在等比赛开始之前，看到Peter Abraham的这篇文章实在很感动 感觉再过不久的未来，我们又会有一个绣着C的球衣可以买了 Fenway Park is still quiet. Batting practice is over, and fans are starting to arrive for a game against the Colorado Rockies. Dustin Pedroia, in full uniform, stands alone in the dugout, holding the barrel of his black Marucci pro model bat to his ear. 芬威球场一片安静。赛前打击练习刚结束，球迷也正开始要进场观赏这场对洛矶的比赛。 Pedroia穿着全套球衣，一个人站在休息区，把他黑色Marucci球棒的棒头拿近耳朵。 He smacks it hard with the palm of his hand and listens intently. He can gauge the soundness of the wood by what he hears, he says. “People don’t believe me, but I can tell if something is wrong with the bat. You have to listen close.” 他用手掌打了棒子几下，专心地听。他说他可以听得出木棒的稳定度。「没人相信我，但 我真的听得出来棒子有没有问题。要认真听。」 Satisfied, Pedroia places the dirty, pine tar-encrusted bat carefully on a metal shelf at the end of the dugout with his batting gloves. There are 15 slots for bats, and his is the only one filled this early. The bat rack is like the park, old, a little rusty, and painted over several times. But it serves its purpose. 听满意了之後，他小心翼翼地把这支涂满松焦油的球棒和打击手套放到休息区的球棒架。 现在还早，Pedroia的棒子是第一支放进来这个棒架的。就跟球场一样，棒架有点年纪， 有点生锈，上过很多次漆，但是恪遵本分。 Pedroia walks to the thinly padded bench and sits down, eyes looking straight ahead. This is his favorite part of the day. While his teammates relax in the air–conditioned comfort of the clubhouse, he heads to the field. Pedroia走到坐垫薄薄的板凳，坐下，直视前方。这是他一天中最喜欢的时刻。当队友在 开着空调舒舒服服的休息室休息的时候，他走向球场。 Most days, he’s at the park five or six hours early, before the vendors are there, long before the crowds. Tuesday will be his fourth All-Star Game. A year after the Sox finished in last place, he has led them back into contention. He loves the competition and the pennant chase, but he loves this quiet communion, too, with the ballpark that he has, with his improbable talent and irrepressible swagger, made entirely his own. 大部分时候，他会早五六个小时到球场，比摊贩都还要早，更别说球迷了。礼拜二他要打 他生涯第四次的明星赛了。去年红袜分区垫底，今年Pedroia带领着大家回到领先群当中。 他很喜欢竞争、喜欢追求冠军，也热爱交流，和属於他的球场交流，和他那难以探测的棒 球天份交流，和他自己那独一无二，无法抑制的骄傲交流。 In the languid hours before game time, they hang out together, the man and the park. It has always been his way. He was the one who got to Little League games hours ahead of time with his father, Guy, back in California. He never could understand those teammates who just showed up and played. Still can’t. 在这比赛之前的几个小时，这个男人和这座球场都聚在一起。 他一直以来都是如此。他还小的时候在比赛前好几小时就会跟着爸爸到少棒比赛的球场。 他无法理解为什麽其他队友只是到了，然後就上场比赛。现在还是无法理解。 “It’s basically a comfortable spot for me,” Pedroia says. “It’s a place where I’ve been all my life.” As former Red Sox manager Terry Francona puts it, the dugout for Pedroia is “ like a second home.” 「在这里我很舒服，」Pedroia说。「我在这里过了一辈子了。」 如Francona所说，休息区是Pedroia的「第二个家」。 After arriving at Fenway on this late-June day, he took batting practice with his teammates and fielded some ground balls before retreating to the trainers ’ room. He got in a hot tub, had a cold plunge, showered, and got in his uniform. Then, after a quick round of swings in the batting cage underneath the first base box seats, he left his teammates for the dugout. 六月下旬的这一天，他到了芬威之後，先参加了球队的打击练习，接几个滚地球，然後到 防护员室。泡热水澡，泡冷水，淋浴，穿上球衣，然後在一垒看台底下的打击练习区挥个 几轮之後，他离开队友，独自来到休息区。 He sits square in the middle and watches as Fenway comes to life. The grounds crew rakes and waters the field, the infield dirt darkening as the spray hits. The air has a faint popcorn aroma. The ushers guide early arrivers to their seats. Pedroia’s feet tap to the rhythm of the music being played over the loudspeakers. 他坐在板凳中间，看着芬威球场盎然起来。场地人员开始整理场地，水柱撒过後，内野的 红土颜色更深了。空气中开始弥漫着爆米花的香味，早到的球迷找到了座位。Pedroia的 双脚跟着球场音响的音乐打着节奏。 “I think it’s a thing that kind of calms me down before a game,” Pedroia says. You wouldn’t know it; he doesn’t look very relaxed. He paces the length of the dugout like a caged predator. It’s a night game, but he wears eyeblack and his spikes are laced up and tied tight. 「我想这是比赛前让我冷静下来的方式。」Pedroia说。但其实他看起来并不是很放松。 他像是一头困在笼中的猛兽，在休息区里走着。这天是夜间的比赛，不过他还是涂上防 炫光的眼下膏，钉鞋也穿好了。 “Look at him,” says third base coach Brian Butterfield. “You just don’t see that very often. He can’t wait to play.” 三垒教练Butterfield说，「看看他。其他球员身上不常看得到喔。他等不及要上场了。」 It’s not like it’s a compulsion, the way pregame routines are for some players. Earlier this season, Pedroia arrived at the park just 90 minutes before a game when his wife, Kelli, had emergency appendix surgery. He took a few swings off a tee and ran out on the field. “I don’t need to do all the stuff I do. It’s just that I like it,” he says. 这些不像有些球员在赛前一定要强迫自己做一遍的那些事一样。本季有一次，Pedroia 的老婆Kelli紧急动了阑尾手术，那次他赛前一个半小时才到，在tee座挥了几棒就上场 比赛。 「我没有非得做那些事情不可。我只是喜欢。」他这麽说。 He often brings his oldest son, 3-year-old Dylan, with him. They walk around the field, play catch, and hit balls off the Green Monster. 他常带着他的大儿子Dylan，在球场走走，传传球，然後对着绿色怪物打击。 “He’s a high-energy guy, too. So when he comes to the field — and this is hard to explain to Kelli because he’s always going nuts at home — but he’s actually calmer at the field,” Pedroia says. “It’s weird. I don’t know if he has just grown up around it or what. But I’m kind of the same way. When I get to the field, I’m more calm than anything else. Our DNA matches for sure. ” 「他也是超有活力的。他来球场的时候会冷静一点，这点Kelli很难了解，因为他在家跟 疯子一样。这蛮奇怪的。我不知道是不是他从小开始就常来这边的原因还是怎样，不过 我也是这样啊，在球场是我最冷静的时候。这一点真的有遗传到我。」 Pedroia feels a certain kinship with anybody who shares that feeling, family or not. Fans who make their way close to the dugout before the game often are successful when they implore Pedroia for an autograph. 不管是不是家人，Pedroia和每一个同样热爱球场的人都有特别的连结。赛前来和他要签 名的球迷大多会如愿以偿。 Today he walks to the right side of the dugout and signs for two kids wearing blue T-shirts with his number on the back. Pedroia thinks that if he were on the other side of that wall, he’d want a big leaguer to sign for him. 这天他来到休息室的右侧，帮两个穿着他的背号T的小球迷签名。 Pedroia觉得如果他是个小球迷的话，他也会希望有个大联盟球员帮他签名的。 “Have a good game, Dustin,” says one of the kids. “You know it,” he shoots back. 「Dustin加油！」其中一个孩子说。 「没问题。」他回答。 In time, the dugout gets crowded as teammates filter down from the clubhouse. The fans get louder as first pitch draws closer. In a few seconds, Pedroia will hit the top step of the dugout and run out to second base. 赛前，队友渐渐地从休息室出来，球迷的声音也越来越热烈。在过几秒钟，Pedroia就要 离开休息区，跑向二垒。 Ballparks can be majestic, but there is nothing glamorous about the inside of a dugout, especially at ancient Fenway. It’s hot in the summer, cold in the spring, and the floor is stained with tobacco juice and littered with discarded wads of gum. There are puddles of water and dust everywhere. It’s the kind of place that makes you want to wash your hands. 棒球场是如此的庄严，但休息区却总是毫无可观之处，尤其是在古老的芬威。休息区里面 冬冷夏热，地板上遍布菸草汁的污渍和口香糖的残渣，到处都有水坑和灰尘。是个让人想 洗手的地方。 Or, if your name is Dustin Pedroia, to pause, to get ready, to take it in. “That’s what I’ll remember when I retire,” he says, “that feeling.” 对Pedroia来说，却是一个暂停，准备，再吸收领悟的地方。 「我退休後会记住的就是这个了，」他说。「这种感觉。」 --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 118.168.118.176 ※ 编辑: kelpiejo 来自: 118.168.118.176 (07/15 09:14) ※ 编辑: kelpiejo 来自: 118.168.118.176 (07/15 09:15)