylhh (濱口)》之銘言： : http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501040712-660981,00.html : Leaving the Past Behind : Victory for Taiwan's baseball team may restore some luster to the island's : scandal-tainted diamonds : BY AUSTIN RAMZY | TAICHUNG : Monday, Jul. 05, 2004 : Baseball in Taiwan is a bit like the island's democracy: sometimes it's : corrupt and occasionally even violent, but no matter how rough around the : edges, it's still a wellspring of national pride and passion. Many Taiwan : people mistily remember the giddy celebration that ensued in 1969 after a : team of the island's boys won the international Little League World Series : in the U.S.閠he first of 17 such titles captured by Taiwan. Tens of thousands : of fans crowded Taipei's streets to cheer as the team rode through the : capital in jeeps. "When those players returned home, some people described : it as being like Neil Armstrong returning from the moon," says Tseng : Wen-cheng, a baseball writer and ESPN commentator in Taipei. The people of : Taiwan were so proud of the accomplishment that the image of victorious : Little Leaguers eventually replaced Chiang Kai-shek, the father of modern : Taiwan, on the $500 bill. : Lately, however, baseball in Taiwan has become less national pastime and : more of a national pimple铘nd when the Chinese Taipei baseball team takes : the field in Athens for the 2004 Olympics in August, it will be playing : not just for medals but for a restoration of face. In the 1990s, Taiwan's : professional league was rocked by a series of scandals that made America's : Black Sox fix of the 1919 World Series seem like a choirboy prank. Trouble : surfaced eight years ago, when five players from the Brother Elephants, one : of the seven Taiwan pro teams at the time, were kidnapped by racketeers in : the central Taiwan city of Taichung. The gangsters accused the players of : throwing a game铳osting them thousands of dollars in gambling losses : 铘nd meted out punishment by shoving a gun in the mouth of a star pitcher : and pistol-whipping a second baseman. : The players were later released, but the incident sparked an investigation : into illegal betting and game rigging that revealed close links between : pro baseball in Taiwan and multimillion-dollar gambling rackets run by : organized crime. Over the next several years, nearly two dozen players, : a coach and 12 mobsters were convicted of offenses related to baseball : gambling. One team, the China Times Eagles, disbanded after several of : its members were suspended for life. Disillusioned fans shunned ballparks : and professional play was in danger of disappearing altogether. "The years : between 1997 and 2001 were the low point" in the island's baseball history, : says sports commentator Tseng. "You can call those years the Dark Ages." : Helping to lead the sport into a more enlightened era is Hsu Sheng-ming, : the head coach of Taiwan's international squad. Hsu, 45, steered the Chinese : Taipei team to second in the Asia baseball championships last fall, a finish : that qualified the island to compete in the Olympics for the first time in : 12 years. In 1992, the Chinese Taipei team won silver at Barcelona. Hsu says : it's important to do well again this year. "A good showing will have a very : positive impact on Taiwan's athletic development," he says. : A podium finish in Athens would be a kind of poetic justice for Hsu, too. : In 1999, when he was managing the Weichuan Dragons pro team, Hsu was : returning home after walking his child to school when he was jumped : from behind and stabbed four times in the back and buttocks. Hsu says : his attackers were gang members who were angry that he refused to fix : games. The incident almost convinced him to quit baseball. "I was really : frustrated and didn't think things could get so complicated," Hsu says. : "But if I had quit, it was like saying I had something to do with it. : So I stuck around." : Hsu downplays the idea that he or his players have a larger mission than : simply winning ball games閠hat doing well in the Olympics will somehow : restore dignity to the diamonds of Taiwan. His biggest job at the moment : seems to be managing not the team but expectations. "The fans obviously : have very high hopes," Hsu says. "We welcome their support, but there are : a lot of conditions that aren't under our control." Although the U.S. team : , a perennial powerhouse and the gold-medal winner at Sydney, failed to : qualify for the Athens Games, Cuba and Japan are strong contenders. : Most observers say Taiwan's best hope is bronze隲et even President : Chen Shui-bian is rooting for gold. "I've always believed that the : baseball spirit of being brave, working hard and never being daunted : by losses is exactly the Taiwanese spirit," Chen said during a meeting : with players after the 2003 Asia championships. : Chen may wind up disappointed, but should Taiwan fall short, players can : take comfort in the knowledge that if they are beaten in Athens at least : it will be at the hands of other ballplayers, not gangland thugs. And : should the baseball gods smile and Taiwan achieve a Miracle on Grass, : players can expect to be greeted at home as heroes: like innocent boys : from an era when baseball influenced Taiwan's money, and not the other : way around. 台灣的棒球有一點像是這座島嶼上的政治：有時候它是道德墮落的而且甚至暴力的，然而不管在懸崖邊緣掙扎了多久，它仍然是國家的榮耀與熱情的泉源，很多台灣人依然模糊的記得在１９６９年中華少棒隊在美國贏得國際少棒聯盟之後讓人暈眩的慶祝活動。這也是開啟了往後中華隊在這項錦標賽中的１７次冠軍的第一次。成千上萬的球迷湧上台北街頭，簇擁著坐在吉普車上的中華小將。「當這些球員回到台灣，有些人描述他們就像是阿姆斯壯從月球返回地球一樣。」曾文誠說，他是台灣著名的棒球作家以及ＥＳＰＮ的球評。台灣人是如此以少棒取得的成就為榮，甚至中華隊贏得錦標的照片取代了現代台灣之父蔣介石的遺像，印在５００元的鈔票上面。然而，近來，原本身為國家級休閒娛樂的台灣棒球運動已漸漸變成身上的毒瘤。當中華隊在今年八月的雅典奧運會上一展身手的時候，將不僅僅是為了獎牌奮戰，同時也是重新找回台灣棒球原有的尊嚴。在一九九零年代，台灣的職棒聯盟被一系列的放水醜聞重擊，和在１９１９年世界大賽發生的黑襪事件比之猶有過之而無不及。放水醜聞在八年前被揭露，當時兄弟象的五位球員遭到台中的賭徒綁架，歹徒怪罪球員的表現讓他們賭金損失慘重，並且用手槍恐嚇一位明星投手和一名二壘手。這些選手後來獲得釋放，但是這個事件也促使了對非法賭博和控制比賽結果的調查，並且揭發了台灣職業棒球和由犯罪集團主導的牽涉上百萬賭金的賭博詐騙的密切關連。在接下來的數年中，近兩打的職業球員，一名教練和十二位詐騙集團成員被宣判涉入非法賭博的罪行。時報鷹隊因為大部分的球員被判處終身不得錄用也被迫解散。大失所望的球迷離開球場，台灣職業棒球也面臨了瀕臨消失的危機。「在１９９７到２００１年是台灣棒球歷史上最低潮的時刻，」球評曾文誠說，「你可以稱之為『黑暗時代』。」幫助帶領這項運動進入一個更開明的時代的是徐生明，他是中華國家代表隊的總教練。４５歲的徐生明，去年秋天帶領中華隊在亞洲錦標賽獲得第二名，同時取得了今年雅典奧運的參賽權，這也是中華隊十二年來頭一次得以角逐於奧運場上。１９９２年中華隊在巴塞隆納奧運贏得銀牌，徐生明表示這一次勢必要再度取得佳績，「如果我們能夠取得好的成績，這將帶給台灣運動發展非常正面的衝擊。」他說。對徐生明來說，在雅典奪得獎牌也將是一種詩意的正義，在一九九九年，當時他身為味全龍隊總教練，在他帶小孩上學返家的途中，突然之間他的背和臀部被歹徒從後刺傷了四刀。徐生明說，歹徒是幫派份子，因為他不願意配合放水才攻擊他。這件事幾乎促使他退出棒球界。「我真的非常沮喪，我不認為事情會變的這麼複雜，」徐生明說，「但是假如我放棄了，這就像是說我必須做一些事來面對他，所以我堅持下去了。」徐生明心中放下了他和他的球員有比單單贏一場球更重要的任務的想法──在雅典表現優異將以某種方式挽回台灣棒球的尊嚴。他現在最重要的工作似乎不是管理好他的球隊，而是外在對他們的期待。「球迷顯然對我們的期望非常高，」徐生明說，「我們對於大家的協助當然很歡迎，但是很多情況是我們不能完全掌握的。」雖然長久的棒球強權、雪梨奧運金牌得主美國隊沒有取得這屆奧運的參賽權，古巴和日本仍是強力的競爭者。大部分的觀察家表示台灣最大的希望會是銅牌，然而即使是總統陳水扁先生都為中華隊奪金抱以期待：「我總是相信棒球的精神：勇敢、努力、不氣餒正是台灣的精神。」陳水扁在２００３亞錦賽後會面中華隊球員的時候這麼說。陳水扁可能最後會失望，但是即使中華隊的表現未臻理想，球員們將不至於那們難受，因為他們是在雅典被其他對手們打敗，而不是幫派的惡棍。而假如棒球之神眷顧，讓台灣在雅典創造奇蹟，球員將在回國後被當成英雄：就像上個世代的純真的男孩一樣，棒球的精神推動了台灣的經濟，而不是其他不好的方面。 -- 翻的不好還請見諒^^ -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 210.58.168.183 ※ 編輯: sykcurve 來自: 210.58.168.183 (08/12 02:01)

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