[翻譯] ESPN - One Last Look

看板Rays作者NatsWang5566 (國民的王)時間14年前 (2010/03/23 12:53)推噓3(3推 0噓 1→)

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ESPN - Jayson Stark http://0rz.tw/vUjDR Now or never for current crop of Rays 還在隊上的Rays球員，他們只有現在了 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- They live in the Land of the Giants, surrounded by big-buck behemoths in the toughest division in baseball. So even as you watch the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays prepare to unleash the most talented baseball team they've ever had, you also have to wonder: What will become of them? 他們生活的地方是巨人之地，在這競爭最激烈的分區中充滿了有錢的怪物。在你看著2010年的Rays準備要展現他們有史以來最有天分的陣容時，你也該想想，接下來他們會怎麼樣？ Where will Carl Crawford be a year from now? Where will Carlos Pena be? Even more importantly, where will this franchise be? Oh, it's not as if the Rays are about to move to Vegas or San Antonio or Oklahoma City. Or even to Tampa, for that matter. They never beat those drums. They never mouth those threats. 明年Carl Crawford會在哪裡？Carlos Pena會在哪裡？最重要的：這支球隊會去哪裡？喔，這不是說Rays正要搬去賭城或San Antonio，或是OKC。也不是要到Tampa。他們從來沒有大肆宣傳，沒有講過這些威脅人的話。 But that doesn't mean they don't wonder where this is leading. They finished 23rd in the big leagues in attendance last season, barely outdrawing teams like the Nationals and Royals. They came off a World Series dream season, hoping that this was how fans were made. And you know how many more paying customers they drew? A whopping 903 more a game. They couldn't even average 20,000 fans a game for a World Series rematch against the Phillies. They drew 17,692 people for a September date with the Red Sox. They would have needed to pull in an extra 7,000 paying customers a night just to approach the major league average. 但這不代表他們沒想過接下來事情會怎麼發展。他們去年的觀眾數在大聯盟是第23名，只贏過一些像國民和皇家這些隊伍。他們剛結束一個夢幻的World Series賽季，希望球迷會因此而來。你知道他們多了多少球迷嗎？超多的每場903人。他們和費城人的WS後第一次系列戰甚至沒辦法超過平均兩萬人。和紅襪在九月的對戰只有 17692人。他們每晚至少要多7000位球迷進場才能達到聯盟票房平均。 So no wonder owner Stuart Sternberg has already announced the Rays will be lopping payroll next year. No wonder Crawford is already practically being fitted for his new uniform in the Bronx. No wonder this team traded away Scott Kazmir last August while it was in the middle of a wild-card race. "It's just the world we live in," says manager Joe Maddon. "It's how it's going to be every year. We want to win the World Series … but our peripheral vision has got to be on the future at all times." And since that's their world, the folks who run this team ought to join the circus -- because they lead the league in juggling. "We talk about this a lot," says the executive vice president for baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, "having to keep one eye on the present year and one eye on the future." 所以不用意外老闆Stuart Sternberg已經宣布明年的payroll會大幅降低。也不用意外 Crawford已經在試穿他的新條紋衣制服。也不意外去年八月搶外卡時他們卻把Scott Kazmir交易出去。西瓜：「這世界就是這樣。每年都是如此。我們想拿到冠軍，但我們的眼角餘光卻得一直注意著未來。」也因為他們的世界是如此，這支球隊的經營者也要跳進這馬戲團才行──因為他們比聯盟中任何球隊都會雜耍棒球部副主席Andrew Friedman說：「我們常常在討論這個。必須一邊注意今年一邊放眼未來。」 So while no one likes to say these words or think these thoughts, the Rays are about to launch the most important season in the 13-season history of the franchise. On the field. Off the field. On the field, they're one of the half-dozen best teams in baseball. But their window to win with this group expires before they flip the calendar to 2011. Off the field, they're quietly pondering what they need to do to survive in a community where not even a World Series team has turned out to be a force magnetic enough to pull fans into their ballpark. 雖然沒人想討論或想這些東西，但Rays今年準備好要開始他們13年歷史中最重要的一個賽季。場上和場外。在場上，他們是六支最強的球隊之一。但他們要贏的機會頂多到今年。在場外，他們正靜靜的想這要怎麼在一塊連進World Series都無法吸引球迷進場的地區生存。 So this is the unique vise they find themselves locked in -- squeezed by the present and the future, by the Yankees and the Red Sox, by the white lines and the bottom lines. "We don't have to shoot the moon," says team president Matt Silverman. "But a lot of things have to go right for us to be able to succeed. That's the reality of 2010." 這就他們被夾得死死的地方。現在和未來、洋基和紅襪、打球和賺錢。球隊主席Matt Silverman說：「我們不用異想天開。但我們要走好運才能成功，這就是 2010年的現實情形。」 OK, here's another reality of 2010: The Rays have never had players like Crawford and Pena before. Ever. OK，這裡是另一樣2010年的現實情形。Rays從來沒有像Crawford和Pena一樣的球員。從來沒有。 Oh, they've had stars before. But they've never had a player quite like Crawford. Drafted by this franchise 11 years ago at age 17, before the franchise had even won its first 100 games. Developed, nurtured, sculpted by this team into one of the most dynamic stars in baseball. Played his entire big-league career with the Rays. And now, almost surely, about to exit through a free-agent trap door -- unless he gets traded first. 喔，他們有過明星，但他們從來沒有像Crawford一樣的球員。在這支隊伍連通算百勝都還沒拿到時，11年前在17歲時被選上。在隊伍的栽培下成長、茁壯，成為球場上最具爆發力的明星之一。一直以來都在Rays。而現在，幾乎保證要從FA的小門溜走──除非他先被交易掉。 And then there's Pena. The Rays have imported future free agents before, too. But they've never had a player quite like this guy, either. Grabbed off the scrap heap three years ago, his career at rock bottom. Then turned everything around -- not just his career but his new franchise along with it. And now, here he is at age 31, as popular and visible a face as this team has ever had, as he prepares to bolt for the free-agent auction house. 然後還有Pena。Rays簽過FA，但他們從來沒有像這樣的一位球員。三年前從沙礪中挖出的珍珠，從他生涯的最低潮。然後就完全不一樣了。不只是他的事業，也包括他的新球隊。現在他31歲了，就像他的這隻球隊有過一些選手的高知名度一樣，他也準備跳進這個FA的拍賣會。 Maddon talks regularly about how "I want to keep both these guys." Friedman says all the speculation about the inevitability of losing them is "premature." But how hard is it to see where this is heading? 西瓜常常在說：「我想把他們兩位留下來。」Friedman說現在下定論他們走定了還太早。不過誰看不出來事情會怎麼發展？ This team can't outbid the Yankees for Crawford. And Pena is a Scott Boras client. So nobody pretends not to hear their clock ticking. "I've been here so long," says Crawford, "it's scary sometimes having to think of going to another place. … But at the same time, you have to grow up, and it's part of growing up. You can't be afraid. It's like living with your parents your whole life. When it's time to go out on your own, you can't be afraid to take that first step." 這隻球隊沒辦法比洋基花更多錢在Crawford身上。而Pena是Boras的客戶。所以沒人在假裝不去注意他們的日子不多了。 Crawford說：「我待這裡很久了。有時想到要離開是滿可怕的。但同時人必須要成長，而這是成長的一部分。你不能害怕。就像不能和父母住一輩子一樣。當該離開時，不能害怕去踏下第一步。」 Pena, meanwhile, admits he is already savoring what appear to be his final days with the only team where he has ever truly fit. "I don't take anything for granted," he says. "Even that first year of my contract, I was at the point like, 'Wow, bro. Appreciate this.' And that's my attitude every day. It's not going to last forever. So cherish it. Enjoy it. Bring the best of you every day, 'cause that's what it's all about." 在這同時，Pena承認他已經在細細品嘗他在這隻真正屬於他的隊伍的最後時光。他說：「我不把任何事看成是理所當然。即使在我合約的第一年，我便在想：『好好珍惜』而這是我每天的生活態度。天底下沒有不散的宴席，所以要懂得珍惜，享受。每天都表現出最好的一面，因為本來就是這樣。」 (待續) -- ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 64.106.84.177