The Doug Mirabelli Trade: An Oral History (上篇) http://bit.ly/1XY2v2j As the weeks turn into months and the months into years and the years into decades, all those regular-season afternoons and nights start to blend together. Another day, another game, another win or loss. Repeat. May 1, 2006, was a little different for the Red Sox. It was a Monday, and they were set to play the Yankees on ESPN. It was Johnny Damon’s first time back at Fenway Park since leaving Boston for the Bronx as a free agent the previous offseason. The stage was a bright one, as far as the spring goes. 随着时间流逝，一场一场的比赛渐渐褪色，融入历史的洪流之中。不过2006年5月1日对 红袜来说是个特别的日子─红袜准备对上洋基，是Johnny Damon投奔敌营後首次造访芬威 的比赛。 The Red Sox won, 7-3, but the game was far more memorable for what happened in the hours leading up to it. That day, 10 years ago this weekend, marked backup catcher and knuckleball whisperer Doug Mirabelli’s return to the Red Sox. 红袜以7-3击败洋基，不过最令人印象深刻的是赛前发生的事情─十年前的这个周末， 蝴蝶球御用捕手Doug Mirabelli回归红袜。 The December prior, the Red Sox sent the 35-year-old Mirabelli — long Tim Wakefield’s personal catcher — to the Padres for second baseman Mark Loretta. They acquired Josh Bard from the Indians (in the Coco Crisp deal) a month later to replace Mirabelli. 前一年的12月，红袜把35岁、Tim Wakefield的专用捕手Mirabelli送到教士队，换来二垒 手Mark Loretta。红袜使用Coco Crisp交易案中拿到的捕手Josh Bard来取代Mirabelli 的位置。 April 2006 was a period of adjustment — Mirabelli adjusting to San Diego, Bard to Boston, Wakefield to Bard. It wasn’t going well. Bard had 10 passed balls in five Wakefield starts, including two in their first inning together and four in Bard’s final start on April 26 in Cleveland, the middle stop of a three-city road trip for the Red Sox. 2006年4月成为大家的适应期，Mirabelli要适应教士队、Josh Bard适应红袜、Wakefield 适应Bard─最终结果不佳。Bard在Wakefield的五场先发捕逸10次，其中4/26对上印地安 人的比赛中更是发生四次捕逸。 Then-Sox general manager Theo Epstein was on that road trip. The game against the Indians motivated him to move on perhaps the most famous trade for a backup catcher in the history of baseball — a trade he now considers the worst he’s ever made. 当时的GM Theo Epstein也随队征战，这场比赛促成了Theo史上最有名的替补捕手交 易案─Theo现在认为那是他做过最糟糕的交易。 “No offense to anyone involved in the deal, but I point to that trade because it was the worst process I’ve ever had,” Epstein said. “We were faced with a challenging situation, Bard not being able to adjust quickly to handling the knuckleball. Epstein：「我无意冒犯交易案中的球员，我指的是交易决策过程是我生涯中最糟的。我们 面对了严峻的情况，就是Bard没办法接蝴蝶球。」 “Instead of being patient and coming up with a creative situation, we got caught up in some of the panic that was enveloping our clubhouse. I got too close to the situation and made a really reactionary move.” 「我们并没有选择有耐心的作法或想出有创意的解决方式，我们笼罩在球队的慌乱之中。 我太接近问题点了，做了头痛医头脚痛医脚的决定。」 As the Red Sox finally returned to Boston that Sunday night, with a chance to sleep in their own beds before the Yankees came to town, Epstein was on the phone with then-Padres GM Kevin Towers. By the next morning, they agreed: Mirabelli back to Boston, Bard and relief prospect Cla Meredith to San Diego. This is the story of that day. 红袜回到波士顿後，Epstein打电话给教士队GM Kevin Towers，隔天早上交易就成了： Josh Bard + 牛棚新秀 Cla Meredith ←→ Doug Mirabelli 当天的故事是这样的： -- The Negotiations The deal was all but done Sunday night, April 30, with one hangup: Towers wanted Meredith. So did Epstein. Epstein slept on it. 周日晚上交易就差临门一脚：Towers想要Cla Meredith，Epstein也想要。於是Epstein 只能带着这件事进梦乡。 Doug Mirabelli: Every chance I got, I was keeping an eye on the Red Sox. I felt like I was still part of that team in some ways, just because I had so many friends on it. I kept in contact with Wakefield and Jason Varitek and those guys, just to see how everything was going. Doug Mirabelli: 每当我有机会，我就会关注红袜动向。我一直还觉得我是球队的一部份 ，因为我有太多的朋友在那了。我一直跟Wakefield和Varitek等人保持 联络，了解那边的一举一动。 Kevin Towers: Our guys would give him a hard time. Because we play on the West Coast, during BP or after BP we can watch east coast games go off. Guys used to razz him all the time. “Give it a break. Put the Red Sox in your freaking rearview mirror.” He really missed the Red Sox. Kevin Towers: 我们的球员不会让他好过。因为我们在西岸，打击练习或练习後能看东岸 的比赛开打，球员就会挖苦他。「够了喔，红袜已经是过去式了。」 Doug真的很想念红袜。 Tim Wakefield: You usually don’t have that conversation with a general manager. “Oh, I miss Boston,” when you’re in San Diego. That’s Doug, though. He’s not afraid to speak his mind. That’s what I love about him. Tim Wakefield: 一般而言你不会跟教士队GM说：「喔，我好想念波士顿。不过他是Doug ，不怕说出自己的想法。这就是我喜欢他的原因。」 Mirabelli: Kevin Towers mentioned to me that there had been some talk about maybe me getting it back [to Boston]. As far as what day or when it was going to come, I did not know. Doug Mirabelli: Towers曾跟我提过，有一些关於把我送回波士顿的交易提案，但是何时 会发生，我也不知道。 Towers: The way teams tried to extract the most out of the Red Sox at the time was to somehow get my good friend [and Yankees GM] Brian Cashman involved in it with interest in Mirabelli as well, to drive the price up. Theo wasn’t willing to part with [Meredith] at the time. I knew that if I got the Yankees involved, they’d probably step it up. Kevin Towers: 当时能尽量榨乾红袜的方法就是找来我的好朋友洋基GM Brian Cashman， Cashman为了要抬价而对Mirabelli有兴趣。Theo不想要放走Meredith， 但是我知道一旦洋基加入战局，红袜就有可能跟注了。 Pushing for Meredith, it turns out, was straight out of the playbook of Larry Lucchino, former Padres president and then-Red Sox president. 结果这招是前教士president、当时的红袜president Larry Lucchino传授给Towers的。 Towers: He used to always tell me in every deal, try to get an arm, regardless of who it is. You never know with an arm. I was basically using a little bit of the old Larry formula on him. Kevin Towers: 他告诉我，所有交易中都要试着多抓投手进来，无论对象是谁。「你永远 无法预测投手。」 我用Larry的招反打Larry。 Theo Epstein: I was trying to do it by including Jermaine Van Buren as the second player instead of Meredith. Theo Epstein: 我尝试给他Jermaine Van Buren作为配菜。 Towers: We probably would’ve done a one-for-one. Kevin Towers: 我们原本也许能一换一。 Epstein: Another process mistake was I was on the road with the team. When you ’re on the road with the team, it feels like there’s always a crisis around a big league team. I didn’t do a good job of keeping good perspective. People were panicking about it. Theo Epstein: 另一个决策失误是我跟球队一起作客他地。当你在外地时，总是会感受到 危机正围绕着球队。我并没有保持好的思考方式，大家都在慌。 Towers: I knew they needed Mirabelli, because he was the only guy who could catch Wakefield. Kevin Towers: 我知道红袜需要Mirabelli，因为他是唯一能接Wakefield的人。 Epstein: I think Towers knew he had us. He could probably sense the desperation. Theo Epstein: 我想Towers知道他抓到我们的痛点了，他大概能感受到我们走投无路。 Towers: Theo’s a pretty good poker player, but having worked with him [Epstein worked in the Padres baseball operations department from 1998-2002 under Towers], I know when he really wants something. I could sense in his voice, you know what, I might be able to extract a little bit more, especially if he really believes me that [Mirabelli was] going to the Yankees. Kevin Towers: Theo是很棒的扑克牌玩家，但是根据当年的共事经验(1998~2002 Epstein在教士的操作部门，帮Towers做事)，我能感受到他想要的东 西，从他的声音就能听出来。我能藉这点多榨出一些东西，特别是在 Theo相信Mirabelli会被交易到洋基的情况下。 Mirabelli to the Yankees, however, was never a realistic possibility. Mirabelli去洋基，从来就不是个可能的选项。 Towers: Negotiating ploy. Smoke signal. I owe Cash one for that. But I knew if Theo perceived that they had interest, he’s going to do it at all costs, because I knew that he needed Mirabelli. Kevin Towers: 谈判手段，烟雾弹。我欠Cash人情。不过我知道一旦Theo感受到洋基有 兴趣，他就会不计代价的抢人─他需要Mirabelli。 Brian Cashman: I don’t think I was talking to him about acquiring Mirabelli, but I was participating in driving the price up. I would be there. Anything to make our rivals pay a higher price. I think we were both — Theo and I — always trying to go above and beyond, on behalf of our fan bases. Brian Cashman: 我不认为当时有跟他谈要换来Mirabelli，不过我参与了抬价的部分。 我跟Theo都是背负球迷期待而互相厮杀的人。 Epstein: It’s hard to make a trade in April. As a rule, you don’t want to. It means something’s gone wrong, and you usually have to overpay. Theo Epstein: 在四月弄交易很痛苦，正常状况不会想这麽做─因为很明显是出了问题 才会想要在这个时间点谈交易，这时候就得付出更高的代价。 Towers: So that’s how we ended up getting Meredith at the last minute. Bard and Meredith, to prevent Mirabelli from going to the Evil Empire. Kevin Towers: 这就是我们在最後一分钟拿到Meredith的缘由。他们最终用Bard + Meredith阻止了邪恶帝国拦胡。 Epstein: I was going to call the players involved. I went into my phone, J-o-s-h. J-o-s-h B. I was going to call Josh Bard and tell him he was traded — which is never a fun call to make. So I called him, I clearly woke Josh up. I said, “Hey man, it’s Theo. This is a tough call to make, but we made a trade and I have to let you know that you’re in it.” And he goes, “ Really?!” I said, “Yeah, we felt like we needed to get somebody in here who has experience catching Wakefield.” He goes, “Theo, Theo, Theo. This is Josh Beckett. You sure you traded me?” I called the wrong Josh B. in my phone. Theo Epstein: 我要告诉Josh Bard交易的事情，在手机输入 J-o-s-h B 後拨出这通令人 头痛的电话。我告诉被吵醒的Josh：「嘿，我是Theo。这是通令人沉重 的电话，但我们刚刚完成交易案，我们得让你知道你在其中。」 「真的？！」 「我们必须找个有经验的人接Tim Wakefield的蝴蝶球。」 「Theo, Theo, Theo. 我是Josh Beckett，你确定真的把我交易掉了？」 结果我打电话给另一个 Josh B 了。 Wakefield: I loved Josh [Bard], and he was a great friend and a great teammate. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. And I felt bad for him. I felt like I ruined his career. Tim Wakefield: 我爱Josh Bard，他是我的朋友也是好队友，很不幸的事情运作并不 成功。我觉得我好像亲手葬送了他的生涯。 Towers: Our guys that year were big poker players on the plane. Mirabelli lost his meal money every single road trip. The guys were crushed Mirabelli was leaving, because he helped supplement their meal money on the road. We were no longer going to have him on the plane. They used to call it “ Mirabelli Bucks.” Kevin Towers: 我们那年的球员都会在飞机上打扑克牌，Mirabelli每次上飞机都输掉他 的餐费。他被交易掉的时候大家都心碎了，因为每次移动日都是靠 Mirabelli补贴餐钱，现在金主不见了。他们都叫他"Mirabelli Bucks"。 Mirabelli: To say I was excited would be an understatement. Doug Mirabelli: 用兴奋描述我当时的心境绝对是不够的。 (未完待续) -- "HARD WORK BEATS TALENT WHEN TALENT FAILS TO WORK HARD." --

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