http://tinyurl.com/6hhab5 by Buster Olney The assignment is to shadow Brandon Webb for six days. The task, made possible by unprecedented access, promises to be a lesson in one man's obsessive desire to dominate. No major league pitcher could be as successful as Webb is, you assume, without thousands of crunches and hundreds of hours in a darkened video room, studying hitters with the focus of a ninja. Wait, who's that guy on the field fiddling with the toy airplane? "You can get it up pretty high in here," Webb says cheerfully, standing near the third-base dugout inside Chase Field, holding a remote control as his tiny plane buzzes unsteadily over the outfield. "We've got some helicopters, too." Four hours later, the 29-year-old Diamondbacks righthander buries the Rockies under a flurry of sinkers and changeups and curveballs. Webb is 9–0 on the season, and it's only May 15, but as he stands in front of his locker after the game, the euphoria already seems to be dissipating. "It'll probably be gone in about an hour," he says in his Kentucky drawl. His next start is against the Marlins, one of the best-hitting teams in the majors. Webb is asked when he'll begin concentrating on Florida, and he chuckles in a way that makes you realize that he might have laughed in your face if he weren't so polite. "I try not to get too focused too early," he says. "If I do that, I wear myself out." The lesson has begun. FRIDAY Dan Haren is jealous. He tells Webb to his face, four hours before Haren's start against the Tigers."You're 9–0, you just won, and you have an extra day before you pitch," Haren says with mock angst. "I want to do what you're doing today." Which is almost nothing. Webb threw 111 pitches in seven-plus innings the night before, and his back is sore, so his aerobic workout has been postponed. Instead, he plays catch for 10 minutes, gingerly at first, then harder as his stiff arm loosens. During batting practice, he and the other pitchers shag fly balls in the outfield— or at least that's the idea. Basically, they hang out and talk, like guys in a bar. A line drive is smashed right at a bunch of them, but nobody moves until Webb casually lifts his glove and snares it. Another ball rolls to within 30 feet of Webb and reliever Chad Qualls. It sits in the grass for five minutes, like an empty soda can, until Webb grudgingly trots over to pick it up and toss it back in. After BP, Webb retreats to the clubhouse, where he keeps an electric guitar on a stand next to his locker. But he doesn't play it today, because there's a box to open: a new toy helicopter. He's thinking about taking it out to the field. "What do you have to do to get this thing charged up?" he asks Qualls, who's playing with another copter. Webb is as laid-back as a seventh-inning stretch in spring training. Failure, which is inevitable in baseball, does not threaten his confidence. His drive home from Chase Field takes about 25 minutes, and by the time he turns off his car, Webb has managed to put the game in his rear-view mirror—even after a loss. "There's nothing you can do after a start to change the outcome of what you did," he says. "So why sit there and sulk and pity yourself for five days? Forget about it, then just go work in the bullpen on what you need to work on." Roy Halladay, with his bat-breaking sinker, is similar to Webb in stuff and style, but the Blue Jays ace pores over videotape of opposing hitters, dissecting their swings. Webb rarely watches video, and he doesn't study scouting reports. His preparation is in the maintenance of his pitches. When Haren takes the mound tonight, Webb plants himself on a bench at the front of the dugout, next to lefthander Doug Davis, and they watch a ball game. It's great work if you can get it. SATURDAY It's tough being Webb's pregame catch partner. D-backs closer Brandon Lyon accepts the responsibility because he has an eye for diagnosing when Webb's sinking fastball is coming out of his hand properly. The downside is that Lyon's left thumb takes a pounding inside his glove. "I can't ever get the ball centered," he says. To complement his sinker, Webb also throws a sharp curve and a stealth changeup . One hitter, as he stepped into the batter's box, mournfully asked catcher Chris Snyder, "Does he have any plans for keeping the ball straight today?" Webb's pitches dive so much some umpires have admitted to Snyder that they freeze at times, incorrectly assuming the ball is going to drop out of the strike zone. Maybe the sinker sinks because of the way Webb's hand turns inward as he throws the ball. Whatever the reason (not even he knows for sure), the movement is dramatic and late in the ball's journey, making it extremely difficult for hitters to square up. Webb began throwing the pitch—called a two-seamer because the fingers align alongside the seams rather than across them—when he was in college at Kentucky. But he mostly relied on a standard heater until Royal Clayton, his Class-A pitching coach, saw him throw a couple of two-seamers in 2000. "That's going to be a good pitch for you," Clayton said. "When we go to spring training next year, we're going to work on that." At first Webb struggled mightily to control the pitch, drilling 27 batters in the Class-A California League in 2001. Eventually he changed his target: Rather than trying to aim at the corners, he threw the ball over the middle of the plate and trusted the pitch's natural movement to take it to the edges. In 2004 , his second season in the majors, Webb walked 119 batters in 208 innings and finished 7–16. Two years later, he'd cut his walks to 50 (against 178 K's), finishing 16–8 and winning the Cy Young. Late in the 2006 season, as Webb tinkered with a third pitch to go with his sinker and curve, he tried a changeup against Colorado's Brad Hawpe, a lefty hitter who has been Webb's nemesis. The ball darted downward, underneath Hawpe's futile swing, and Webb gawked at his catcher and mouthed, "Oh my gawd." Webb and Snyder later raced into the video room and replayed the pitch a dozen times. "He's got the best changeup I've ever faced," Hawpe says. What makes it so good? The spin on the change is indistinguishable from that of Webb's sinker . As he plays catch with Lyon, Webb throws nearly all sinkers, then he goes inside for an aerobic workout, a jog on a machine called an Anti-Gravity Treadmill, which uses technology developed by NASA. Webb's waist and legs are encased in pressurized air, which reduces the stress on his joints. By the time he's finished a 20-minute run, teammates have gathered, finding comic relief in the notion that a Brandon Webb workout is worthy of a reporter, producer, cameraman and photographer. "Hey, Webby," Haren barks. "Are you going to let them follow you to where you throw up?" SUNDAY All starters go through a bullpen workout between appearances. Roy Oswalt uses the pitching rubber like a catapult, launching himself off of it. Randy Johnson's face contorts into a snarl as he releases the ball. Webb, by extreme contrast, exerts all the outward effort of someone taking a beer out of the fridge. He sometimes touches the rubber in his delivery and sometimes doesn't. He draws his knee upward, then seems to fall forward, like a tomato stake that hasn't been tapped in deep enough. Bullpen catcher Jeff Motuzas turns his glove slightly as the ball darts into it . Webb resets himself and throws another sinker—his fingers covering Bud Selig's signature, as always, to remind himself to stay on top of the ball. Pitching coach Bryan Price carefully checks the spot where Webb's front foot lands. Webb sometimes drifts off course, and the primary purpose of the bullpen session is to make sure his mechanics are aligned. "I just want to throw to the mitt," he says. "If you're thinking and start trying to overcorrect something, that's when you're not pitching your game. If I'm not thinking out there, that's when I'm doing the best." In less than 15 minutes, the bullpen session is over. The homestand ends a few hours later, as the first-place D-backs beat the Tigers to improve to 28–16; it will be the high-water mark of their first half. Webb dresses for the trip to South Florida: off-white pants and jacket, shades perched on his forehead, making him look like a tourist trying to emulate Don Johnson. "Miami, right here," he says, grinning. MONDAY AND TUESDAY Alicia Webb calls her husband on the Monday off-day to tell him they have a new dog, a German shepherd mix. That makes five in all—Olivia, Mabel, Dixie, Mick and now Thor—to haul back to Kentucky in the fall. Brandon just shakes his head in bemusement at the news; he and Alicia seem to keep adding dogs. The pitcher and his wife were both born and raised in Ashland, Ky., on the Ohio River. "He was always very calm," says Brandon's father, Philip, who's still his throwing partner in the winter. Brandon is known, within his family, for his ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere. His days at home, Alicia reports, usually involve playing with their 2-year-old daughter, Reagan, or watching his favorite TV shows, Cash Cab and Deal or No Deal. Webb is almost always happy to allow others to do the heavy mental lifting. One time this season, when Snyder called for a fastball, Webb stuck with his instincts and struck out the hitter on a changeup. Snyder was waiting in the dugout. "That makes hitters now 5-for-6 when you shake me off," the catcher said. Mostly, if you see Webb shake off a sign, it's because Snyder is telling him to shake it off to confuse the batter. Snyder is a natural-born extrovert; when asked how great it is to catch Webb, he responds, "You should ask him how great it is that he can throw to me." He's kidding when he says this, but he's serious about preparation. Snyder consults daily with the team's advance scouts and pitching coach, and he formulates the plan. "As good as your stuff is, that's all you need to worry about," he tells Webb. "All that matters is that you throw it where I tell you to throw it." On the first day of the Marlins series, a day before Webb's start, Snyder takes a break to play catch with Webb. Instead of a ball, they throw an Aerobie. Wind gusts carry the disk around Dolphin Stadium, and they challenge each other to track it down. Some pitchers are swallowed up by the wait between starts, but not Webb. He races around an empty ball field, chasing an Aerobie. WEDNESDAY Finally, it's Webb's day to pitch. At 3:40 p.m., Snyder leans forward in a chair in front of his locker, staring at a laminated copy of the Marlins' lineup. The card is filled with intelligence about how to dissect the hitters. In less than four hours, Snyder will engage in professional combat, and he wants to be ready. His eyes narrow as he commits to memory the information arrayed before him. Twenty feet away, Webb is focused as well. He's searching for vintage trucks on eBay with fellow starter Micah Owings. "Check that out," Webb says, pointing, and soon they move on to another site, featuring watches. Many pitchers won't talk to teammates on the day they start. Webb, on the other hand, will talk with everyone. Eventually, he steps away from the computer, watches some TV, then sits across from Snyder at a Texas hold 'em video-poker table. Webb quickly beats the catcher. "Gotta let him feel good about himself," Snyder says , smiling. Webb prepares his pregame meal, a grazer's specialty: peanut butter and jelly sandwich and nachos, washed down with a sports drink. At 5:02, he and Snyder sit down for their final pregame conversation. Snyder talks. Webb nods his head while nibbling on a Snickers bar. The meeting lasts four minutes. Afterward, Webb joins the other D-backs for batting practice, briefly, and jokes around with teammates in the dugout. Then,precisely an hour before the 7:10 first pitch, he shifts into autopilot, his movements dictated strictly by the clock. He goes into the trainer's room to stretch, and exactly 40 minutes before game time—regardless of whether Arizona is at home or on the road—he changes into his uniform. With 35 minutes to go, he walks to the dugout, where he sits and waits five minutes before going to the bullpen to warm up. After Ricky Nolasco limits the D-backs to a single in the top of the first, Webb strides to the mound, stepping on the foul line as he goes (a superstition he honors every inning). Pitchers are permitted eight warmup throws, but Webb takes only six: four sinkers, a curveball and another sinker. Always the minimalist. He comes off the field after retiring the Marlins on 11 pitches and sits in his usual spot on the bench—water bottle to his left, Snyder to his right. Their conversation is light. Snyder says it's almost like they're playing Wiffle ball. Webb's sinker veers against the Marlins; his changeup dives. Eleven batters into the game, he still hasn't allowed a baserunner. But then Jorge Cantu drives a double to deep left, and Webb knows this is a bad sign. When the ball is hit in the air, it means his sinker is not sinking the way it should— perhaps because of a slippage in mechanics, or simply fatigue. The D-backs lead 1-0 in the fifth, but Luis Gonzalez, a former teammate, anticipates a changeup and triples into the gap in right-center. He scores on a suicide squeeze by Matt Treanor. Webb subsequently fires a sinker inside to Cody Ross, but the ball stays up and Ross mashes it over the leftfield wall. The Marlins tack on another run later, and although Webb throws seven solid innings, the D-backs fall 3-1. It's his first loss of the season, and afterward he speaks softly in the otherwise silent clubhouse. He's frustrated that he couldn't keep his sinker down, but he's ready to move on. "I'm not going to go 33–0 or 34–0," Webb says. "I'll forget about it in an hour." THE LAST SATURDAY IN JUNE Flash forward 38 days: The D-backs have been playing like the offensively challenged team they are, going 12–22 and skidding back to .500. It's been a while since Webb was at his sharpest—the sinker has been misbehaving—but on this night, back in Miami, he responds with six strong innings. Contrary to Snyder's advice, Webb talks his way back out for the seventh and promptly hits Treanor and walks Jeremy Hermida. After manager Bob Melvin lifts him, Webb stalks back to the dugout, uncharacteristically yelling at himself, and fires a water bottle into a trash can. Arizona hangs on to win, and Webb, at 12–4, becomes baseball's winningest pitcher. But now Snyder has another example to hold over his head. "I guess I should have listened to him," Webb says afterward, grinning. ============== Webb接下来的六天可难熬了。藉由前所未有的贴身观察，我们将试图了解他是如何成为最 具宰制力的投手之一。你可能会以为，像Webb这样厉害的投手，必定是个成天躲在小房间 里研究录影带的狂人，是吧？ 等等，那个在球场里玩遥控飞机的家伙是谁？ ”飞机在这里可以飞的很高”Webb快乐的说，把玩着飞机的遥控器”我们还有几架直升机 喔。” 四小时後，响尾蛇29岁的右投手用他厉害的伸卡球、变速球和曲球，解决掉了洛矶队。 Webb本季已经9-0，而现在还只是5月15日而已。然而，当他站在他的置物柜时，快乐的气 氛似乎已经烟消云散了。”我ㄧ小时後就把它给忘记了”他用他的肯德基腔说着。他下次 先发会对上马林鱼队，联盟中打击最好的球队之一。当被问到他什麽时候会开始思考对付 马林鱼队的方法，Webb回答说”我不会太早就去想这件事，这麽做会让我精疲力竭。” 课程开始了 ============== 星期五： Dan Haren有些吃醋。他在先发面对老虎队的四小时前对Webb说”你已经9-0，才刚赢球， 又多了一天的休息日，我想要做和你今天做的事一样。”意思是-什麽都不用做。 Webb昨天才刚投了111球，背还有点酸，所以他的有氧运动延期了。事实上，他练了十分钟 的传接球，慢慢舒展他僵硬的手臂。在打击练习时，他和其他的投手在外野接球—至少表 面上是这样。实际上，他们是在闲晃闲聊。一颗平飞球朝他们飞去，没有人理它，直到 Webb轻松的把它接起来。又一颗球滚了过来，它在草地上躺了五分钟，像是个空的废铝罐 。Webb不太情愿的把它捡起来回传。 打击练习後，Webb回到了休息区。他在他的置物柜旁放了一把电吉他，不过他今天没有要 弹它，因为他有了新玩具—一架新的遥控直升机。他在想要不要现在拿出去玩。”这要怎 麽充电？”他问正再玩另一架直升机的Qualls。 Webb现在就像是在春训般放松。棒球中不可避免的失败不会打击到他的自信心。Webb的家 开车到Chase Field要25分钟。他已经学会不把场上的情绪带回家中。”比赛结束後，再怎 样都改变不了结果”Webb说”。所以，把它忘了吧，下次再努力就是了。” 同样是投沉重伸卡球的Roy Halladay，每次比赛都会研究对手的录影带。Webb不同，他很 少看片，也不研究球探报告。他的准备只有维持投球动作。 当今晚Haren在场上投球，Webb就只是坐在Doug Davis旁边，轻松的看着球赛。 ============== 星期六： 要和Webb玩传接球不是一件容易的事。Brandon Lyon接受了这项任务，因为他抓的到Webb 出手的时间点。坏处是他的左大拇指一直被球重击。”完全没办法好好接稳这颗球。” Lyon说。 Webb拿来和伸卡球搭配的是犀利的曲球和变速球。曾经有一位打者在站上打击区时小声的 对捕手Chris Snyder说”难道他不能把球投直一点吗？”Webb投出的球的下沉幅度大到让 一些裁判承认他们因此误以为球会掉出好球带。 也许是因为投球时手掌的内翻造成球的下沉尾劲。无论原因是什麽，伸卡球剧烈的下沉幅 度让打者很难击中球心。Webb在肯德基念大学时学会这种球路—叫作二缝线球，因为投球 时是握住两条缝线—。但他还是以传统的四缝线球为主，直到他1A的投教Royal Clayton在 2000年时发掘出他投二缝线球的潜力。”那是一颗很棒的球路”Clayton说”明年春训时， 我们要好好加强这颗球。” 刚开始，Webb受到严重的控球问题所苦恼，在1A加州联盟砸了27位打者後来他改变瞄准的 位置，不再瞄准边边角角，改成把球投往红中，然後相信球的尾劲会把球带到边边角角。 在2004年Webb的第二个球季，他保送了119个打者并投出7-16的成绩。两年後，他的保送减 少到50次并以16-8的成绩赢得赛扬奖。 在2006年球季末，Webb试着找第三个球路来和他的伸卡球和曲球搭配，他对他的克星Brad Hawpe试了一颗变速球。这球很快的下坠，让Hawpe挥了个大空棒。”哇靠”Webb对着捕手 说。Webb和Snyder後来反覆看了重播好几遍。”他有我所看过最好的变速球”Hawpe说。 这个变速球强在哪？因为你几乎无法分辨出它的旋转和伸卡球有何不同。 当Webb在和Lyon玩传接球时，他几乎只投伸卡球。接者他去做些有氧运动—慢跑。他用一 台叫做Anti-Gravity Treadmil的慢跑机。这台慢跑机有着NASA的太空科技加持。Webb的腰 和腿被加压空气所环绕，用来减少关节上所受的压力。在20分钟的慢跑结束後，队有们开 始聚集起来，假装要采访他。"Hey,Webby,"Haren叫”你要这样让他们跟着你到处走？” ============== 星期天： 所有的先发投手在两次先发间都会进行牛棚练投。（投球动作）Roy Oswalt把投手板当跳 板一样用力把身体蹬出去，Randy Johnson投球的时候脸会扭曲变形。Webb则和他们不同， 他练投时候总是轻松随性。他有时候会踩投手板，有时候又不会。他把膝盖抬起，然後前 倾，像是没被固定好的番茄架。 牛棚捕手Jeff Motuzas接到球的时候手套震动了一下。Webb准备好，又投出另一颗伸卡球 ...。他的手指总是按住(球上)Bud Selig的签名，提醒自己要维持住出手点。投教Bryan Price仔细检查Webb前脚落地的位置。当然他有时候姿势会走样，而牛棚练投的目的就是要 保持他投球机制的精确。”我只想要一球一球投”他说”当你状况不好的时候，总是会东 想西想，想要修正些什麽。当我状况很好时，我只想着要一球一球投。” 在15分钟内，牛棚练投就结束了。几小时後，主场的比赛也结束了，排名第一的响尾蛇队 击败老虎队，把战绩推进到本季新高的28-16。Webb穿好衣服要去南佛罗里达了。灰白色的 裤子和外套，阴影遮住了他的额头，像是个模仿Don Johnson的游客。”迈阿密，就在这里 ”他笑着说。 ============== 星期一和星期二： Alicia Webb打电话和她老公说她又买了一只狗，德国牧羊犬混种的。这表示到秋天时有五 只狗─Olivia, Mabel, Dixie, Mick 和现在这只Thor─要带回肯德基的老家。Brandon摇 了摇头，感到困惑。他们似乎不停的在买狗。 Webb和他老婆都是出生在肯德基的Ashland，靠近俄亥俄河。”他一向很安静”Brandon的 老爸Philip说。Philip也是Brandon冬天时的丢球夥伴。在家族中，Brandon以他的睡觉能 力闻名。据Alicia表示，Brandon在家中通常是和二岁的女儿Reagan嬉戏，要不然就是看他 最喜欢的电视节目Cash Cab和Deal or No Deal。 Webb似乎总是喜欢让别人去替他烦恼。在这一季，有次Snyder配了个速球，Webb却凭着他 的直觉投了个变速球三振打者。Snyder等在休息区”这让打者6上5下了，当你摇头的时候 ”捕手说。当你看见Webb对捕手摇头，那是因为Snyder告诉他这样做来迷惑打者。Snyder 生性外向。当被问到和Webb搭档有多棒时，他回答”你应该是去问他他有我接捕有多棒才 对。” 他现在是在和我开玩笑，但当在准备的时候他可是很认真的。Snyder每天都跟球探和投教 讨论，并由他规划投球策略。”你只要保持好状况就够了。”他对Webb说”到时按照我的 指示去投就是了” 在Webb先发前一天，Snyder和他玩了一下Aerobie（http://tinyurl.com/6e7c4n　像飞盘 的东西）风带着飞盘在海豚球场中盘旋。有些投手就只是呆呆的等待下次的先发，但那不 是Webb。他在空旷的球场中追着Aerobie跑。 ============== 星期三： 终於，轮到Webb投球了。下午3:40，Snyder坐在他的置物柜前，仔细研究马林鱼队的打线 。他手上的卡片满是对付打者的情报。在四小时内，Snyder必须要武装好。他的眼睛眯起 来，试图把这些资料都记起来。 在20尺之外，Webb也和Snyder一样专心。他和Micah Owings正在eBay上找古董卡车。”买 那个！”Webb说。接着，他们又到另一个站，寻找手表。许多投手在先发的那一天不会跟 队友说话。Webb则是会跟所有的人聊天。玩完电脑，Webb又去看些电视，然後和Snyder打 牌。Webb很快击败了捕手。”这种时候，一定要让他感到愉快。”Snyder笑说。 Webb吃了他的赛前餐：三明治和墨西哥饼，还有一些运动饮料。5:02，他和Snyder做最後 一次的赛前交谈，Snyder说话，Webb边点头边偷吃巧克力棒。交谈只花了四分钟。接着， Webb做了些打击练习，又和队友们聊天。在比赛开始前一小时，Webb进入自动导航状态─ 40分钟前完成拉筋，35分钟前走进休息区，5分钟後再去牛棚热身。 一局上结束後，Webb跨着大步进场，踩上边线（这是他每局都会做的迷信）。投手最多可 以投8颗球，但Webb只投了6颗：四颗伸卡，一颗曲球，然後再一颗伸卡。他只用了11颗球 结束这局马林鱼队的攻势。Webb回到他在休息室的位置：水桶管理员，右边是Snyder。他 们交谈了一会儿，Snyder说这好像是在玩Wiffle ball。 Webb的伸卡和变速发挥威力，11个打者上场，又11个打者下场。但当Jorge Cantu打了个 二垒安打时，Webb知道这不是个好预兆。当球被打到空中，这表示他的伸卡球不像往常般 下沉，也许是因为姿势上小小的改变，或者只是因为疲劳。 响尾蛇队以1:0领先，但前队友Luis Gonzalez把一颗变速球打成三垒安打，又靠着高飞牺 牲打回来得分。Webb对Cody Ross投了个伸卡球，但这球被Ross打出墙外。稍後马林鱼队又 得了一分，而Webb苦等不到队友的火力支援，最後以1:3落败。这是他本季第一败。比赛结 束後，他对有点安静的队友发表感言。 他说，他很抱歉没有把伸卡球投低，但他会准备好下场比赛。”我不可能达成33–0或 34–0”Webb说”我会在一小时之内忘了它。” ============== 六月最後一个星期六： 38天後，响尾蛇队打的像之贫打球队，打出12–22然後回到五成胜率。现在已经离Webb的 绝好调一段时间了。但今天，重回迈阿密，他投了六局好球。不顾Snyder的建议，Webb继 续投第七局，然後砸到Treanor又保送Jeremy Hermida。在总教练Bob Melvin换他下场後， 他走回休息区，很少见的对自己大叫，又砸了个水瓶进垃圾桶。响尾蛇队最後赢了，而 Webb，则以12-4成为棒球界最会赢球的投手。 但现在Webb又多了个把柄在Snyder手上。”我想我是应该听他的建议的”Webb笑着说。 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 140.112.5.3 ※ 编辑: abc12812 来自: 140.112.5.3 (07/07 00:52)