Re: [新聞] Dodgers' Kuo can't be hit harder tha …
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※ 引述《leddy (耿秋)》之銘言:
: Spring training: Dodgers' Kuo can't be hit harder than he has on road to
: majors
春訓報導:歷經通往大聯盟之路後,已經沒有什麼事能打擊道奇隊投手郭泓志了
: 11:45 PM PST on Monday, March 5, 2007
: from www.pe.com
: By DIAMOND LEUNG
: The Press-Enterprise
: V ERO BEACH, Fla.
: Arms crossed, Hong-Chih Kuo glares at the words: Impossible is nothing.
: Story continues below
: It's only a catchy adidas slogan, isn't it? Just an Asian ad campaign
: celebrating the 25-year-old, whose three-time surgically repaired left arm
: has finally allowed him to pitch effectively at the big-league level and
: challenge to begin this season as the Dodgers' fifth starter.
: But what means everything to Kuo is not his image as an emerging Taiwanese
: hero -- a cell phone pitchman in TV commercials who had his biography
: published last month. It's a seven-year-old videotape of him throwing in his
: first professional game.
手臂交叉在胸前,郭泓志凝視著前方「Impossible is nothing」這行字。
這不是讓人朗朗上口的愛迪達廣告詞嗎?嗯,這是一場在亞洲舉行的廣告活動,慶祝一位
25 歲就在左手動過 3 次手術的年輕人,最終能站在大聯盟球場上投球,而這個球季他又
將爭取成為道奇隊第五號先發投手。
但對於郭泓志而言,這一切代表的意義,並非他是一位竄起的台灣英雄—成為電視手機
廣告的代言人,並在一個月前出版了他的自傳;而是一卷塵封七年的錄影帶,紀錄著他投
出職業生涯的第一場比賽的畫面...
: The scene, from a California League game in San Bernardino, should have been
: a proud moment. Months earlier, Kuo became the first player from the island
: nation to sign with a major league team out of high school.
: Before the 17-year-old accepted a $1.2 million bonus and attention from the
: cameras at his press conference in Taiwan, he received his cancer-stricken
: father's blessing to leave for the land of opportunity.
: "He told me I gotta try to make it to the major leagues," Kuo said.
: In his debut, Kuo struck out seven of the 10 batters he faced without
: allowing a hit. It was a performance so dominating, even for Class A, that
: one youthful Dodgers executive in attendance imagined this was what his
: father must have seen from Sandy Koufax.
時間拉回到七年前,地點則是在 San Bernardino 進行的一場加州聯盟的比賽,這是一
個令人感到驕傲的時刻。在幾個月前,郭泓志成為了台灣有史以來第一位與大聯盟球團
簽約的高中畢業生。這位十七歲的年輕人一夕間賺進了 120 萬美金,在記者會上成為鎂
光燈競逐的焦點,他並帶著罹患癌症父親的祝福離開台灣島。「他告訴我,我必須盡全
力拼上大聯盟」,郭泓志回憶道。
在職業生涯處女秀,郭泓志面對10 位打者並三振其中 7 位,沒有任何人能從他手中擊
出安打。這樣的表現實在太驚人了!即便這只是一場 1A 球賽,當時現場一位道奇球團
的經理(executive)也不禁驚嘆:這就是我老爸當初看 Sandy Koufax 投球的感覺吧!
: But on the second to last pitch he threw, Kuo heard a horrific pop in his
: elbow. Then, on what would be his final pitch for the next 14 months, he
: struck out the batter -- on a curveball, no less.
: Suddenly on LA's Radar Gun
: It wasn't supposed to happen like this. Then again, was it any more
: improbable than Kuo getting noticed by an American scout at a time when few
: Taiwanese prospects were on the radar, and Chin-Feng Chen was more than three
: years away from becoming the first of his countrymen to reach the majors,
: also with the Dodgers?
但,在郭泓志第二次登板投完最後一球後,他聽到手肘爆出一聲可怕的聲響。然後這一
球,也是接下來 14 個月郭泓志所投出的最後一球,仍然讓打者三振出局,這是一顆不
偏不倚的曲球。
沒有人預期會發生這種事。事實上,當時台灣球員被球探盯上的少之又少,而陳金鋒
到美國打拼也已經三年,郭泓志能在台灣島上吸引到眾多美國球探的目光,這已經是件
不可思議的事。然而出乎大家意料之外的事情,又再發生了。
: Acey Kohrogi, the Dodgers' director of Asian operations, happened to be
: watching a tournament in Japan when he spied a skinny high school left-hander
: lighting up a stadium radar gun that clocked pitches in kilometers.
: "What's 157?" he wondered.
: Ninety-seven mph was the answer. Even in Asia, where off-speed pitches
: dominate, the boy was unafraid of challenging hitters with his fastball.
: Kuo is fearless, a Taiwanese baseball official told Kohrogi. He had grown up
: playing with future Yankees star Chien-Ming Wang and in high school nearly
: outdueled a Japanese pitcher named Daisuke Matsuzaka.
道奇球團亞洲區事務長 Acey Kohrogi,剛好在日本舉辦的亞洲盃少棒錦標賽中,看到
一位身材纖瘦的高中左投,讓球場的測速看板成為眾人矚目的焦點。「157是多快?」
Acey Kohrogi 心裡算著,答案是 97 mile。一般亞洲投手習慣用速差迷惑打者,但眼前
這個孩子竟毫不畏懼用他的快速球挑戰打者。一位台灣棒球界人士告訴 Kohrogi,郭泓
志從不怕挑戰,他從小和現在洋基隊的明日之星王建民一起打球,在高中的時候和松板
大輔對陣也毫不遜色。
: And Kuo made an attractive signing because it was thought his arm had not yet
: been exposed to a heavy workload.
: But shortly after Kuo arrived in America, speaking only Mandarin, he was left
: shaking his head at the injury that forced him to undergo an operation that
: he had never heard of to salvage his career.
郭泓志隨後簽了一個簽約金豐厚的合約,因為他的手臂被認為尚未被過度使用。
但是郭泓志到美國後不久,甚至還完全不會說英文的時候,就因左手的傷勢被送進手術房
;在此之前,他壓根沒想過挽救投手生涯這回事。
: Hit Hard on Way to Majors
: Tommy John surgery to replace the ligament in his elbow cost him the rest of
: his 2000 season. Later that year he returned home to visit his father shortly
: before he died.
: The hard knocks kept coming. Kuo didn't heal properly even after an operation
: to clear scar tissue and needed a second Tommy John surgery that sidelined
: him for all of 2003.
: "He's not a real show-emotion kind of guy, but you could tell facial-wise
: that he was disturbed watching guys that he came into the system with go to
: the big leagues," said Ken Howell, Kuo's minor league pitching coach. "You
: could see the frustration."
湯米約翰手術目的在於更換手肘韌帶,這使得郭泓志 2000 年球季完全泡湯。過完年後
郭泓志即短暫返家探望他的父親,不久之後他的父親去世了。
沈痛的打擊接踵而至。郭泓志動完傷疤清除手術後,仍沒有完全復原,而需要動第二次
湯米約翰手術。這使得整個 2003 球季又只能坐在場邊看球。
「其實他並不是一個會把情緒表露於外的人,但你仍可從他臉上表情知道,當他看到那
些升上大聯盟的球員時,心中充滿著複雜的情緒」,郭泓志小聯盟的投手教練 Ken
Howell 提到:「你可以看的出來,這孩子非常的沮喪」。
: But officials thought enough of Kuo to have him rehab at Dodger Stadium,
: where he received emotional support from Tommy John veterans Eric Gagne and
: Darren Dreifort.
: After five pro seasons, Kuo had thrown a grand total of 42 1/3 innings in 18
: games, most of his time spent testing his arm with doses of fastballs,
: change-ups and sliders. He'd also bulked up to a solid 6-foot-1, 235 pounds.
: Finally, in September 2005, Kuo made his major league debut. Kohrogi
: presented his prized prospect with some mementos -- the Dodgers cap he wore
: on signing day and footage of that dramatic first start in San Bernardino,
: shot from the dugout by his translator.
但道奇球團並沒有放棄郭泓志,球團把他安排在道奇球場復健,在那邊有動過湯米約翰
手術的老大哥 Eric Gagne 和 Darren Dreifort,他們也成為郭泓志最佳的心靈輔導員。
在這 5 個球季中,郭泓志總計只投了 18 場比賽,共 42 又 1/3 局,大部分的時間他一
次又一次地練習投直球、變速球、滑球,測試他的手臂。而他的身材也膨脹到 6 呎 1 吋
、235 磅。最終,在 2005 年 9 月,郭泓志站上了大聯盟球場的投手丘。Kohrogi 也為
這位他一手帶進道奇的新秀送上了紀念品—郭泓志在簽約日所戴的道奇球帽,以及郭泓志
在 San Bernardino 那次傳奇性初登板的錄影帶(由郭泓志的翻譯於球員休息室拍攝)。
: "I hoped they would give him strength," said Kohrogi, who was later told Kuo
: had tears in his eyes while breaking down the tape.
: Kuo was twice demoted to Class AAA Las Vegas and converted to a starter after
: going 0-4 with a 5.34 ERA as a reliever. Last year, in the heat of the
: pennant race, he was handed the ball for his first career start, as an
: emergency replacement.
: On what was coincidentally Taiwan Heritage Night at Shea Stadium, Kuo no-hit
: the Mets for four innings and shut them out for six to earn win No. 1.
: "I've seen this kid pitch when the lights were the brightest, and he showed
: up," Howell said. "And that's what you can't teach. Players either have that
: or they don't, and he has it."
「我希望這些東西能夠帶給他力量」,Kohrogi 說道。他稍後並透露,當這些帶子之前
弄壞的時候,郭泓志還流了一些眼淚。
郭泓志被道奇定位為後援投手,繳出 0 勝 4 敗,防禦率 5.34 的成績後,便被下放至
3A 重新擔任先發投手。上個球季末,在外卡爭奪戰如火如荼展開時,郭泓志被緊急拉上
大聯盟替補原本的先發投手上場。當天碰巧是大都會主場 Shea Stadium 的「Taiwan
Heritage Night」,郭泓志在前四局完全封鎖大都會的攻勢,沒有讓打者擊出任何安打,
讓大都會打者在他六局的投球一籌莫展,郭泓志贏得大聯盟生涯首勝。
「我在這孩子最風光的時候看他投過球,而他現在已經熬出頭了」 Howell 說道:「這
種事是你沒辦法教的。有些球員有這種天分,有些沒有,我確定這孩子有天分」。
: Kuo was handed a phone after the game, and on the other end was Kohrogi, who
: compared the feelings of that evening with the joy of watching one of his own
: children succeed.
: "Thank you," Kuo said. "I made it."
郭泓志在賽後手拿著電話,電話另一頭是 Kohrogi,在這個看著他一手拉拔的孩子成功的
夜晚,兩人互相交換喜悅的心情。
郭泓志對著電話說:「謝謝你,我做到了。」
: Reach Diamond Leung
: at dleung@PE.com
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
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