Bauman: Series good for baseball
White Sox and Astros provide fresh new Fall Classic
By Mike Bauman
精采可期的世界大賽
白襪與太空人替秋季的精采賽事帶來新風貌
作者：Mike Bauman
CHICAGO -- This is new, this is fresh, this is different, but this is still
about great pitching. This is good for baseball.
芝加哥－這是新鮮、未曾有過、不同的一個世界大賽，但是重點還是在
優秀的投手，而那就是棒球比賽精采的地方。
The Chicago White Sox have not been in a World Series for 46 years. The Houston
Astros have never been in a World Series in their 43-year history. There is
novelty value in the 2005 Fall Classic, but there is so much more than that.
芝加哥白襪隊已經４６年沒有進入世界大賽，休士頓太空人在成軍４３年以來
更是從來沒有機會，這次的世界大賽或許可以用「新鮮」來形容，但是，事實
上不只如此。
Oh, I know, the "aura" will not be the same without the Yankees or the Red Sox.
Too bad. We will have to get some new aura. Baseball can be played west of the
Hudson River. This Series might be proof. Neither the Yankees nor the Red Sox
will be here, and yet, there is an excellent chance that the Astros and the Whi
te Sox will play until one of them wins four games.
喔，我當然清楚。少了洋基、紅襪這種老牌勁旅，世界大賽的光環可能沒有
那麼耀眼炫麗，不過，我們可以看到新氣象，那就是，棒球是跨得過 ｈｕｄｓｏｎ
河的。也許沒有洋基、也沒有紅襪，但是，我們可以肯定的說，太空人跟白襪
會在任何一方拿下四場勝利之前帶給我們相當精采的一次對決。
Neither one of these teams is here by accident. These teams are here because,
when it counted most, they pitched better than any of the other 28 clubs.
沒有一方是靠著運氣進到世界大賽，這兩支隊伍之所以出線，主要還是因為
兩隊的投手優於聯盟其他２８支球隊。
Moreover, the White Sox won 99 games in the regular season, more than anybody
else in the American League. They were indisputably the best team in the
league. And then, in the postseason, their starters pitched as though the
clock had been turned back to an era when the players were smaller and the
parks were bigger. They completed four games in a row in the AL Championship
Series as they defeated the Angels, the first time that feat had been
accomplished in 49 years in the postseason. (The last club to do that was
the Yankees, but, once again, it appears that they are not here.)
還有還有，白襪隊以９９勝的戰績稱霸美國聯盟，他們毫無疑問是聯盟中的
強者。接著，在季後賽裡面，他們的先發投手的表現，讓人產生錯覺，彷彿
場上的打者還是半個世紀前身材普普的時代，不然就是球場異常的大，打者
怎麼打都沒有威脅。在美國聯盟冠軍賽中，他們連贏四場，擊敗天使隊，這
創舉上次發生已經是４９年前。（喔，上次是洋基隊辦到這不可能的任務，
但是，他們這次不在了）
The Astros were the National League Wild Card team, but you have a hard time
putting down somebody in that category, since the last three World Series
were won by Wild Card teams.
太空人是以國家聯盟外卡資格進入季後賽，雖然外卡資格表示他們不是分區戰績
最佳的球隊，不過「不是分區戰績最佳＝不強」的公式在過去三年沒有成立過，
因為過去三年的世界大賽冠軍通通是外卡抱走。
The Astros have their own terrific story. They were 15-30 to begin the season.
How bad was this? The Astros were buried, even though they were not actually
dead. The Houston Chronicle placed an obituary on the Astros on the front
page of its sports section. This just proves that you should never bury
something in the spring when its natural life expectancy runs at least
through September.
太空人當然也有故事。季初，他們的戰績是１５勝３０敗，您看看這多糟？
基本上，太空人那時候的表現幾乎等於本季已經報銷一大半，休士頓發行量
最高的報紙「Houston Chronicle」甚至在體育版放上太空人的「訃告」。
這一切只證明一件事情，春季就宣布一支球隊報銷還有點早，尤其是當他們
的戰績成長期是九月時。
But the Astros resurrected themselves. No surprise there, they had reached the
postseason with a tremendous second-half surge in 2004, as well.
但是，太空人隊終究還是站穩腳步，重回競爭的隊伍中。這沒什麼太令人
驚訝的，去年他們也是靠著爆發性的下半季戰績進入季後賽。
What might have surprised some people was that the Astros beat the St. Louis
Cardinals in six games in the NL Championship Series. The Cardinals were,
for the second straight year, the best regular season team in the Senior
Circuit.
令人驚訝的可能是太空人在國家聯盟冠軍賽中六場擊敗傳統強隊聖路易紅雀隊，
紅雀隊已經連續兩年都拿下老資格球隊中的最佳戰績。
But the Astros were stronger on the mound, particularly when Roy Oswalt was
pitching. This is a Houston team, with its three elite starters and its
top-shelf closer, that is probably better off in the postseason than it was
in the regular season. With this pitching, nobody in the NL wanted to match
up against the Astros in the postseason. The question with them was whether
they could get into October. Once in the postseason, they did what their
pitching said they could do.
但是，太空人的投手硬是勝過他們的對手，尤其是Ｒｏｙ Ｏｓｗａｌｔ。從他們
的先發三巨投跟優秀終結者的陣容來看，休士頓太空人是一支季後賽比正規賽更孔
怖的球隊。這種投手陣容會讓所有國家聯盟的球隊心中浮現「難纏」二字，關鍵就
在－到底他們能不能稱到季後賽。一旦進入季後賽，他們的投手能投到何時，他們
的戰績就會繼續旺到那裡。
So what we have here, far from being some aura-less matchup of mere
newcomers, is a World Series drawn up along classic lines. These are two
teams whose real strength is pitching. They have other assets, no question,
but pitching is primarily what brought them to this point.
所以，現在各位知道啦，即使今年進入世界大賽的兩支球隊並沒有太多歷史光環
，他們在本質上其實還是相當接近經典棒球賽的要求。兩支球隊的強項都是投手
戰力，他們當然不是只有投手強，但是，能夠踏上世界大賽的舞台，主要還是因為
隊上投手的出色表現。
What will make this meeting even more fascinating is the fact that this Series
will be played in two parks that have typically been hitter-friendly. The
Crawford Boxes in left make Minute Maid Park a haven for right-handed hitters.
U.S. Cellular Field is truly a hitter's park in the summer, but now, when
the wind tends to shift and blow in off Lake Michigan, the equation might
change to favor the pitchers. Not that the pitchers on either of these clubs
require any external assistance.
讓這場對決更精彩的地方在於，今年世界大賽的兩個球場都對打者比較有利， Minute
Maid Park左外野的 Crawford Boxes 是右打者的甜蜜點。U.S. Cellular Field
夏天可真的是打者的練習場，不過，時間進到秋季，從密西根湖吹來的風，可能
稍稍降低這個球場對打者的幫助。但是，兩隊的投手基本上都不需要注意這種小
地方。
So what do we know about the people who are saying that it's a weird World
Series because neither of these teams make it often? We know that they're not
from Chicago or Houston. In fact, they are probably from somewhere outside
the Central time zone entirely.
如果，您碰到一個嘴中碎碎唸著「這是什麼世界大賽．．」的人，可以確定的是
他不會來自於芝加哥或是休士頓。甚至，我們可以確定他不是來自中央時區。
It is a good sign for competitive balance in baseball that teams other than the
usual soaring-payroll suspects reached the World Series. But beyond that, the
White Sox and the Astros are not flukes, they are not aberrations. They are the
two teams that, by the historical definition of what succeeds in the postseaso
n, were supposed to be here. Good for them, good for baseball.
看到新面孔進到世界大賽總是令人開心，這代表整個聯盟的戰力均衡有在改變，
強者沒有恆強。此外，我們要認清，白襪跟太空人絕不是好運而已，他們今年
的表現也不是吃錯藥。他們能夠進入世界大賽，靠的就是歷史上其他進到這裡
的球隊所擁有的特質。對他們來說是好事，對棒球運動來說也是。
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