※ 引述《yyhong68 (come every now and then)》之銘言： : Wang and only : The sinker that made Chien-Ming : BY ANTHONY McCARRON : DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER : It won't take long for Chien-Ming Wang to throw his remarkable sinker tonight : when he opens the division series as the Yankees' Game 1 starter. It will : probably come in on Tigers leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson at about 93 miles : per hour, harder than other sinkers in the game, which is what makes it : unique. 今晚，王建民在洋基這個分區系列賽第一場先發中，將不會花太多時間就投出他傑出的 下沈球。或許當老虎的開路先鋒Curtis Granderson上場時，93mph的下沈球就會出現， 並且比這場比賽中的其他下沈球更加猛烈而顯得獨特。 : At first, Wang's signature pitch looks like a normal fastball, something : that major league hitters see every day. But this pitch is something else : entirely. And it's so vital to Wang's success that it just might be the : most important mound weapon of October for the Yankees, especially with : the uncertainty Randy Johnson's frozen back brings the team's starting : rotation. 一開始，王的招牌球路看起來像大聯盟打者每天看到的普速球。但是，這球路是另一個 完全不同的東西。而這對王的成功相當不可或缺，以致於這可能成為洋基隊在10月份的 投手板上最重要的武器，特別是在RJ背部僵硬的問題帶給球隊先發rotation許多不確定 性的時候。 : The 26-year-old Wang, in only his first full season in the majors, : became the Yankees' best pitcher and a contender for the American League : Cy Young Award, going 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 34 starts. He's not a glitzy : strikeout artist - he fans only 3.14 batters per nine innings - and he : gave up 233 hits, 14th highest in the majors. 26歲的王，在他第一個大聯盟完整球季，以在34場先發中繳出19勝6敗，ERA3.63的成績 成為了洋基的最佳投手以及美聯賽揚獎的競爭者。他並不是個誇大炫耀三振的投手，K/9 只有3.14，並且他被擊出了233支安打，是大聯盟中第14多的。 : But once runners are on, he minimizes damage, in part because he can : coax frustrated hitters into mashing the ball into the ground. Opponents : had an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of .695 against him, : 16th lowest in the majors. He only gave up 12 home runs in 218 innings : and, some say, might be able to win even if he only threw his best pitch. 但一旦跑者上壘，他將損害降到最小，一部份是因為他能夠誘使感到挫折的打者擠壓到 球形成內野滾地。對手面對他只有0.695的OPS，是大聯盟中第16低的。而在他218局 的投球中，只被擊出12支全壘打。有些人說，即使王建民只投他的最佳球路，也可能贏 得比賽。 : "It doesn't matter if you know it's coming," says Tampa Bay infielder : Ty Wigginton. "I mean, you already know it's coming." : Adds Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon: "His sinker, on a day he's righteous, : is probably the best in the game. When that thing is down and it's dropping, : he's virtually unhittable." 「你是否知道下沈球即將出現一點都不重要。」魔鬼魚的內野手Ty Wigginton說。「我的 意思是，你早就知道下沈球會過來。」而魔鬼魚的經理Joe Maddon補充：「他的下沈球 ，當他狀況好的時候，可能是比賽中最好的。（這句不太會翻orz）當這球路投出並且往 下掉，差不多完全沒有辦法打到。 : Hitters often compare hitting a good sinker to hitting a bowling ball, : because the ball feels so heavy if they get the bat on it; they can't : get any loft on it and drive it into the outfield. Asked if Wang's sinker : reminds him of any other pitcher's, Maddon, his eyes twinkling behind his : trademark black spectacles, says, "Yeah, he's right up there with Dick : Weber and the other famous bowlers of all time." 打者時常將打一顆好的下沈球比喻為打保齡球一樣，因為這種球，當他們揮棒打擊時， 感覺相當沈重；們沒辦法將球打高並且飛到外野。被問到王建民的下沈球是否讓Maddon 想到其他投手時，他在那招牌黑眼鏡後的雙眼閃爍了一下，說：「是阿！他就像Dick Weber和其他史上有名的保齡球選手一樣。」 稍微翻幾段...賺點P幣..整篇太長了...@@ 第一次翻外電，翻得不好請大家多多見諒，鞭小力一點 Orz : * * * : About three feet from the plate, Wang's sinker starts to plunge abruptly. : "Too late to react," Yanks pitching coach Ron Guidry says. The ball can : plummet as much as nine inches, according to Guidry's estimates, but that's : not why it's so good. It has no more movement than other sinkers Guidry has : seen, including that of the Yankee coach's former teammates Dick Tidrow and : Catfish Hunter. : "What separates (Wang's) sinker from everyone else is that he throws it : so hard," Guidry says. "He throws it so hard that it breaks so late. If : it was coming in at 85 miles per hour, you'd see it for a longer time, : you'd have more time to react and the advantage goes to the hitter. But : with Wang, he's throwing it 93. You don't have any time." : "It looks like a hittable pitch," adds a major-league scout. "Then you : start committing and the ball is two inches off the ground by the time : you start to swing. It sinks like a brick." : If you're a right-handed hitter, the pitch bores in on your hands, kind : of like the way Mariano Rivera's famed cutter veers into the wrists of : left-handed hitters. A lefty facing Wang gets the opposite look - the : ball moves away. : Now, Wang can use his sinker to enhance the quality of his other : pitches - a slider, a changeup and a four-seam fastball. "His sinker : really comes in on you, as a righty, and anytime you have that, any : little pitch that goes the other way becomes that much tougher to deal : with," Wigginton says. : If a righty is sitting on a sinker, waiting for the ball to veer in, : Wang can keep him off balance with a slider that travels anywhere from : 86-90 mph and breaks the other way, even though, as Guidry says, Wang's : slider is not an elite pitch. But misdirection is the heart of pitching. : "He hasn't mastered his slider," Guidry says. "It's just a pitch he has : that he can throw to show somebody and maybe get a cheap out or a strike. : It's not outstanding, like (Minnesota's Johan) Santana's or Randy Johnson's : or (Tampa Bay's Scott) Kazmir's. But if he throws that slider and you're : thinking sinker, you can't hit the slider because it's going out. It's a : pitch the hitter has got to give up on." : Wang's changeup can travel anywhere from 78 to 83 mph and he uses it to : keep hitters from simply waiting for his sinker. His four-seamer, which : has been clocked as high as 97 mph this year though it regularly comes in : at 95, also keeps hitters from being too sinker-conscious. Occasionally, : he'll throw a split-fingered fastball, too. : "If he throws a changeup and you're concentrating on the sinker, you're : way out in front of the pitch," Guidry says. "And just when you think : you've measured the speed of the sinker and you're timing it, he can : uncork a 95 mile-an-hour four-seamer and you can't pull the trigger. : "When his four best pitches are working, he's tough to hit. But if the : sinker is not working, it makes a big difference in the game. Guys just : won't swing at it, it's not in the strike zone and they can look for his : other stuff. Without his sinker, his slider and changeup aren't the : same and he can't get by just throwing four-seam fastballs." : Adds Maddon, "If that sinker gets flat, that's when you can get him." : But that doesn't happen too often. : * * * : The Yankees signed Wang as an international free agent in May of 2000 : after out-bidding the Seattle Mariners, spending - depending on whom you : ask - either $1.9 million or $2.12 million. They had scouted him at college : tournaments and marveled as he pitched even better when he got into a jam. : He had not learned the sinker yet, but made his way through the Yankee : system and overcame shoulder surgery in 2001. In 2004, he reached Triple-A : Columbus and began to work with the Clippers' pitching coach, Neil Allen, : on the pitch that would change his career and make him a huge star in his : native Taiwan. He's so popular at home that his starts are broadcast live : on television, though they usually start during the morning rush hour : because of a 12-hour time difference. : But things were different before the sinker. Left-handed hitters were : hurting Wang, so he wanted to find an effective pitch against them. : Allen suggested the sinker and taught Wang to hold the ball with his : fingers over the seams, a grip different from his straight fastball : grip across the seams. Wang puts pressure on the index finger to throw : the pitch, which makes it move away from lefties and in on righties. : The pitch started working quickly - two weeks after tinkering with it, : Wang used it at the 2004 Athens Olympics, pitching for Taiwan. : "It took me about a month of practicing to really get the control," : Wang says through an interpreter. "I used to throw it only to lefties, : but now I throw it to both. I started throwing it to both last year." : The Yankees summoned Wang from Columbus last year looking to patch up a : wounded rotation. He went 8-5 with a 4.02 ERA despite missing nearly two : months with an inflammation in his right shoulder. He started Game 2 of : the division series loss to the Angels. He allowed four runs (one earned) : in 6.2 innings to lose that game, but he made an impression on Maddon, : who was then the Angels' bench coach. : "I loved him then," Maddon says. "We did not like facing him that day. : It was like we couldn't get one out of the infield." : Early in the 2005 season, Wang came within two of the assist record for : pitchers, taking nine grounders himself against the Orioles. In fact, : as Guidry puts it, "everybody gets involved in the infield when he pitches. : Even Jorgie (Posada) has a chance to field ground balls at home plate." : Says Wigginton, "guys who strike out a lot of hitters, sometimes you can : fall into a lull. It's not that you aren't ready, it's just that you : expect a strikeout. Guys who pound the zone make it easier to play defense. : You're always ready." : While Yankee infielders like Wang's style, he is tinkering with a pitch : that could change him into a strikeout artist. He wants to learn to throw : a curveball, so he'll have a breaking ball that's a slower speed than his : slider. "Sinker, slider, everything's hard now," Wang said. : While Guidry is unsure if Wang needs another pitch, he acknowledges that : it might get Wang more strikeouts. This season, Wang ranked 81st among : major-league pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings, fanning 76 in 218 : innings. : "I would think when he gets more comfortable with some of the other : pitches he has, he'll strike out more hitters," Guidry said. "If we : teach him a curveball to go with the repertoire, that'll help. He wants : to learn to throw it. I don't know if he should, but we're going to : tinker with it. As hard as he throws, if he came up with a real good : curveball, that would probably change him into a power pitcher, : a strikeout pitcher." : Could he be even better? : Originally published on October 2, 2006 : http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/457720p-385202c.html --

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