[新聞] Blast from past helped mold Mo

看板NY-Yankees作者leddy (耿秋)時間17年前 (2007/09/09 03:26)推噓2(2推 0噓 0→)

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Blast from past helped mold Mo Friday, September 7, 2007 By TARA SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER 重點: 10年前Rivera沒有被季後賽的全壘打擊倒, 反而成為一位偉大的救援投手 1. 那時, Mariano Rivera知道他的卡特－快速球(cut-fastball)投得太高且落在好球帶太外面的位置, 但估計自己可以很僥倖地解決打者。這時他已有兩年大聯盟球員的資歷, 一年主要是設局投手(setup man), 這一年則是相當好的救援投手, 很少有打者讓他因失投而付出代價。然而Rivera不知道那個晚上, 印地安人隊的Sandy Alomar Jr.就等著(也希望)他投到中間偏外角的位置。已經有太多次打擊機會他成了Rivera註冊商標卡特球的犧牲品, Alomar覺得他最佳的機會是，能夠看到卡特球投得高，當球準備變化向下掉時球最容易被他逮中。這時球數是0好2壞打者領先，Alomar預備好他的腳步就等著Rivera投出這樣的球。美聯季後賽第一輪系列賽的第四場的比分正是平手的局面。而接下來發生的事，就是一個洋基迷一輩子永遠都沒辦法忘記的事。 2. 2007年的球季在大都會成績打得起伏伏的Alomar, 回憶起當時的景況說: "他恰好就投到我一直注意鎖定的區域。我就期望他投得那麼高然後往下切，剛好給我機會用球棒的上端往那個方向送出去。" 然後意外地，Alomar開始繞過壘包，將握拳的手臂舉向天空，球就只差幾吋越過了Jacobs Field的右外野的牆外變成一支全壘打。這支全壘打讓兩隊的戰蹟變成2比2平手，也替印安人隊為決定性的第五戰打下了獲勝的基礎。　最後的結果就讓想要衛冕世界大賽冠軍的洋基隊，提早收拾行李回家。 3. 前幾天在洋基球場，Rivera坐在他的置物櫃前提起了這件事，他說: "那不是個失投球，但是也不是我想要的結果。那球投得既高且落在外角, 之後我頂多記得的, 就是看到他揮棒然後球飛過Paul O'Neill，球就剛好越過全壘打牆，一時間我嚇得楞住了。" 4. 下個月，就距離1997年10月5日過了10年了，那個晚上所有的洋基人都能感受到Rivera 挫敗後所顯出的驚愕。那時，沒有人可以預料這位年輕的投手在面臨這麼大的挫折後, 之後他將會有什麼的反應。他大聯盟救援投手的生涯會不會只有一個球季，從此完全崩潰? 他先前的出場樂Enter Sandman會不會風靡到成為他的專屬音樂? 又或是， Rivera還會不會有機會再次主宰著九局的情況? 恰好在Rivera待在洋基的時間都擔任總教練的Torre說: "人總是會往上走或往下跌，沒有永遠持平的。對我來說，我從來就不會懷疑他可以走出來，他有很高的自負。那無疑是很有幫助，所以我從來不懷疑他的能力。" 6. 更重要的是，沒有人比得上Rivera的是。從對Alomar犯下讓人心碎的錯誤之後的十年之間，Rivera已經變成比賽中最具主宰能力的後援投手。他後續的季後賽的成績是大聯盟歷史中最傑出的, 寫下了史上季後賽最佳的34次救援成功和0.80的自責失分率。就終結局數的自信能力而言，可以讓人確信的是，Rivera在1997年球季之後已經為更傑出的棒球選手，同時也變成一個更優秀的人。他的隊友Andy Pettitte說: "這讓你瞭解他有什麼樣的內在特質。他具有很大的自信，但是他的情緒卻可以保持非常穩定。他的情緒不會大起大落, 他就是擁有救援投手重要的心理素質。" 7. 在1997年的季後時，Rivera所仰賴的是他童年在巴拿馬時所學到的生活教訓。那年季後回到洋基之前，他知道他必須理解對上Alomar時他犯了什麼錯。而且他考慮得越多，就越瞭解他投出的每一球都有他個別的價值。如果他繼續想要仰賴他的卡特球，他最好知道卡特球的球路如何變化的。而且每一次都要注意! 8. Rivera說:"好好想過以後，我反而謝謝神給我這個機會。或許我學到的就是假如不投出那顆球所不可能學到的事。假如我們贏到那個系列賽，之後很多其他事情可能就不　會發生了。這讓我有更棒的投球的敏銳度，我學到要更為積極，但必須冷靜並掌控每一件事。" Rivera從來不會屈服於眾人壓力，而想辦法讓自己球路再增加其他球種，即使整個大聯盟都懷疑只有一種有壓制性球的他，是不可能在大聯盟存活太久。 Pettitte說: "回溯到那個時候，好像很多人都覺得假如他想在大聯盟裡維持四到五年以上，他必須學會另外一種球路。但他一直都不需要，而且永遠都不需要。" 9. 沒有人能保證明年球季Rivera仍然會在洋基當救援投手。就像Torre，今年是他合約的最後一年。似乎恰好就是用這種方式把這兩人的命運連結起來，就像沒有任何一個選手會像Jeter和Rivera一樣將成功歸諸於就是Torre在洋基擔任總教練。假如Rivera 沒有辦法從那個挫敗重新振作起來，他的命運將永遠和Alomar連結在一起，而且不會往什麼好的方向發展。Rivera說: "在那時我是感到困擾但也只是這樣而已。" 洋基真的很幸運，Rivera內在裡就有著很多成為偉大救援投手的特質。 Mariano Rivera knew the cut-fastball he'd just released was too high and too far outside the strike zone, but figured he'd get away with it. In two years in the major leagues, one as a premier setup man and now as a top-flight closer, very few batters had made him pay for such mistakes. What Rivera didn't know that night, however, was that Sandy Alomar Jr. was looking (and hoping) for something middle-away. Already victimized too many times by Rivera's signature cutter breaking in on his hands, Alomar felt his best hope was to look high but be ready to adjust down. Ahead by a 2-0 count, Alomar planted his feet and waited. The outcome of Game 4 of the American League Division Series hung in the balance. What happened next is something Yankee fans will never forget. "He happened to throw what I was looking for in an area I was focusing on," recounted Alomar, who has spent this season up and down in the Mets organization. "I looked up and he threw it up there and cutting. It gave me a chance to get the head of the bat out that way." And suddenly, Alomar was circling the bases, fisted arms raised to the skies, his home run shot clearing the Jacobs Field right field fence by inches. He'd tied the game at 2, setting up a Cleveland win in decisive Game 5, sending the defending World Champion Yankees packing for the Bronx. "It wasn't a mistake pitch but it wasn't what I wanted either," Rivera said recently, his legs propped up as he sat on a chair tucked away in his corner locker stall at Yankee Stadium. "It went up and away from him. That much I remember, seeing him swing and barely clearing the fence over Paul O'Neill. I was shocked." Come next month, 10 years will have passed since Oct. 5, 1997, the night the Yankee universe felt the shock of his failure. What no one could know then was how the young pitcher would respond. Would his career as a closer collapse after just one season? Would Enter Sandman exit before ever catching on as a signature song? Or could Rivera return to rule the ninth inning once again? "Guys go one way or the other, there's no halfway," said manager Joe Torre, whose Yankee tenure parallels Rivera's. "To me, I never had a doubt he would be fine. He's got great self esteem. That really helps, no question. I never doubted his ability." More importantly, neither did Rivera. Over the 10-year span since the devastating mistake to Alomar, Rivera has become the game's most dominant relief pitcher. His ensuing postseason performance is the best in major league history, his 34 saves and 0.80 ERA in the playoffs both all- time records. Anchored by a peaceful inner confidence, Rivera is convinced he emerged from the 1997 season a better baseball player. And a better man. "It tells you what kind of makeup he's got, which is amazing," teammate Andy Pettitte said. "He has a lot of confidence but he's as grounded as can be. He's not on an emotional roller coaster. He has the right emotional temperament to be a closer." Rivera leaned on the lessons of his childhood in Panama during the post-1997 season. Before returning to the Yankees, he knew he had to figure out what had gone wrong against Alomar. And the more he considered it, the more he realized the singular value of every pitch he threw. If he was going to rely purely on his cutter, he better know where it is going. Every time. "I think about it and I thank God for that," Rivera said. "Maybe what I learned I wouldn't have learned if I make that pitch. A lot of other things wouldn't have happened if we would have won that series. It made me stronger in my baseball sense. I learned to be more aggressive but calm and in control of everything." Rivera never succumbed to the pressure to add another pitch to his arsenal, despite league-wide suspicion he wouldn't last with just one. "Back then, I was probably like a lot of other people thinking if he was going to keep going out there for four or five more years he's going to have to come up with another pitch," Pettitte said. "He's not going to have to. He's never going to have to." There's no guarantee Rivera still will be doing what he does for the Yankees next season. Like Torre, he is in the final year of his contract. It seems fitting for the two men to be connected this way, as no player this side of Derek Jeter is as identified with Torre's run of success as Rivera. Had Rivera not been able to rebound the way he did, he forever might have been connected to Alomar instead. And not in a good way. "I was bothered at the moment but that was it," Rivera said. Lucky for the Yankees, Rivera had much more in store. E-mail: sullivan@northjersey.com -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 220.132.198.21