本文出自紐約洋基隊官方雜誌《Yankees Magazine》2007年8月號
92-94頁〈Kay Corner〉專欄
〈Unsung Hero〉 by Michael Kay 翻譯：sam2 @ Ptt Wang看板
未被歌頌的英雄
Chien-Ming Wang's low-key approach on and off the field fails to reflect
the value he brings to the Yankees lineup.
王建民球場內外的低調作風掩蓋了他帶給洋基隊的真正價值
Chien-Ming Wang might be the most unknown star in all of New York sports,
but for what he means to the Yankees,Wang is the Bomber's stealth starter.
在所有的紐約運動員當中，王建民也許是最不被注目的球星。但是對於洋基隊來說，他是個幾近隱形的先發投手。
Think of all the New York teams,and then try to figure out the players who
contribute the most to their success.There is no one who works under the
same anonymity as Wang.
試著想想所有的紐約職業球隊當中，哪些人在球隊的成功當中扮演著最重要的角色？在所有人當中，沒有人像王建民一樣，幾乎可以被說成是個匿名的選手。
The Knicks？Stephon Marbury has his own sneaker line.The Giants？Michael
Strahan is a retirement away from being the next big star on network TV.
The Nets？Jason Kidd is considered one of the best ever at his position.
The Mets？David Wright and Jose Reyes.Both are incredibly well-known
glittering stars in the New York sky.
想想尼克隊，Stephon Marbury甚至擁有自己的球鞋生產線。美式足球紐約巨人隊的Michael Strahan退休後成為下一個在網路電視上的明星。那麼籃網隊？Jason Kidd被認為是有史以來該位置最好的球員之一。而大都會的David Wright和Jose Reyes更早就已經成為知名的球星，高掛閃爍在紐約的夜空當中。(老實說我還真討厭Stephon Marbury，又臭屁，還說是什麼天下第一後衛.....看他的整體價值，真是一樁爛交易。)
You name a team not only in New York but anywhere in this country and you
would be hard-pressed to find a key player quieter and more unobtrusive
than Wang.
不僅是紐約，要在美國找出一個比王建民更安靜，更不引人注目的關鍵球員幾乎是個超級任務。
Wang's dominance is even soft,not loud.He throws a fastball that upward of
95 mph but doesn't strike out many batters.His signature move on the mound
is to get the batter to pound the ball into the ground.If he got 27 ground
balls for a complete game,he would be extremely happy.
王建民在投手丘上的支配力甚至是柔軟的，輕聲的。他可以投出時速95英哩的速球，
但是並非以三振打者見長。他最大的特色就是時常讓打者擊出滾地球。如果他可以在
一場完投中讓27個打者都以滾地球出局，他也會十分開心。
But consider this:How many times have you senn ESPN lead SportsCenter with
a pitcher who induces a lot of ground balls and a couples of double plays?
Not often,if ever.
但是想想看，你曾經看過ESPN的世界體育中心以一個投手在一場比賽中投了許多的滾地球以及幾個雙殺作為開場嗎？即使有，也不常見吧。
A ground-ball pitcher is commensurate with a defensive specialist in bask-
etball.You don't see the Spur's Bruce Bowen making any highlight reels,but
his defensive stops have helped lead San Antonio to many championships.
滾地球投手好比是籃球中以防守見長的球員，你不會看見馬刺的Bruce Bowen在比賽精華中被剪進他的表現。但是他的防守曾經多次幫助馬刺隊進到冠軍賽場上。
The Yankees are so dependent on Wang that the general feeling is if he
ever went down or inexplicably had a bad year,their fortunes would ride
the same wave.
洋基隊現在對王的依賴之深，讓人感覺如果他投得不好，或是無來由的有個糟糕的球季，那麼洋基的命運也將隨之起伏。
So why the invisible-man act？
那麼，為什麼他會變成隱形人呢？
Obviously,the language barries is a big reason,but it's not the all-
encompassing one.Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez was very important to the
Yankees,and he never said more than hello in English to the media while
in pintstripes;yet,he was considered a star.It seems his action on the
mound screamed out how important he was.
顯然語言會是個重要的原因，但是絕非是全部的原因。公爵Orlando Hernandez在洋基隊的時候，除了Hello幾乎不在媒體前說任何的英文。但他仍然被認為是個明星，他在球場上的表現就說明了他對球隊有多重要。
Also,look at Hideki Matsui.Matsui rarely,if ever,conducts a lenghthy
interview in English,but his star burns bright here and in Japan,where
he is a supernova.
另外，像是松井秀喜也絕少以英文接受訪問，但他的明星光彩依舊閃耀在紐約與日本。
Incredibly,Wang might actually be bigger in Taiwan than Matsui is in
Japan.Although Wang has not yet made big bucks in the big league,he
cashes big checks with endorsements in his homeland.He is a big star back
home as many movie star is here in the States.
令人訝異的是，王建民在台灣的重要性可能比松井在日本的重要性還來得高，雖然王建民的身價在大聯盟中並不高，但是他在家鄉卻獲得了高度的支持，他在台灣就像許多電影明星在美國一樣受歡迎。
In Taiwan,Wang can't even leave home without being mobbed,but here,the
tall righthander can walk on the street of Manhattan and not cause that
much of a stir.
在台灣王建民甚至因為太受歡迎而難以踏出家門，但是在這，這位右投手可以在曼哈頓的街上漫步卻不會引起那麼大的騷動。
And it's not as if Wang is elusive about the spotlight. He talks with the
media and is,in fact,very accommodating.He does interviews in English,and
while not yet an Alistair Cooke,he gets his points across just fine.
但是這並不是因為他時常躲避聚光燈，他時常願意接受媒體採訪。以英文接受訪問，雖然不是十分流利且滔滔不絕，但總是恰到好處的讓自己被理解。
註：Alistair Cooke是2004年逝世的紐約著名記者和廣播主持人。
Despite his low-key approach,Wang gets respect when he is on the mound.
Opponents whisper about how filthy his stuff is and how his heavy sinker
is almost imposibble to lift and put into play with authority.Players
repeatedly pound the into the ground,hustle to first,and head back to the
dugout,shaking their heads.
雖然行事低調，但是他在投手丘上贏得了尊敬。對手時常低語他的球質有多重，而他沈重的伸卡球幾乎難以有效地攻擊，對手不停地將球擊向地面，跑向一壘，然後一邊搖頭一邊走回休息室。
In a strange way,they were overpowered.Not exactly an easy oh-fer,but
certainly not as embrassing as a golden sombrero,where a player strike
out four times.But while there is a comfort level to an at-bat against
Wang,batters still feel dominated,almost as if they had on chance.
打者們被一種奇怪的方式壓制了，雖然不是很快地就投手被解決，也不像是單場被三振四次那麼難堪，但是即使不必面對如此極端的情況，打者在面對王建民時依舊可以說是被宰制了，好像他們一點機會也沒有一樣。
註：golden sombrero在棒球英文中就是指一個球員一場被三振四次的意思。wiki
的解釋是，在運動當中單場三次的表現叫做帽子戲法(hat trick)，那麼第四
次應該就是個比hat還要大的帽子，例如sombrero(有著大帽沿的墨西哥帽)。
另外被三振五次叫做Olympic Rings 或是 platinum sombrero ...
His sinker is thrown much harder than most two-seam fastballs,adding an
explosive quality to an otherwise workingman's pitch.He can also mix in
an occasional four-seamer that explodes up in the zone.He will sometimes
show a breaking ball or a change-up just to keep the batter off balance.
His arsenal is impressive,and it is widely thought that when he is on,he
can't be touched.
他的伸卡球比多數的二縫線速球都來得沈重，其中的品質這讓他成為與眾不同的投手，他也偶爾使用一些四縫線速球或者是變化球，像是變速球等等來干擾打者，王建民的本事令人印象深刻，許多人都認為當王在場上時，很難碰到他的球。
He is arguably the Yankee's No.1 starter,but amidst a rotation that
sports a galaxy of stars thar includes Roger Clemens,Andy Pettitte and
Mike Mussina,Wang flies under the radar.
王建民是不是洋基的第一號先發還有爭議，但身在一個有著像是Clemens,Pettitte以及Mussina等巨星的銀河當中，王建民依舊在關注中低空飛行，連雷達都找不到。
So,despite being one of the best at what he does,Wang has not yet gained
the celebrity to match his importance.Not a big deal to him,as he would
rather be on the back page than Page Six.
儘管王建民已經是這個領域最好的人之一，王建民並沒有與他的重要性相等的知名度，這對他來說並不重要，他也許寧願一直這麼低調下去。(我想他就這樣繼續低調下去就好啦，反正一直拿勝投就好了....嘿嘿)
全站熱搜
留言列表
