[外電]Former Nationals closer Chad Cordero announces retirement

[s9527206 (悠)]

前球隊的臉，被暱稱為"The Chief"的前博覽會/國民隊終結者 Chad Cordero 於昨天
正式宣布退休，他表示自己希望能夠把更多的時間用來陪伴家人。不過即使要退休了，
Cordero 對棒球的熱情仍舊不減，也希望未來能夠轉任教練，繼續從事跟棒球相關的工
作，把棒球當成是自己的一部分。

2003年選秀會博覽會隊挑中了名列第1輪第20順位的 Cordero，而且那一年 Cordero 就
升上大聯盟，表現也十分優異，12場出賽投11局飆出12K，ERA 1.64。05年是 Cordero
生涯最輝煌的時刻，出賽74場投74.1局，ERA 1.82，拿下47次救援成功，該年 Cordero
不但入選明星賽，甚至國聯CYA票選還拿下第5名及國聯MVP票選第14名。夜復一夜，每當
Cordero 站在投手丘上時都讓 RFK Stadium 的露天看台震撼不已。

然而過度頻繁的出賽最後釀成了悲劇。05～07這三年內 Cordero 就出賽了218場，吃了
222又2/3局，負荷過重導致在08年 Cordero 的右肩膀終於爆了，只能開刀進行 torn
labrum 修復的手術。更令人難過的是在 Cordero 受傷之後，當時的GM Jim Bowden 在
毫無未知會過 Cordero 本人的情況下，於接受電台採訪時宣布等球季結束後國民將不會
和他續約，消息一出令 Cordero 本人以及不少球迷震撼及痛苦不已。Cordero 和國民
關係的結束只能用倉促和悲傷來形容。

離開國民隊之後 Cordero 展開了他的復出旅程，然而自受傷之後 Cordero 就再也找不
回原本的身手，復出之旅進行得並不順遂。09年他被水手隊簽下，在亞利桑那新人聯盟
及低階1A Northwest League 共出賽14場。2010年一開始在水手隊3A出賽，季中曾短暫
上到過大聯盟，只投了9又2/3局就掉了7自責分，ERA 6.52，之後被水手隊釋出；隨後
大都會簽下他，在3A出賽17場表現不錯，ERA 1.69，但季後大都會並沒有續簽。今年1月
Cordero 又被藍鳥隊簽下，在3A Las Vegas 出賽9場，投了17.2局掉17分，ERA 8.66，
在上個月被藍鳥隊釋出。6/3 Cordero 又改到獨立聯盟的聖徒隊打球，一開始表現出色
，前4場出賽只被打2支安打，然而最近3場就狂失9分，包括6/120.2局爆了4分搞砸球隊
領先導致最後輸球。最終，Cordero 以聖徒隊作為他的職棒終點，在聖徒隊0勝1敗，被
打擊率.414，7場出賽投6局掉9分，ERA 13.50。

總結 "The Chief" 生涯在大聯盟征戰7個球季，出賽314場，330.1局內送出298K，ERA
2.89，拿下128次救援成功，其中113次是球隊改名為國民隊後所拿下的，也是目前隊史
的救援王。

對於當年 Jim Bowden 草率的處理，Cordero 顯得十分心平氣和，甚至表示說希望能夠
再回到華盛頓。

「即使之後我離開了，我仍舊想再回來這裡。對我來說，必須離開國民隊讓我難以接受
  。在內心深處我總是希望能夠重返華盛頓，並且在這裡打球。誰知道呢？也許我將會
  回來這裡並多拜訪幾次，以及下到球場上。我和我的妻子都依舊熱愛著這座城市，我
  依舊熱愛著這支球隊。」

對於前幾年球隊對於他的使用過度導致受傷一事，Cordero 也表現得相當平靜。

「我可能在最後一年投得有些掙扎，但我不會去煩惱這一點。我擁有一個非常棒的職業
  生涯，雖然因為受傷導致職業生涯縮短了，但在打球的這段時間我過得很開心。我仍
  舊熱愛棒球，我依舊熱愛球賽。」

*******

很遺憾，我沒能有幸看過 "The Chief" 的任何一場球賽，即使如此，對於 "The Chief"
才年僅29歲就必須黯然退休，我也覺得萬分可惜，相信對絕大多數的國民球迷來說想必
更是如此。以 "The Chief" 那幾年的優異成績來推斷，如果沒受傷想必他的職業生涯
應該會更加輝煌燦爛吧...可惜這一切都只是"如果"罷了。事到如今球團把 "The Chief"
請回來當個投教也好阿...讓他回來吧......〒△〒

*******

Former Nationals closer Chad Cordero announces retirement

Chad Cordero, the closer whose high-wire saves and flat-brimmed cap helped
define the first season after baseball returned to Washington, announced his
retirement yesterday at 29. Cordero had been pitching for the independent St.
Paul Saints, his last attempt at a comeback following this spring training,
which he spent with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cordero – known as the Chief – played seven seasons in the majors, but the
one he will be remembered for is 2005. Cordero, then 23, saved 47 games, made
the all-star team, finished fifth in the Cy Young voting and 14th in the MVP
race and, night after night, made the bleachers shake at RFK Stadium.

Cordero’s tenure in Washington ended abruptly and sadly in 2008, when he
underwent major right shoulder surgery. General Manager Jim Bowden announced
in a radio interview, during the season and before he had informed Cordero,
that he the Nationals would not be tendering a contract to Cordero, rankling
both the reliever and his fans.

The rest of Cordero’s career was a dispiriting series of sputtering
comebacks. He reached the majors at the end of the last season and appeared
in nine games for the Seattle Mariners, allowing seven earned runs in 9 2/3
innings. Cordero also endured personal tragedy when his 18-month old daughter
died of SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome.

Cordero, a first-round draft pick by the Montreal Expos in 2003, finished his
career with 128 saves, 113 of them coming in a Nationals uniform – 87 more
than Matt Capps, who is second on the team’s all-time list.

Chad Cordero on retirement, his future and wanting to play for the Nationals

Chad Cordero had been thinking about retiring for a few weeks. His comeback
had taken him to independent ball, the St. Paul Saints. His surgically
repaired shoulder had not been right for three years, and he still could not
get his arm to feel the way he wanted it. He missed his family.

“It’s never easy to say you’re going to retire,” Cordero said today in a
telephone conversation. “But I had been thinking about it for a while. It
was a fairly easy decision. But it’s just tough to actually say, ‘My career
is done and I’m going to move on.’ ”

Cordero made it official yesterday. The former Nationals closer, whose 2005
season owns an indelible place in D.C. baseball history, ended his last
attempt at a comeback by retiring at 29.

“Just too hard to be away from the family,” Cordero said. “It just made it
too hard to be away from the family, especially after what I went through
with my daughter this offseason. That combined with my arm just wasn’t
working the way it used to. It was time move on to the rest of my life.”

Cordero wants to coach, with no specific goal in mind other than remaining in
baseball. “I still love the game, and I still want to be a part of it,” he
said. “I’m open to anything.”

Cordero’s break with the Nationals in 2008 was messy, with General Manager
Jim Bowden announcing on the radio – before telling Cordero and in the
middle of the season – that the Nationals would not tender him a contract.
Still, Cordero made peace with the situation and even hoped for a return to
the Nationals.

“Even after I left, I still wanted to come back,” Cordero said. “It was
tough to go through how I had to leave, deep down I always wanted to come
back and play there one more year. Who knows? Maybe I’ll come back and visit
a couple times, go down on the field. My wife and I, we still love the city.
I still love that organization.”

Cordero looks most fondly upon 2005, when he saved 47 games and finished
fifth in the Cy Young voting. Cordero remembers it not for what he did, but
for how the city responded to its first baseball team in decades.

“It wasn’t just because I had a successful season,” Cordero said. “That
was the first year baseball was back. It was just a magical year for that
entire team. Living in that city for four years was great. I still miss that
place.”

Cordero carried an unusually large burden during Nationals tenure. From 2005
to 2007, he appeared in 218 games and pitched 222 2/3 innings. The wear
showed when he underwent major shoulder surgery at the outset of the 2008
season. He was never the same since, but already he has made peace with that,
too.

“I may have struggled my last year or so. I’m not going to worry about that,
” Cordero said. “I had a really good career. It was shortened by injuries.
But I had a really good time playing. Baseball, I still love it. I just kind
of lost that edge as a player. I still love the game.”

--
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※ 編輯: s9527206        來自: 220.136.233.42       (06/22 10:28)
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