网志版：http://www.wretch.cc/blog/smallcab/218048 : After a spring training game in march between the Los Angeles Dodgers : and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a half-dozen fans were waiting : outside in the warm Arizona afternoon sun to catch autographs from : players heading to the parking lot. Back inside Tempe's Diablo Stadium : a crowd, six wide and eight rows deep, waited for Arturo Moreno, the : Angels' owner, to sign baseballs and hats and pose for pictures. : Moreno told his wife, Carole, he should be finished within minutes so : they could drive home together. He stayed for another hour, signing : almost as many autographs for Dodgers fans as he did for Angels fans. 在一场洛杉矶两支职棒球队：天使队与道奇队的春训比赛之後， 六位球迷在亚利桑那午後的阳光下的停车场外等着球员出来以向 他们索取签名。而在球场里面，有另一大群的人在等着 Arte Moreno--天使队的老板--替他们在棒球以及球帽上签名并合影留 念。Arte 告诉他的妻子 Carole 他应该只要几分钟就可以结束这 些活动，然後他们就回家；他足足又在那边待了一小时，而他签 给道奇队球迷的总数跟天使队球迷的差不多。 : Not very often does a professional baseball team owner get more fan : attention than his star athletes, and even less often does the owner : give it back, especially to fans of another team. Moreno is not your : typical owner, save for the fact that he's wealthy (worth $800 million : by forbes estimates). From the day he bought the Angels from Walt : Disney Co. in 2003, he has changed the team's image and become in many : ways its face. In the process he has turned what had been a team with : a small-market mentality into one of the sport's most valuable : franchises. 一般来说，要看到一个球队的老板比他手下的球星还要受到球迷 的瞩目是不太常见的；而要看到那个老板如此亲切的回应，尤其 是对敌对的球迷也一视同仁就更难得了。Arte 不是那种一般人印 象中的老板，除了他很富有这一点之外(富比士估计他的财产超过 八亿美金)。从 2003 年他从迪士尼买下了天使队之後，他将球队 的形象以及其他很多地方都做了相当大的改变。在这个过程中， 他将本来是小市场经营方式的天使队打造成了运动界中最具有价 值的球团之一。 : Almost everything Moreno has done has been in the service of winning : over fans and, as he says, "putting butts in seats." The Angels, with : the best record in baseball last year, offer the third-cheapest visit : to the park. He has cut ticket and food prices at Angel Stadium and : dropped the price of draft beer from $8.50 to $6.50. Most teams charge : $20 or more for souvenir caps. The Angels charge $7. In his first : spring training in Tempe, Moreno couldn't understand why a section of : great seats between third base and left field always remained vacant : while people crowded into the section farther out in left field. : Moreno walked over to the ticket vendors, who told him that people : always asked for the cheapest seats. The outer section was $6. So : Moreno cut the empty $12 seats to $6. "Now they're the first to go. : Should it have been $8? Maybe. But now their butts are in there. : They'll go buy a beer or a dog. We got them in the stadium." 几乎每件 Arte 所做的事情都是为了球迷着想，用他的话来说， 就是想办法"让他们的屁股黏在球场的座位上"。天使队去年在 MLB 拥有最佳的例行赛战绩，但他们的入场券是全联盟第三便宜 的。Arte 将入场券以及食物的价格都调降了，而啤酒的价钱从 8.5 美金降到了 6.5 美金。大多数球队的纪念球帽都要价 20 美 金以上，天使队的只要七美金。Arte 在 Tempe 的第一次春训中 ，他很不能理解为什麽三垒到左外野区域的位置比较适合欣赏球 赛却没有人坐，反而大家都挤到左外野最远的地方去。他去问了 卖票处的人，得到的回答是：大家都希望买最便宜的入场券，而 最远的地方票价是六美金。於是 Arte 马上把本来要价 12 美金 的好位置票价砍到六美金。Arte 说："现在大家都会挤着去坐那 里了。应该调成八美金吗？也许吧。不过现在这样，大家的屁股 就都黏在那边了。接着他们就会买杯啤酒，吃根热狗。我们把球 迷们留在球场里了。" : Attendance at Angel Stadium in Anaheim was 2.3 million in 2002, the : year they turned a wild card into a World Series victory over the San : Francisco Giants. The stadium has cleared 3 million a season ever : since. Last year's 3.4 million put them second to the Yankees in the : American League. 2002 年是天使经由外卡拿下世界大赛冠军的一年，当年的观众总 数大约是 230 万人。从该年开始，每年天使球场的观众总数都超 过了 300 万。去年的 340 万纪录是美国联盟的第二高，仅次於 洋基队。 : By charging fans less, Moreno makes more everywhere else. The team has : gone from a $5.5 million operating loss in 2003 to an operating profit : (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation) of : $10.3 million. Revenue has gone from $127 million to $212 million. The : team now has an enterprise value of $509 million, almost three times : what Moreno paid for it. In that time the Angels have more than : doubled stadium sponsorship revenue to $26 million and cut a $500 : million, ten-year deal with Fox Sports Network to put all 162 Angels : games on television, up from 90 before. 藉由降价的策略，Arte 在其他各方面都大赚了一笔。在 2003 年 ，他就成功的将球队盈亏从 550 万美金的损失扭转成 1030 万美 金的毛利。总收入从 1.27 亿暴增至 2.12 亿，现在球队的估计 总值为 5.09 亿，是当年 Arte 买下球队时出价的几乎三倍之多 。对球场的赞助达到了 2600 万美金，并与福斯电视公司达成了 一笔五亿美金的十年合约，让他们转播每一场天使队的球赛。 : Moreno commutes to Anaheim from his home in Phoenix for most games. : He wanders the stands, mingles with fans and occasionally checks to : see how well the restrooms were cleaned. Scot Shields, a relief : pitcher who has been with the team since 2001, recalls his second : encounter with Moreno. During spring training in 2004 he asked about : Shields' 2-year-old daughter. "There's not too many owners who'd do : that," he says. After pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car : accident in April, Moreno flew coaches and players to the funeral in : Maryland between games. Arte 几乎每一场球赛都会从他在凤凰城的家中赶到安纳罕的球场 观赏。他会去逛球场的摊子，跟球迷们打成一片，偶而也会去检 查厕所清扫的完不完善。Scot Shields 这位从 2001 就待在天使 队的重要後援投手，想起了他与 Arte 的第二次接触：在 2004 年的春训比赛中，Arte 问起了 Shields 的两岁小女儿。"没有很 多老板会跟你这麽熟的。"Shields 说。在 Nick Adenhart 的悲 剧车祸发生後，Arte 将全队上下都带去了他在马里兰州的葬礼。 : At the Dodgers spring training game Moreno sat a row back from : Angels manager Mike Scioscia, with a cooler of cold beer beneath his : seat. He leaned in between innings to ask Scioscia how many pitches : Dustin Moseley had thrown. When the Angels' Robb Quinlan smacked a : home run in that Dodgers game, Moreno stood up to clap and looked : around for Quinlan's father, who had made the drive down to Arizona : from Minnesota. 在与道奇的春训比赛中，Arte 坐在天使队的教练 Mike Scioscia 後一排，他的座位底下摆了一冰柜的啤酒。攻守交替的时候，他 向前面的教练问到当天的投手 Dustin Moseley 投了多少球。当 天使队员 Robb Quinlan 击出一支全垒打时，Arte 站起来用力鼓 掌，并且向 Quinlan 从明尼苏达赶来看球的父亲道贺。 : Moreno, according to former team general manager William Stoneman, : sees costly free agents as an investment, not a corporate expense. : Under Moreno the Angels' payroll has climbed from $79 million in 2003, : twelfth in the league, to $119 million, sixth. : Stoneman put the payroll over budget when he signed Kelvim Escobar, : Bartolo Colón and Jose Guillen in 2004. Then Vladimir Guerrero's : agent called. Stoneman thought the Montreal Expos' rising star was out : of reach but told Moreno anyway. "We didn't talk for even ten minutes. : He said, 'We've got a chance to get Guerrero? Go for it.' It was the : quickest negotiation I've ever seen." 天使队的前任 GM William Stoneman 说，Arte 将自由球员签约 视为一项投资而非球队的支出。2003 年天使的薪资总额就从 7900 万美金(第十二高)爬升至 1.19 亿美金(第六高)。 Stoneman 在 2004 年签下了 Kelvim Escobar、Bartolo Colon、 Jose Guillen 等自由球员之後，他们的薪资已经超过了预算。而 这时候，Vlad Guerrero 的经纪人来了电话。Stoneman 本来想说 考虑到这位在博览会发迹的明星要求的高薪，应该是没有机会得 到他了；不过他还是知会了 Arte。後来他说："我跟 Arte 大概 讲不到十分钟吧；他说，我们有机会签下 Vlad Guerrero？快上 阿！这是我见过最快的一次谈判了。" : Moreno, 62, grew up in Tucson, the oldest of 11 children. Arte and his : brothers were Yankee fans because that was the only team on TV in the : 1950s. He played baseball in high school, did a stint in Vietnam and : got a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Arizona. : His first job was with billboard mogul Karl Eller. Moreno left in 1984 : for a Phoenix upstart, Outdoor Systems, and, together with Outdoor : founder William Levine, built it into the nation's largest billboard : company. It was sold to Infinity for $8.7 billion in stock in 1999. : Moreno got his first taste as a baseball team owner in 1985 with the : Salt Lake City Trappers, then an independent league team. The group : that bought the Trappers for $180,000 had a blast running it and sold : it in 1992 for $3 million. In 1998 a much wealthier Moreno helped : launch the Arizona Diamondbacks and eventually wound up with the : second-largest stake but failed in his attempt to take it over. He : perked up when Disney hired Lehman Brothers to shop the Angels during : the 2002 season. Moreno followed the team throughout the year and was : Disney's guest at the playoffs and World Series. For $184 million, it : was his. 今年 62 岁的 Arte 是家中十一名兄弟姊妹的长子。他们以前是 洋基队的球迷，因为当时电视里只转播洋基的球赛。他在高中就 接触棒球，在越南服役後，在亚利桑那取得了 marketing 的学位 。他的第一份工作是在告示牌大亨 Karl Eller 的手下工作。在 1984 年他转投另一家新兴的告示牌企业 Outdoor Ststems，并成 功将其带上了巅峰。在 1999 年该公司以 87 亿美金售出。 Arte 第一次嚐到当棒球队老板的滋味是在 1985 年，他买下了当 时还在独立联盟里的 Salt Lake Trappers。当时的买价是 18 万 美金，而在 1992 年，它增值到了 300 万。1998 年，Arte 协助 亚利桑那响尾蛇队的成军。他本来持有第二高的股份，但是没能 完全抢下经营的权利。之後在 2002 年中当迪士尼雇用了莱曼兄 弟来出售天使队时，Arte 再度活跃了起来。他跟着球队走过了下 半个球季，在季後赛时成为了迪士尼的座上客。最终这笔交易以 1.84 亿美金成交；Arte 正式成为天使队的拥有者。 : Early on he saw a clear opportunity to apply the principles of the : advertising business to baseball. Repetition and reach work wonders. : Here was a baseball team in the middle of the country's second-largest : media market of 17 million people that had put itself in a small box : labeled "Anaheim." Moreno and the executives in the Angels' front : office, many of whom he brought over from his ad days, seared that : Angels red logo into the minds of fans across swaths of southern : California. That meant crimson-red advertisements on billboards and : bus stops and ridding the team store of other clubs' merchandise. On : the field they replaced the "Anaheim" spread across players' chests : with "Angels." 从一开始，Arte 就看到了他运用行销手段的好机会。他手上的球 队位在全美国第二大的媒体市场中，有一千七百万的人口，但他 们的队名却是画地自限的"安纳罕天使队"。Arte 跟他许多从告示 牌生意一起走来的老班底马上就将天使的鲜红标志深深烙印在南 加州所有球迷的心中。他们的做法就是在所有的告示牌跟公车站 牌上面漆上大红色的大幅广告，并将球队商店里所有其他球队的 商品通通扔掉。在球员们的球衣上本来的"Anaheim"标志也全部都 换成"Angels"。 : Before he had considered making a bid for the team Moreno checked with : his attorneys to make sure the stadium lease with Anaheim allowed for : a name change. They assured him it would be fine. (After all, the team : was born as the Los Angeles Angels in 1961 and played as the : California Angels until Disney bought it in 1996.) : In 2005 he switched the name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The : city of Anaheim sued, saying the change violated the spirit of the : lease agreement. Fans showed up to games with T-shirts reading "We are : not L.A." and "The Anaheim Angels of Anaheim." This past January, two : court rulings and three years later, the city dropped its fight, : leaving the Angels with the unwieldy Anaheim at the end of its name. : Moreno will be free to do what he wants when the stadium lease allows : him to opt out in 2016. Moreno says he'll be happy as long as the team : continues to pull 3 million a year into Angel Stadium. The club might : start a series of cable shows or create a southern California version : of the New York Yankees' Yes Network. 在出价买下球队之前，Arte 就跟他的律师们作过确认，他有权利 替这支球队改名。律师们向他保证不会有问题。(毕竟在 1996 年 他们也有从加州天使队改名的先例。) 2005 年时 Arte 成功的将球队更名为"Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim"。安纳罕提出了告诉，认为这违反了他们租赁的条款。 部分球迷也穿上了"我们不是 LA"、"Anaheim Angels of Anaheim"来表示抗议。不过在三年的诉讼过後，安纳罕决定放弃 ，让 Arte 可以使用这个不方便的队名。当租约条款让 Arte 可 以在 2016 年选择跳出合约时，他就可以自由使用。Arte 说，只 要每年都有三百万人次进场看球，他就很开心了。而接下来球队 可能开发一系列的有线电视节目，或者开发一个像洋基队 YES network 的加州版本。 : Neither idea is a priority right now, with the economy challenging the : Angels' ability to draw 3 million fans a year. By late March the club : had sold only 2.3 million tickets. Moreno is already cranking up group : specials like $3 tickets for kids on Tuesdays and lower prices for : games against teams that rarely pack the stadium, like the Kansas City : Royals and Baltimore Orioles. "Our goals are no longer financial," he : says. : The Angels had a 100--62 record last year and have dominated their : division, but they have yet to return to the World Series. Moreno says : his goal now is another championship. "Make that championships," he : says, correcting himself. 但是由於现在的经济影响到了观众的进场欲，这两个想法可能都 不是眼下最重要的课题。到三月底为止，球队仅售出了 230 万张 球票。Arte 已经开始商讨一些对策，像是每周二推出售价三美金 (！)的儿童票，以及对上其他小市场球队(皇家、金莺等)时的特 价促销活动。"我们现在已经不是以赚钱为目标了"Arte 这麽说。 去年天使队在 162 场比赛中拿下了 100 胜，在美联的西区可以 说没有太多对手，但是他们却无法进入世界大赛。Arte 说，他的 目标将是另一个世界大赛的冠军。等等，Arte 纠正道，"冠军"要 用复数形。 : Those aspirations took a blow this off-season when first baseman Mark : Teixeira signed with the Yankees and closer Francisco Rodriguez, one : of baseball's best relief pitchers, joined the New York Mets. Tony : Reagins, general manager, and others in the front office say the : club's minor league depth and free agent additions should ease the : loss of Teixeira and Rodriguez. The Angels picked up Brian Fuentes : from the Colorado Rockies to fill Rodriguez's spot and then signed : Bobby Abreu, a 35-year-old outfielder from the Yankees, for $5 million : for one year. 在今年开季前，当他们的明星一垒手 Mark Teixeira 去了洋基队 ，而刚破单季救援成功纪录的 Francisco Rodriguez 落脚大都会 後，这个远景变的有点像在自嗨。现任的 GM Tony Reagins 认为 从小联盟体系以及自由球员市场之中，可以补上这两个空缺。他 们马上签下了前落矶队的终结者 Brian Fuentes，以及前洋基队 的外野手 Bobby Abreu。 : At the spring training game against the Dodgers, three young women : dressed in a mix of Dodgers blue and Angels red posed for a picture : with Moreno. Michelle and Ericka Carrizal and their cousin Giselle : Gonzales made the six-hour drive that morning from Los Angeles to see : the two teams they have rooted for since they were children. The : closest they get to pinpointing why they say they love Moreno is that : the centimillionaire seems "like one of us." That he has Mexican : ancestry has little to do with it. By making games affordable and : taking an obvious delight in mingling with fans, Moreno has broadened : both the Angels' popularity and his own. Thanks to him, Michelle says, : she can drive to Angel Stadium on a whim. "Dodgers games are : superexpensive" in comparison. 在与道奇队的球赛中，Michelle Carrical、Erica Carrical 以 及 Giselle Gonzales 三位开了六小时的死忠洛杉矶女球迷，穿 着红(天使)蓝(道奇)混合的衣服与 Arte 合影。据她们的说法， 她们爱死了 Arte，因为这位亿万富翁"看来就跟我们一样"。主要 的原因并不是 Arte 的墨西哥血统，而是他将票价降低为人人可 以负担的标准，与球迷亲切互动的特性，因而同时把天使队与他 自己的名声与人气大大提升了一番。Michelle 说，因为有 Arte ，她们才能随时想来看球就可以来。比较起来，道奇队的球票"贵 到爆了"。 : "You can wake up on a Saturday morning and think, 'What's going on : today? Hey, the Angels are playing, let's go,'" she says. "It's that : affordable." : Moreno's true competition, he says, is the sunshine. "你可以在星期六一早起来想着今天要做什麽？阿对了，天使队今 天有球赛，我们去看吧。这价钱就是这麽平易近人。"--Michelle Arte 说，他真正的敌人，就是那天的太阳实在太大了啦。(完) -- 有几个小地方可能翻译的不是很顺，尚祈不吝指教 (倒) 但是有这样一位老板真的会让人以身为天使队球迷为荣...:D --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 118.169.230.31 ※ loiter3:转录至看板 MLB 05/04 05:23