Yankees’Wang Finds His Place on the Mound and in the World By TYLER KEPNER Published: August 13, 2006 http://0rz.net/a01Ik ← New York Times 奇怪，标题怎麽改了。冏rz He pitches with a sense of purpose and responsibility. For the Yankees’ Chien-Ming Wang, celebrity and earning potential grow with every ground ball. The better he pitches, the better he can take care of his family in Taiwan. 他投球时，背负着目标与责任感。 对洋基队的王建民来说，每一次的滚地球为他带来名声与财富。 他在投手丘上的表现越好，就能够让他在台湾的家人过上越好的生活。 Wang, who is scheduled to start at Yankee Stadium today against the Los Angeles Angels, has become more than the best ground-ball pitcher in the American League. At 26, he is a national hero in his home country, where he endorses computers and potato chips. 今天将於洋基主场出战天使的小王，已经变成了美联最佳的滚地球投手。 ２６岁的他，在他的家乡被人们视为国民英雄，并且代言了电脑及洋芋片(?!)。 “When I used to go back to Taiwan, there weren’t that many events to go to,” Wang said through a translator before a game in Chicago last week. “ Starting last year, there have been more events, and going out is not as convenient.” 『就之前回台湾的时候，就是没有那麽多……像要做什麽活动之类的。』 上礼拜在芝加哥的一场比赛之前，小王透过翻译说道： 『就从去年开始，就蛮多一些活动的。出门也不太方便。』 The kinds of events he attends are telling. “Going to orphanages,” Wang said, “and events for premature babies.” 他参加的是『一些像孤儿院、』小王说：『还有为早产儿举办的活动之类的。』 Wang started playing baseball in fourth grade, as a pitcher, first baseman and outfielder. He attended high school in Taipei, on the north side of the island of Taiwan. His home, Tainan, is in the south. It was through baseball that he learned an important part of his personal story. 小王在小学四年级的时候开始接触棒球，担任过投手、一垒手，还有外野手。 他家住在台湾南部的台南，不过他到北部的台北去就读高中。 而透过打棒球，让他学习到人生重要的一课。 “We were going out to a competition and needed our personal documents,” Wang said, explaining that meant the names, relationships and birthdates of family members. “When I got my documents, I learned who my biological parents were. My parents didn’t tell me.” 『那一天好像是、好像要出去比赛，需要那户籍誊本、户口名簿那种……』 『那时候拿到的时候才看到，因为他们没有跟我讲。』 Wang found out then that his biological father was the man he knew as his uncle, Ping-Yin Wang. Wang’s parents had no children of their own and offered to raise him. They later had a daughter, Hsiu-Wen Wang, who is two years younger. 小王这才发现他的亲生父亲原来是自己的三叔王炳颖。 由於弟弟看哥哥没有儿子，才将王建民过继给哥哥当养子。 後来他们生下了一个女儿，比王建民小两岁。 It must have been a startling revelation, but Wang betrayed no emotion when talking about it. 这一定是一项令人震惊的发现，不过当小王提到此事时，并未流露出太多的情绪反应。 “I didn’t feel anything in particular,” he said. “I felt it was all right, like I had two fathers.” If anything, Wang said, he became even more serious about succeeding as a pitcher. “I felt I had to work even harder in order to help two sets of parents,” he said, adding later, “Most of my money I send home to let my parents manage. The rest I use for living expenses in America.” 『那时候就想说也不错，』他说：『有两个爸爸。对啊，也不会感觉到什麽。』 如果要说有什麽的话，那就是让小王更认真地想成为一个成功的投手。 『就想要以後更努力啊，就要帮助两个爸爸妈妈。』稍後，他补充道： 『除了在美国的生活费之外，其他的钱都寄回家交给爸妈处理。』 Wang and his wife, Chia-Ling, live in the off-season with the parents who raised him. He loves his mother’s cooking, he said, but the overriding reason is cultural. 在球季以外的时间，小王和他的妻子吴嘉姈会回到台湾和父母住在一起。 他说他喜欢老妈的厨艺，不过真正的原因其实是在於文化上面。 His parents, who manufactured metal products like spoons and lunch boxes, have been retired for about 10 years. In Taiwan, Wang explained, it is customary for sons to stay at home and take care of their parents. Long after learning his personal background, Wang remains very close with the parents who raised him. 他的父母已经退休将近十年了，之前是从事制造金属制品的工作。 小王解释说，在台湾，作儿子的供养双亲是天经地义的事。 他与养父母的感情一直都非常亲近。 “In Taiwan there’s a saying: ‘Raising a child is more important than giving birth. Raising a child is greater,’ ” Wang said. 『台湾人讲：就养你的就比较伟大啊，对啊。』 No Taiwanese player had played in the major leagues until outfielder Chin-Feng Chen joined the Dodgers in 2002, and Wang’s childhood idol was Roger Clemens. 在陈金锋於2002年加入道奇之前，没有任何台湾的球员能站上大联盟的舞台。 王建民小时候的偶像是火箭人Roger Clemens。 He attended a sports college, Taipei Ti Wu University, and was signed with the Yankees for about $2 million in 2000, with a hard, straight fastball as his primary weapon. Shoulder injuries sidelined him for all of 2001 and part of 2003, but by 2004 he was a star for the Chinese Taipei Olympic team and, by late August, the top starter for Class AAA Columbus. 2000年的时候，就读台北体院的小王，与洋基签下一纸将近两百万美金的合约。 当时他以快速直球作为主要的武器。 然而因为肩伤，使得他在2001年整年以及2003年部份时候无法上场。 2004年奥运，小王成为中华队中一员球星。然後到了八月，他成了３Ａ球队的王牌先发。 The timing of his surge was significant. Had Wang blossomed in the spring of 2004, rather than the late summer, he might have attracted the attention of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who aggressively scouted the Yankees’ farm system before the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline. 小王崛起的时间点极具意义。 如果他大放异彩的时间不是在2004夏末，而是提前到了春天， 那麽当时他很可能会引起亚利桑那响尾蛇队的注意。 在７３１大限到来之前，响尾蛇正虎视眈眈地盯着洋基农场。 The Yankees wanted badly to trade for Randy Johnson and made all of their prospects available to the Diamondbacks. Arizona assigned the scout Bryan Lambe to evaluate several players, including Robinson Cano', Melky Cabrera and Dioner Navarro. 当时，洋基极度渴望得到 Randy Johnson，所有的资源都可以当成交易筹码。 响尾蛇队派出了球探 Bryan Lambe 评估包括 Cano 等球员的价值。 They never mentioned Wang to Lambe, and the teams did not make a deal until after the season. Wang was not in the trade. 洋基从来没有对球探提到过小王，而两队直到球季结束才完成交易， 小王并没有被列入交易名单。 “I’d like to say I never saw him, but I did, maybe for a game or at least a part of a game,” said Lambe, who now scouts for the Mets. “He pitched well, but not like now. He didn’t have that velocity or that kind of sink. Natural maturity took care of the velocity, but somebody fine-tuned him, because that sinker is as good as anybody’s. 『我实在很想说我从未见过小王，但是，我有。也许是在一场或几局的球赛里面。』 现在是大都会队球探的 Bryan Lambe 说道： 『他投得很好，但不像现在那麽好。当时他没有那麽好的球速和那麽变态的下沉尾劲。 球速也许来自天赋，但某人对他的改造，使得他的伸卡不输给任何人。』 “He’s winning because of that hard sinker. You can hit it on the screws, and if it’s sinking, you’ve hit a nice, hard ground ball. It takes a lot of ground balls to win.” 『能够投出极品伸卡是他致胜的关键。只要他的球开始往下沉，就算你打的到它， 结果也只能造成又好又硬(三小XD)的滚地球而已。制造许许多多的滚地球带给他胜利。』 To throw the sinker, Wang holds the ball with his index and middle fingers along the seams framing the ball’s sweet spot. There is a dark callus to the right of the nail on his index finger, which he places just off the left seam. When he releases the ball, Wang pushes off the seam with his index finger, creating diving, downward movement toward the shins of a right-handed hitter. 小王投出伸卡球的方法是，以食指及中指扣着球的缝线握住球。 为了扣住左侧的缝线，他的右手食指因此长出了老茧。 当他把球投出的刹那，小王的食指出力，以此制造出往右打者胫部下沉的轨迹。 The pitch may end up out of the strike zone, but hitters find it hard to resist before it shifts course. 球最终的落点可能会偏离好球带，但打者就是很难忍住不出棒。 “All you can do is hit the top of the ball,” said the Yankees’ Nick Green, who faced Wang eight times when he played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. “ Every time it comes in, it looks like a strike. It’s easy to tell yourself to lay off it from watching it on TV, but it’s hard to do.” 『你所能做的，就是打到球的上缘。』小绿如是说， 他在魔鬼鱼队的时候，有过８次面对小王的经验。 『每次球进来时，看起来都像好球。 你从电视上看很容易就能说服自己放过这一球，不过事实上很难。』 Wang, who has not lost since July 3, has produced 3.36 ground outs for every fly out this season, the best ratio in the league. Because he induces contact so regularly, he has only 49 strikeouts, tied for the fewest in the majors among pitchers who qualify for the earned-run-average title. 小王自从七月三号之後还没有输过任何一场比赛，他的滚飞比达到了联盟第一的 3.36 。 不过他销魂的４９次三振，在ＥＲＡ排行榜上则是最少的。 Wang credits his sinker to Neil Allen, his pitching coach at Columbus in 2004, and Sal Fasano, who caught him then. 小王的伸卡球要归功於３Ａ时期的投手教练 Neil Allen ， 以及当时跟他搭配的捕手 Sal Fasano 。 “He’s got that unique ability that whatever you teach him, he can throw with almost immediate success,” said Fasano, now the Yankees’ backup catcher. “But that’s why you have to be careful.” 『他拥有独一无二的能力，几乎是一教就会。不过这也是你必须要小心的地方。』 Fasano 说道。他现在是洋基阵中的替补捕手。 In Columbus, Wang threw six pitches, which Fasano said he considered too many. Wang took to the sinker so quickly, Fasano said, that it made sense to master that pitch and throw it roughly 90 percent of the time. 在３Ａ时期，小王投六种球路，而 Fasano 认为这太多了。 因此当小王对伸卡球的掌握得心应手之後，他在比赛中有九成都是使用这个球路。 The trick was not to throw it too hard. Wang can throw a four-seam fastball around 96 miles an hour. The sinker — or two-seamer — comes in two or three miles an hour slower, but has more movement. 诀窍在别过度用力。小王可以投出９６ｍｐｈ的四缝线快速球。 他的伸卡 — 或说二缝线 — 会慢上个２～３英哩，但拥有更佳的movement。 When Wang threw 103 pitches in beating the Devil Rays on July 8, catcher Jorge Posada said he called only sinkers. But Ron Guidry, the pitching coach, said Wang also throws a changeup, slider and four-seam fastball. 七月八号，当小王以１０３球完封魔鬼鱼队的时候，Posada 说他只有配伸卡一种球路。 不过投手教练说小王也有使用变速球、滑球和四缝线快速球。 When right-handers protect against the sinker, Guidry said, Wang can throw a slider or four-seamer to the outside corner, where they cannot reach. But mostly, Guidry conceded, Wang gets outs with the sinker. 投手教练表示，当右打者在提防小王的伸卡球时， 他其实可以尝试以外角速球或滑球来解决打者。 不过投教承认，小王还是多半用伸卡球来让打者出局。 “It’s like hitting a shot put,” Guidry said. “It’s harder than most sinkers, and it’s got late movement.” 『就好像在打铅球一样，这比大部份的伸卡球难打多了，而且它进垒後较晚产生变化。』 Wang leads the team with 161 innings pitched, and he is 13-4 with a 3.69 earned run average. Beyond his ability, Wang’s personality has endeared him to teammates. 小王的投球局数是洋基最多的１６１局，１３胜４败，3.69 的自责分率。 除了他的能力之外，小王的个性也使他受到队友喜爱。 Reliever Mike Myers, who sometimes runs with Wang before batting practice around the concourse level of road ballparks, said Wang’s smile drew people in, and the language barrier fell later. 练习的时候，Myers 有时会和小王一起跑步。 他说小王的笑容很吸引人，语言的障碍不算什麽。 “Once you get him to open up, he’s fine,” Myers said. “But you’ve got to get him to open up.” 『一旦他敞开心胸了，就会很好。当然你必须先让他放开心胸。』这不是废话吗… The Yankees provided Wang with a personal interpreter when he first came to the United States in 2000, but the interpreter was soon fired. Wang said he would rather not worry about losing another interpreter, so he has not asked for one since. 2000年，当小王刚到洋基的时候，球团为他雇了一个翻译，不过後来掰掰了。 小王说他不想去担心何时会失去另一个翻译，所以後来乾脆不再请翻译了。 “This year is better than last year,” Wang said. “Last year the other players didn’t talk to me very much. They figured I couldn’t speak English. In my second year, more people are talking to me, chatting with me.” 『就比去年好啊，就是去年刚上来的时候，大家不会怎麽跟我讲话。』王说。 『他们想说我不会讲英文，可是第二年的时候，他们就比较多人跟我讲话聊天这样子。』 Wang’s English is improving, and he speaks well enough to convey basic points to the news media after games. Rick Cerrone, the Yankees’ media relations director, has suggested that Wang group three distinct ideas in each answer, and Wang has been quoted more often lately. 小王的英文一直在进步中，他的英文能力已经足够在赛後访问时表达出重点。 洋基的公关部主任Rick Cerrone建议小王将答案整理成三个要点， 而他的回答在最近也比较常被媒体引述了。 Predictably, teammates ply Wang with amusing phrases. On a recent flight, he greeted Larry Bowa, the boisterous third-base coach, by saying, “What’s up, Meat?” 可以想见的是，队友们也会教小王一些垃圾话。 在飞机上，他跟三垒指导教练Bowa打招呼：『呷饱ㄚ没，大胖呆？』 “They're teaching him new stuff, and he’s testing it on me,” Bowa said. “He does have a good sense of humor.” 『他们教了他几句，他就在我身上作实验。』Bowa：『very funny,Peter.』 That was the first thing Andy Phillips mentioned when asked to explain Wang’ s personality. Wang parrots phrases, for sure, but he usually knows when he is being set up, and he has keen comic timing. 这是当Andy Phillips谈论小王的个性时，所提到的第一件事。 小王会模仿队友的遣词用字，知道自己是不是被整了，而且还会耍宝。 “He’s very, very funny,” Phillips said. “He’s pretty quiet, and then all of a sudden he’ll say something or ask a question at a random time, and it’ s just hilarious.” 『他非常非常的有趣。』Phillips说： 『他平时都装惦惦，不过有时候会突然间冒出几句话或是一个问题，而且很爆笑。』 Phillips and Wang were teammates in the minors, and they eat together on the road sometimes. On one of their first trips in the majors, they had rooms on the same floor. When they got there, Wang sheepishly asked Phillips, “Where’ s my luggage?” 他们在小联盟时期就是队友，有时会一起出去吃饭。 有一次他们的房间被分配在同一个楼层。 当他们抵达那儿时，小王羞怯地问他：『我的行李呢？』 Phillips explained that a bellman would bring the bags. Any rookie could have asked the same question, but it reminded Phillips of the adjustments Wang still has to make. Phillips告诉他，门房会马上把行李送来。 所有的菜鸟们都可能问同样的问题，但这提醒了Phillips小王必须要做的调整。 “When you think about all the little things we do every day just to be able to get to the field and do our work, that can be quite a challenge,” Phillips said. “But his personality is so laid back that he doesn’t let those challenges affect him.” 『当你去思索我们每天要做的一切琐事，都是为了能够在球场上做好我们的工作， 那其实是一项挑战。』Phillips说： 『不过小王的个性就是那麽地朴实，这使得那些挑战根本没办法影响到他。』 From absorbing the true story of his own beginning to mastering opposing lineups, Wang has handled it all. 从了解自己的身世，到主宰对手的打线，小王就是这样面对一切。 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 219.84.4.170 ※ 编辑: Maiar 来自: 219.84.4.170 (08/13 16:21)