Italy in the baseball background 义大利的棒球背景 KISSIMMEE, Fla. — During the World Baseball Classic's colorful, noisy festival of patriotism, pride and cultural heritage, Mike Piazza has come to understand something quite valuable while bonding with his Italian teammates. "We have a guy from Messina who cooks pasta for us in the clubhouse? al dente, of course," said Team Italy's marquee player. "I've learned that the pasta in the United States is cooked too soft. I don't even like them to put it in the water anymore. I just like steam going over it." 在世界棒球经典赛丰富多彩且喧闹的节日庆典期间充满着爱国主义、自豪和文化遗产。当 Mike Piazza与他的义大利队有紧密结合的同时，他开始了解到一些相当宝贵的事物。义 大利队的看板选手Mike Piazza说：”我们有一个从Messina来的家伙，他在球队里帮我们 煮义大利面。当然，他煮得很有嚼劲。现在我已经知道，美国的义大利面总是煮得太软。 我甚至不希望他们再把它放在水里了，我喜欢水汽蒸过的义大利面就好。” Truth is, Major League Baseball made Piazza an offer he couldn't refuse: a chance to play for his ancestral homeland while trying to expand the game's scope and popularity in Italy, from where his grandparents emigrated. 大联盟实际上是提供了一个Piazza无法拒绝的机会：他的祖父母是从义大利移居国外的， 这正是一个为祖先故乡出赛的机会，同时又可以扩展棒球在义大利的视野跟声望。 Culinary considerations aside, Italians have contributed much to the civilization in art, literature and science. The exportation of baseball talent is not included. With the exception of descendants like the DiMaggios, Berras and Rizzutos, no Italian-born player of any significance has emerged in the majors. 我们先把厨艺放在一边，义大利人对於文明的贡献很大，无论是在艺术、文学及科学。但 对於棒球人才的出产却没有包括在内。除了一些义大利後裔像是DiMaggios，Berras和 Rizzutos，并没有在义大利出生的球员在大联盟有特殊重大的表现。 There was Tommy Lasorda bleeding green, white and red this week with his goombahs. You think a lot of things when you think Italy. Baseball isn't one. No, the Dodger godfather said, "You think pasta." Tommy Lasorda跟他的同伴们留着绿、白和红色的血液<注1>。当你提到义大利的时候，你 会想到很多东西，但棒球不是其中之一。道奇队的教父Tommy Lasorda说：「你反而是想 到义大利面。」 Italy got whacked Thursday when the Dominican Republic knocked it off 8-3, which along with Venezuela's win eliminated the Italians from the 16-nation field. Some folks still were scratching their noggins regarding their presence. 星期四义大利对遭受到重击，他们不但以8比3输给多明尼加同时因为委内瑞拉赢球，所以 义大利被淘汰无法进入下一轮。但一些义大利乡亲或许还搔着头对於他们的参赛感到疑惑 。 "They told me ... well, I'm not exactly sure how it was chosen," said manager Matt Galante, a first-generation Sicilian. Matt Galante，一位第一代的西西里岛人说：「他们告诉我……『嗯，我并不很确定队伍 是怎麽被选出来的。』」 Perhaps MLB figured it could sell out Piazza jerseys from Pisa to Palermo. 也许大联盟认为他们可以从比萨到马勒莫将Piazza的运动衫销售一空。 Maybe Bud Selig likes linguini di mara. 也许Bud Selig喜欢细扁长条的义大利面。 One criterion was geography. Latin America is loaded with powerhouses. The European baseball theater isn't Fenway. Italy's general competence and longtime presence at the international level was another reason. The Italian team qualified for every Olympics, finishing as high as sixth in Atlanta and Sydney. 地理因素是一个关键。拉丁美洲总是充满着动力，而欧洲棒球的场所却不像Fenway Park （那麽热闹充满活力）。义大利的整体竞争力与他们能长期出现在国际水准的竞赛中有其 他的原因（可以解释）。虽然义大利总是可以闯进奥运，但最高也只在亚特兰大与雪梨奥 运拿到第六名的成绩。 The Dominicans and Venezuelans transformed this site into a fiesta with thousands of raucous fans. The Italian fan contingent was more like a bunch of Joe Bagadonuts from Fort Lauderdale. A woman wearing a Mets jersey had an Italian flag-type sign that read, "I flew from New York to see Italy shock the world." 多明尼加以及委内瑞拉以数以千计喧闹的球迷，将球场变的像庆典一般。义大利球迷代表 团表现出来的，更像是一群从罗德岱堡来的美国人一般平淡无奇。<注2>一位身穿大都会 运动衫的女士，手持着一个义大利国旗型式的标志，上面写着〝我从纽约飞来看义大利震 撼世界。〞 For most Italians, digesting baseball is as delectable as eating borscht. 对大部分义大利人来说，品味棒球就像品嚐罗宋汤（甜菜汤）一样美味。 Players are limited in their development. Teams play only three games a week. The top Italian league is roughly equivalent to Class A. Last fall, Alessandro Maestri became the first Italian league pitcher to sign with a major league team, agreeing to a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs. 但是球员的发展受到限制。球队一个星期只进行三场比赛。义大利最高等的联盟大约相当 於1A的等级。去年秋天，Alessandro Maestri成为义大利联盟第一位加盟大联盟球队的投 手，他跟芝加哥白袜队签了一张小联盟合约。 "They look up to us, almost in awe," said Frank Catalanotto of the Toronto Blue Jays. 多伦多蓝鸟队的Frank Catalanotto说：「他们抬头看着我们，几乎是以敬畏的态度。」 Baseball was introduced to Italy in 1919 by U.S. servicemen. It is slow to flourish because soccer is the No. 1 sporting passion of Italians. Lawrence Baldassaro, professor of Italian at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, works as a translator for Team Italy. He is researching the history of Italian-Americans in baseball and the parallels to Italian immigrants. 棒球是在1919年由美国军人引进义大利。然而，棒球的发展很缓慢，因为足球才是义大利 人最狂热的运动。Lawrence Baldassaro是一位在威斯康辛州密尔瓦基市工作的义大利教 授，现在为义大利队作翻译的工作。他正在研究义大利裔美国人在棒球的历史与义大利移 民间的相似之处。 "They mirror each other," he said. "The early immigration, the prejudice, the obstacles of media bias. It took a long time for Italians to get into the major leagues in any significant numbers. If you read the media treatment of Italian ballplayers until World War II, it's stuff you wouldn't read today." 他说：「他们互相反应彼此，早期移民、歧视、媒体偏见的阻碍。对义大利人来说，他们 花了很长的时间才得以参予大联盟许多重要的里程记录。如果你阅览过二次世界大战前媒 体对义大利球员评论，那些评论是你今天不会想要看到的内容」 Financial support for Italian baseball is limited because the game lags basketball, volleyball and water polo in popularity. An academy was established in 2004 in Tirrenia, but the elimination of Olympic baseball adversely affects the entire program. 义大利对棒球的财政支持是有限的，因为棒球的欢迎度落後篮球、排球和水球。2004年在 Tirrenia有一个协会成立，但棒球退出奥运对整个计划产生了不利的影响。 "Baseball in Italy is at a turning point," said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the Italian baseball federation. "It can either take a big step forward and become really professional, or it can take two steps back." 义大利棒球总会的会长Riccardo Fraccari说：「在义大利，棒球处在一个转折点，它可 以向前迈出一大步，变得很职业化；或是反而向後退两步。」 Because Italian citizenship rules are weak, Italy could field a team with a dozen players born in Italy. Eligible Americans went through a rigorous vetting process. Their Italian lineage had to be documented through census records, birth certificates, naturalization papers. 因为义大利的公民条例并不充分，义大利可以组成一队有十多位球员出生在义大利的队伍 。不过，符合资格的美国人都经过严格的审核过程，他们的义大利血统必须要以文件证明 如普查记录、出生证明和归化文件等 "A lot of people thought, 'Ahhh, you're Italian. You had a slice of pizza last night so you're allowed to play,' " Galante said. "We lost players because we couldn't produce enough documentation. Tony Graffanino wanted to play; we couldn't certify him. I just want people to know it wasn't like your name ends in an 'O' so you can play." Galante说：「很多人认为，嗯，你是义大利人，因为你昨天吃了一片披萨所以就被允许 参赛。其实我们因为没办法提供足够的文件证明，而失去了许多球员。像是Tony Graffanino就想参赛，但我们就没办法证明（他是义大利人）。我希望人们可以了解，并 不是因为你的名字是以”O”结尾就可以参赛。」 Thanks, Skip. I already knew that 教练，谢谢。这我已经知道。 注释： 1. Tommy Lasorda的名言：「I bleed Dodger blue.」我流着道奇蓝的血液。这里是将这 句话作改写，用义大利国旗的三个颜色，绿、白、红来取代。 2. Joe Bagadonuts是average Joe的代称，泛指普通(美国)人。感谢Homura (喵姆拉★葬 梦)帮忙翻译此处。 -- 我想要一个朋友 http://scimonster.blogspot.com 希望用这个部落格跟大家分享 所有关於我的事情 --

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