※ [本文转录自 Baseball 看板] 作者: sykcurve (newone) 看板: Baseball 标题: Re: [情报]TIME杂志关於台湾棒球的报导 时间: Thu Aug 12 02:00:34 2004 ※ 引述《jerrylhh (滨口)》之铭言： : http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501040712-660981,00.html : Leaving the Past Behind : Victory for Taiwan's baseball team may restore some luster to the island's : scandal-tainted diamonds : BY AUSTIN RAMZY | TAICHUNG : Monday, Jul. 05, 2004 : Baseball in Taiwan is a bit like the island's democracy: sometimes it's : corrupt and occasionally even violent, but no matter how rough around the : edges, it's still a wellspring of national pride and passion. Many Taiwan : people mistily remember the giddy celebration that ensued in 1969 after a : team of the island's boys won the international Little League World Series : in the U.S.閠he first of 17 such titles captured by Taiwan. Tens of thousands : of fans crowded Taipei's streets to cheer as the team rode through the : capital in jeeps. "When those players returned home, some people described : it as being like Neil Armstrong returning from the moon," says Tseng : Wen-cheng, a baseball writer and ESPN commentator in Taipei. The people of : Taiwan were so proud of the accomplishment that the image of victorious : Little Leaguers eventually replaced Chiang Kai-shek, the father of modern : Taiwan, on the $500 bill. : Lately, however, baseball in Taiwan has become less national pastime and : more of a national pimple铘nd when the Chinese Taipei baseball team takes : the field in Athens for the 2004 Olympics in August, it will be playing : not just for medals but for a restoration of face. In the 1990s, Taiwan's : professional league was rocked by a series of scandals that made America's : Black Sox fix of the 1919 World Series seem like a choirboy prank. Trouble : surfaced eight years ago, when five players from the Brother Elephants, one : of the seven Taiwan pro teams at the time, were kidnapped by racketeers in : the central Taiwan city of Taichung. The gangsters accused the players of : throwing a game铳osting them thousands of dollars in gambling losses : 铘nd meted out punishment by shoving a gun in the mouth of a star pitcher : and pistol-whipping a second baseman. : The players were later released, but the incident sparked an investigation : into illegal betting and game rigging that revealed close links between : pro baseball in Taiwan and multimillion-dollar gambling rackets run by : organized crime. Over the next several years, nearly two dozen players, : a coach and 12 mobsters were convicted of offenses related to baseball : gambling. One team, the China Times Eagles, disbanded after several of : its members were suspended for life. Disillusioned fans shunned ballparks : and professional play was in danger of disappearing altogether. "The years : between 1997 and 2001 were the low point" in the island's baseball history, : says sports commentator Tseng. "You can call those years the Dark Ages." : Helping to lead the sport into a more enlightened era is Hsu Sheng-ming, : the head coach of Taiwan's international squad. Hsu, 45, steered the Chinese : Taipei team to second in the Asia baseball championships last fall, a finish : that qualified the island to compete in the Olympics for the first time in : 12 years. In 1992, the Chinese Taipei team won silver at Barcelona. Hsu says : it's important to do well again this year. "A good showing will have a very : positive impact on Taiwan's athletic development," he says. : A podium finish in Athens would be a kind of poetic justice for Hsu, too. : In 1999, when he was managing the Weichuan Dragons pro team, Hsu was : returning home after walking his child to school when he was jumped : from behind and stabbed four times in the back and buttocks. Hsu says : his attackers were gang members who were angry that he refused to fix : games. The incident almost convinced him to quit baseball. "I was really : frustrated and didn't think things could get so complicated," Hsu says. : "But if I had quit, it was like saying I had something to do with it. : So I stuck around." : Hsu downplays the idea that he or his players have a larger mission than : simply winning ball games閠hat doing well in the Olympics will somehow : restore dignity to the diamonds of Taiwan. His biggest job at the moment : seems to be managing not the team but expectations. "The fans obviously : have very high hopes," Hsu says. "We welcome their support, but there are : a lot of conditions that aren't under our control." Although the U.S. team : , a perennial powerhouse and the gold-medal winner at Sydney, failed to : qualify for the Athens Games, Cuba and Japan are strong contenders. : Most observers say Taiwan's best hope is bronze隲et even President : Chen Shui-bian is rooting for gold. "I've always believed that the : baseball spirit of being brave, working hard and never being daunted : by losses is exactly the Taiwanese spirit," Chen said during a meeting : with players after the 2003 Asia championships. : Chen may wind up disappointed, but should Taiwan fall short, players can : take comfort in the knowledge that if they are beaten in Athens at least : it will be at the hands of other ballplayers, not gangland thugs. And : should the baseball gods smile and Taiwan achieve a Miracle on Grass, : players can expect to be greeted at home as heroes: like innocent boys : from an era when baseball influenced Taiwan's money, and not the other : way around. 台湾的棒球有一点像是这座岛屿上的政治：有时候它是道德堕落的而且甚至暴 力的，然而不管在悬崖边缘挣扎了多久，它仍然是国家的荣耀与热情的泉源， 很多台湾人依然模糊的记得在１９６９年中华少棒队在美国赢得国际少棒联盟 之後让人晕眩的庆祝活动。这也是开启了往後中华队在这项锦标赛中的１７次 冠军的第一次。成千上万的球迷涌上台北街头，簇拥着坐在吉普车上的中华小 将。「当这些球员回到台湾，有些人描述他们就像是阿姆斯壮从月球返回地球 一样。」曾文诚说，他是台湾着名的棒球作家以及ＥＳＰＮ的球评。台湾人是 如此以少棒取得的成就为荣，甚至中华队赢得锦标的照片取代了现代台湾之父 蒋介石的遗像，印在５００元的钞票上面。 然而，近来，原本身为国家级休闲娱乐的台湾棒球运动已渐渐变成身上的毒瘤 。当中华队在今年八月的雅典奥运会上一展身手的时候，将不仅仅是为了奖牌 奋战，同时也是重新找回台湾棒球原有的尊严。在一九九零年代，台湾的职棒 联盟被一系列的放水丑闻重击，和在１９１９年世界大赛发生的黑袜事件比之 犹有过之而无不及。放水丑闻在八年前被揭露，当时兄弟象的五位球员遭到台 中的赌徒绑架，歹徒怪罪球员的表现让他们赌金损失惨重，并且用手枪恐吓一 位明星投手和一名二垒手。 这些选手後来获得释放，但是这个事件也促使了对非法赌博和控制比赛结果的 调查，并且揭发了台湾职业棒球和由犯罪集团主导的牵涉上百万赌金的赌博诈 骗的密切关连。在接下来的数年中，近两打的职业球员，一名教练和十二位诈 骗集团成员被宣判涉入非法赌博的罪行。时报鹰队因为大部分的球员被判处终 身不得录用也被迫解散。大失所望的球迷离开球场，台湾职业棒球也面临了濒 临消失的危机。「在１９９７到２００１年是台湾棒球历史上最低潮的时刻， 」球评曾文诚说，「你可以称之为『黑暗时代』。」 帮助带领这项运动进入一个更开明的时代的是徐生明，他是中华国家代表队的 总教练。４５岁的徐生明，去年秋天带领中华队在亚洲锦标赛获得第二名，同 时取得了今年雅典奥运的参赛权，这也是中华队十二年来头一次得以角逐於奥 运场上。１９９２年中华队在巴塞隆纳奥运赢得银牌，徐生明表示这一次势必 要再度取得佳绩，「如果我们能够取得好的成绩，这将带给台湾运动发展非常 正面的冲击。」他说。 对徐生明来说，在雅典夺得奖牌也将是一种诗意的正义，在一九九九年，当时 他身为味全龙队总教练，在他带小孩上学返家的途中，突然之间他的背和臀部 被歹徒从後刺伤了四刀。徐生明说，歹徒是帮派份子，因为他不愿意配合放水 才攻击他。这件事几乎促使他退出棒球界。「我真的非常沮丧，我不认为事情 会变的这麽复杂，」徐生明说，「但是假如我放弃了，这就像是说我必须做一 些事来面对他，所以我坚持下去了。」 徐生明心中放下了他和他的球员有比单单赢一场球更重要的任务的想法──在 雅典表现优异将以某种方式挽回台湾棒球的尊严。他现在最重要的工作似乎不 是管理好他的球队，而是外在对他们的期待。「球迷显然对我们的期望非常高 ，」徐生明说，「我们对於大家的协助当然很欢迎，但是很多情况是我们不能 完全掌握的。」虽然长久的棒球强权、雪梨奥运金牌得主美国队没有取得这届 奥运的参赛权，古巴和日本仍是强力的竞争者。大部分的观察家表示台湾最大 的希望会是铜牌，然而即使是总统陈水扁先生都为中华队夺金抱以期待：「我 总是相信棒球的精神：勇敢、努力、不气馁正是台湾的精神。」陈水扁在２０ ０３亚锦赛後会面中华队球员的时候这麽说。 陈水扁可能最後会失望，但是即使中华队的表现未臻理想，球员们将不至於那 们难受，因为他们是在雅典被其他对手们打败，而不是帮派的恶棍。而假如棒 球之神眷顾，让台湾在雅典创造奇蹟，球员将在回国後被当成英雄：就像上个 世代的纯真的男孩一样，棒球的精神推动了台湾的经济，而不是其他不好的方 面。 -- 翻的不好还请见谅^^ --

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