Re: 有沒有人要認領翻譯這一篇？

看板WhiteSox作者fizeau ( )時間18年前 (2006/06/25 00:42)推噓4(4推 0噓 0→)

留言4則, 3人參與討論串1/1

※ 引述《Axis (Axis)》之銘言： : 在老康這次先發對太空人之前，ESPN的網站有一篇關於老康的報導： : http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=rogers_phil&id : =2496571 : （不好意思，請自己連起來） : 我覺得還蠻值得翻的，而且在他贏得十六連勝之際，也蠻有意義的，不曉得有 : 沒有人願意翻譯一下。 Updated: June 22, 2006 Everything is right in his life 他生命中每件事都對了 By Phil Rogers Special to ESPN.com CHICAGO -- You wouldn't know it by watching him pitch, but White Sox starter Jose Contreras has an all-league smile. It wraps around his face like the fingers on his massive right hand wrap around the variety of balls he throws in the course of a week. 芝加哥--看著他投球也許不知道，但是白襪的先發投手Jose Contreras有全聯盟第一的微笑，洋溢在臉上就像手指環繞著他所投出的球。 This is a guy who tosses weighted balls in sideline sessions and warms up for games by throwing all his pitches, including a split-finger fastball, with a softball. He's followed the same routine for years, in enough settings to fill a John Grisham novel, but only recently has become a true master of his craft. 這就是他，不在比賽時他以重球練習，或是賽前熱身時用軟球投各種球種包括指叉速球。年復一年都是如此，各類場合的豐富經歷足夠放到John Grisham的小說裡，但是到最近他才真正成為在投球這項技藝上的一個大師。 He's also a man at peace with his place in the world. That says a lot given the perils of his defection from Cuba and the disappointments he experienced in his 2 1/2 seasons with the New York Yankees. 他還是一個滿足於自己在這個世界定位的人。從古巴投誠美國的驚險經歷，在紐約洋基隊待兩個半球季以及失望。那一句話就夠了。 "I can't say anything more about the year I have had,'' Contreras said earlier this week, with manager Ozzie Guillen Jr. serving as a translator. "My wife is pregnant, and I've spent the last two years back with my family. My pitching has been good, and the World Series, I can't want anything more. So many good things have happened to me.'' 「我無話可說，關於那幾年。我太太懷孕，我過去兩年與家人一起，我投球狀況很好，以及世界大賽。我不能再要求更多。這麼多幸運的事已經發生在我身上。」本週早先 Contreras透過經理Ozzie Guillen翻譯時這麼說。 He's caused a few good things to happen, too. 他也帶來一些好事。 "I've never seen anybody improve that much,'' said White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper. "I thank God he did, because we all have [World Series] rings, and now we're off to our second journey.'' 「我從未看過有人進步如此神速。感謝老天他辦到了，因為我們已經有了世界冠軍，現在要朝第二枚戒指努力。」白襪投手教練Don Cooper說。 A switch flipped for Contreras last August, and he's been virtually unbeatable since then. 上個八月Contreras時來運轉，自從那時候他就幾乎無懈可擊。 Barring an injury or something unexpected, he will be honored for his emergence by serving as the American League starter in next month's All-Star Game. 排除傷痛或是有臨時不能預料的情況，他因為優異表現得以在下月的全明星賽的美聯先發。 "If Contreras is available, he will go,'' said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who will name the starter. "If he makes the team, he should be [the starting pitcher]. He has the best numbers.'' 「他會出賽的，如果可以。他要是成為全明星隊一員，應該是先發。他有最好的數據表現。」會任命先發的Guillen說。 Oh, yes, the numbers. Let's give them a quick review. 說到數據，就讓我們給他們一些複習。 Contreras enters a World Series rematch against Houston on Friday night riding a 15-game winning streak over 20 regular-season starts. He's compiled a 2.57 earned run average during that stretch. He's 7-0 with a 2.96 ERA this season. 週五晚，Contreras出賽去年世界大賽的對手休士頓，挾著在20次季內先發15連勝的氣勢。期間ERA2.57。本季7勝0負，2.96ERA。 Including his work as the White Sox's No. 1 starter last October, Contreras is 18-1 with a 2.65 ERA in his last 24 starts; during that stretch, he has allowed more than three earned runs only three times. The lone loss was a 3-2 defeat against the Los Angeles Angels in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, a game in which Contreras pitched into the ninth inning. 去年十月他成為白襪的第一號先發，除此之外，Contreras在過去二十四次先發裡18勝1負，二點六五自責分率。在那段時間，只有三次失超過三分。唯一一次敗投是美聯冠軍系列賽對洛杉磯天使的第一場。那場比賽他投到第九局。 It's hard to believe this is the guy who was traded at midseason by the Yankees in '04. If losing him wasn't maddening enough for George Steinbrenner, consider that the Yankees have paid $2 million of Contreras' salary in each of the last two years. 難以讓人相信這個人在04年季中被洋基交易出來。如果失去他不夠讓George Steinbrenner 氣急敗壞，想想看過去兩年裡每年還要支付他兩百萬薪水。 But Contreras' turnabout with the White Sox wasn't exactly an overnight pro- position. It took more than a year for him to gain the consistency he has shown since last August. He entered his start against the Yankees last Aug. 21 carry- ing a 4.64 career ERA after almost 400 big league innings. 但是他這麼大的轉變不是一夜之間發生的。花了他一年才有從去年八月所擁有的穩定性。去年八月二十一他對洋基先發，當時的他在接近四百場局數裡自責分率四點六四。 Contreras had long flashed some of the best stuff in the big leagues, with a mid-90s fastball and what Cooper calls "the forkball from hell.'' But he esta- blished a pattern of pitching behind in the count, sometimes missing the strike zone wildly, and walking too many batters. Contreras過去表現出一些聯盟裡最優異的；九十多哩的速球，以及Cooper說的「地獄來的叉球」。但是有時會在球數落後，或暴投，及保送次數過多。 "Jose always had the pitches,'' Cooper said. "The other teams didn't beat him; he beat himself. He shot himself in the foot. He had some demons he had to overcome, and he's overcome them.'' 「Jose總是有能力投球。別人無法打敗他，是他打敗自己。他搬石頭砸自己的腳。他必須克服自己的內心障礙。」Cooper說。 Before the turnaround start against the Yankees, Contreras had walked 4.2 per nine innings as a big leaguer. He's averaged 2.0 in his last 20 regular-season starts and walked only two batters in 33 innings against the Red Sox, Angels and Astros last October. 在對洋基那場轉捩點前，Contreras每九局會保送四點二次。但是過去二十場先發裡，平均只有兩次；而且去年十月對紅襪、天使、太空人的三十三局裡只有兩次。 "Power to me isn't how hard you throw the ball,'' Cooper said. "Power is know- ledge that you can throw it where you want it. That's power, mental power. He did not know where the ball was going when he threw it. He knows now.'' 「對我來說力量不是多用力把球拋出。而是把球投到任何想要的位置。那是心理力量。他過去不知道球會跑到哪裡。現在他知道了。」Cooper說。 Why the improvement? It comes down to confidence, which comes from three sour- ces: 為什麼進步這麼多？主因在信心，三個來源： 1. His wife, Miriam, and their two daughters, who remained in Cuba for the first two years he was with the Yankees, have joined him in the United States. It's odd that the Yankees would fight to help him get approval for them to leave Cuba and then trade Contreras shortly after the joyous reunion in Miami, but that's how it played out. 他的妻子和兩個女兒在他在洋基的兩年內在古巴，現在已經與他在美國。洋基竟然在努力幫他將妻女接過來後立刻將他交易，這是很奇怪的。 "Everything's right in his life,'' Cooper said. "He's comfortable in his own skin.'' 「水到渠成了。他現在很愜意。」Cooper說。 2. He trusts Cooper completely. 他完全信任Cooper。 As a native New Yorker, Cooper grew up watching Luis Tiant mesmerize his be- loved Yankees and other teams. After warming up to start a game, Tiant once tossed a ball into the seats to a 15-year-old Cooper, who years later would repay the favor by recommending Tiant for a job as a minor league pitching coach with the White Sox. He still looks forward to Chicago's trips to Boston because it usually means he can spend time with Tiant. 在紐約土生土長的Cooper從小看Luis Tiant的風靡各球隊表現。有一次Tiant在賽前熱身後，把球丟給在座位上那時才15歲的Cooper。Cooper幾年後推薦Tiant擔任白襪小聯盟投手教練。他期待白襪到波士頓作客，這樣就能與Tiant老友重聚。 "I've always felt that Cuban pitchers, the ones who float up on shore, they can really pitch,'' Cooper said. "You know they've got heart and [guts] or they wouldn't take the trip in a raft. But they just know how to pitch. It seems like they all share a feel for pitching. That's always been a belief of mine.'' 「我總覺得古巴投手很能投。他們有心有膽量。也許不會乘船筏旅行，但是就是知道怎麼投球。似乎他們都對投球有共同感覺。」Cooper說。 Contreras says Cooper, Guillen and everyone with the White Sox made him feel comfortable immediately after the trade from New York (for a fading Esteban Loaiza) at the deadline in 2004. He appreciates that Cooper can communicate with him in Spanish and that he encourages him to prepare for starts his own way rather than forcing another system on him. "I've had great pitching coaches in Cuba, and Mr. [Mel] Stottlemyre is a very good pitching coach,'' Contreras said. "He wasn't a reason for the problems I had in New York. But when I went to Chicago, met Cooper, I felt like I had always known him. He gives me a lot of confidence. We have a real relationship, a personal relationship.'' When Cooper first started working with Contreras, he stressed the need for him to use his fastball to set up his nasty split finger, rather than the other way around. But Cooper now believes the key for Contreras' success was telling him it was OK to abandon his over-the-top delivery and throw on feel. Contreras now works mostly from a high three-quarters motion, varying that by going over the top on some pitches and down low -- "laredo,'' in Cooper's par- lance -- on other pitches. 3. He spent last year traveling and working with Orlando Hernandez, whom the White Sox had signed as a free agent. Cooper gave Hernandez carte blanche to work with Contreras. El Duque told his countryman to "pitch like a Cuban,'' which meant the variety of arm angles and pitch-to-pitch adjustments on the mound. They also spent a lot of time together out of uniform, which helped Contreras to not feel as isolated as he often had since defecting from Cuba at a 2002 tournament in Saltillo, Mexico. "When the team was on the road, we ate together, we did everything together,'' Contreras said. "Our families got along well, so we did a lot of things toget- her with our families. Everybody had a nice time together.'' On game days, Hernandez and Contreras sat together on the White Sox bench. Contreras would walk off the mound and sit next to Hernandez, seeking his input as games unfolded. Yet Sox general manager Ken Williams was comfortable enough about Contreras' work with Cooper to trade Hernandez to Arizona when the Diamondbacks made Javier Vazquez available last winter. Separating Contreras from his mentor was a calculated risk, but it's proven to be a wise move. "Everybody in here misses Duque,'' Contreras said. "I miss him a lot. We all miss him a lot. Everybody likes Duque. Guys are always asking me if I have talked to him, what is going on with him.'' Contreras said he talks to Hernandez "every two or three days" but that neither of them has any bitterness about the Hernandez trade. "That's just baseball,'' Contreras said. "This is a business, and we all under- stand it. I wish he was here, but he is not here anymore. That is the way base- ball works.'' Contreras himself was the subject of some trade speculation last winter. It appeared he could be moved to open a spot for young right-hander Brandon McCarthy but instead wound up signing a three-year contract extension, which takes him through the 2009 season. At 34, he's the oldest White Sox starter, and he has the most security. That hasn't hurt his peace of mind any. "Now I am signed, and I don't have to think about that anymore,'' Contreras said. "All I have to worry about is pitching, not about putting up numbers so I can get another contract. I can just go play the game and do my best.'' It turns out his best is at least as good, maybe even better, than the Boston Red Sox and Yankees knew when they were fighting to sign him. But it is the White Sox who are reaping the benefits. Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a Web site at www.chicagosports.com. His book, "Say It's So," a story about the 2005 White Sox, is available at bookstores, through amazon.com or direct order from Triumph Publishing (800-222-4657). ※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 219.84.154.239