[翻譯] Stairs is a swing away from record book

[Moscom (菜鳥)]

原文 yahoo sport: http://tinyurl.com/ygw8oyy

PEORIA, Ariz. – Matt Stairs(notes) is fairly certain this will be his last
season playing professional baseball. Check that. He’s only sort of sure.
And truth be told, he can totally see himself playing next year and
furthering the record he’s about to set.

Matt Stairs 相當確定這將會是他最後一個球季，也是即將打破紀錄的球季。

"Every year around this time I say this is it, I’m done," he said. "Then
I come back. I thought Toronto was the last place I was going to be playing.
That was two teams ago."

"每年這個時間都覺得是時候退休了"他說道. "不過我還是回來了。我曾經以為
Toronto將是我最後效力的地方，但沒想到之後轉到Phillies和Padres。"

The 42-year-old Stairs slipped into workout gear affixed with the San Diego
Padres’ insignia. Baseball’s greatest nomad has worn more logos than Pepsi.
If Stairs makes the Padres’ opening day roster, it will mark his 12th major
league team, the most for a position player and testament to his unparalleled
staying power.

42歲的Stairs溜進San Diego Padres附屬的健身房。這位偉大的棒球員身上換過的制服
logo，比起Pepsi換過的logo還多。如果Stairs成為Padres今年開幕的先發，這將是他在
大聯盟效力的第12個球隊—是打者這個位置上空前未有的紀錄也是他寶刀未老的証明。

His journey took him from Montreal to Boston to Oakland to Chicago to
Milwaukee to Pittsburgh to Kansas City to Texas to Detroit to Toronto to
Philadelphia, with stopovers in 11 more minor league cities and a stint in
Japan, and now to San Diego, where he wants to scratch out another season as
a pinch hitter. Pitchers Mike Morgan and Ron Villone(notes), owners of
always-in-demand rubber arms, played for 12 teams apiece. A position player
has never done that, unless you count catcher Deacon McGuire, who was with 11
teams and wore 12 uniforms. His 1891 Washington Statesmen became the
Washington Senators the next year, and if McGuire was as pious as his
nickname suggests, surely he’d cede the record to Stairs alone.

他職業生涯從Montreal開始，歷經Boston, Oakland, Chicago, Milwaukee,
Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia，中途也曾短暫進入超過
11個小聯盟球隊，還有一段時間在日本，現在則是降落在San Diego。可以比擬的只有
Mike Morgan和Ron Villone，這兩位曾經效力過12支球隊的投手。打者從來沒有這樣的紀
錄，除非你把捕手Deacon McGuire效力11支球隊之中的Washington重複算兩次(1891年
Washington Statesmen隔年變成Washington Senators)，不然這紀錄將由Stairs獨得。

He earned it. Stairs plays the sort of entertaining baseball seen more often
in beer-league softball than billion-dollar baseball. His left-handed swing
better resembles an Earnie Shavers uppercut than a honed baseball skill.
Stairs’ aggressiveness and single-mindedness – he is the rare baseball
player who admits he tries to hit home runs in every at-bat – fit perfectly
with his body type: short (5-foot-8) and stout (220 pounds), with a
protruding belly that made him look like a pocket-sized Babe Ruth.

Stairs打棒球的樣子，像極了在beer league裡挺著啤酒肚，喝著酒，抽著菸，中年上班
族打開心的棒球，而不像是在可以領億萬美金的大聯盟打滾。他左打的揮棒風格像極了拳
擊手Earnie Shavers的上勾拳，一擊就要對手付出沉痛代價，倒地不起，不揮則已，一揮
驚人(Earnie Shavers生涯47次比賽44次以KO獲勝，其中有27場是連續KO勝)，而不像通常
被要求與投手一直糾纏的棒球技巧。Stairs的積極性和專注力完美地契合他5呎8吋，220
磅的身材。他是很罕見的大聯盟打者，能容許自己嘗試用任何揮擊方式打出全壘打，不論
球怎麼來。(一般打者都有打擊習慣，偏好球種，sweet point)。他那凸出大肚子，讓她
看起來像是小一號的Babe Ruth。

Gone this spring is Stairs’ trademark gut, a sacrifice necessary for
survival into his 40s. To lose it, Stairs spent Wednesdays and Sundays
playing hockey in a rec league in Bangor, Maine. A senior league, actually,
which outlawed slap shots and checks. “You weren’t supposed to, at least,”
Stairs said.

Between the games that saw him on ice for up to an hour straight and his new
NutriSystem diet – Stairs laughs, knowing all the athletes who endorse
NutriSystem on TV are retired – he finds himself at 193 pounds, the lightest
he’s been since the Montreal Expos encouraged him to add a few pounds in the
early ’90s.

Stairs didn’t quite realize the team meant muscle, so he figured he had
carte blanche to eat and drink what he desired. So grew his middle section,
ever endearing himself to the Expos fans who loved the countryman from
Fredericton, New Brunswick, about 350 miles east. Never did Stairs get a
chance in Montreal, nor in Boston. He found his greatest success as an
archetypal Moneyball player with Oakland, one who didn’t look like catwalk
material in uniform but walked and hit for power.

Stairs當時並不了解球隊所謂的肌肉代表什麼意義，所以他的飲食習慣一向是想吃什麼就
吃什麼。因此造就了他中廣的身材，也因為這樣的風格在Montreal Expos吸引大批球迷，
那些遠至350miles的球迷。他發現他這樣的風格獲得最大的成功是在Oakland的時候，那
時以他的身材，看起來就是以強力打者著稱。

In the two years the Athletics gave him more than 500 at-bats, Stairs slugged
.522 and had an OPS 31 percent better than league average. Had he been given
similar playing time earlier in his career, Stairs may not have taken on the
reputation as a journeyman that chases him today.

他在運動家隊超過500的打席，帶有.522的長打率，超過聯盟平均水準的31% OPS。可惜的
是，他如果在之前幾年一直保持這樣的紀錄，現在就不會像打短工一樣，四處流離。

It also allows him a clear path to employment. Stairs fills a role: He is a
left-handed pinch hitter. Every team needs one. Few are as good as him. His
19 pinch-hit home runs – including five last year – are one short of Cliff
Johnson’s major league record. Stairs learned at the foot of the Ayatollah
of pinch hitting, Lenny Harris – himself an eight-teamer – as teammates in
Milwaukee.

但也因此他清楚地暸解他的角色: 一個每隊都需要的左殺。並且市場上幾乎沒有比他好的
。他過去五年19支代打全壘打像是Cliff Johnson一小部分的大聯盟紀錄。

"You need to accept pinch hitting," Stairs said."One at-bat is your time.
I try to take positives out of it. The manager has the faith that I’m a guy
in a certain situation. Fans get fired up when a good pinch hitter comes to
the plate. The biggest thing is you have to accept it.

"你必須接受代打這個位置,"stairs說到，"常常你可能只有一次打擊機會，也可能很
久都沒有。我試著思考正面地面對它。因為教練有信心我就是那個逆轉戰局的人；球迷因
為一個好的PH出現而瘋狂。最重要的就是你要接受這個位置，你要相信你就是那個人。"

"If you accept being a pinch hitter and respect it and know it’s hard and
do whatever you can to stay right, you can have success," he said."
Otherwise you’re going to stink. If you think, 'Oh, man, I’ve got to hit,
you’re screwed."

“如果你接受且尊重這樣的安排，了解球隊處境的艱難，並盡你所能把你的角色發揮淋漓
盡致，你就可以成功。”他講著。”否則你反而會像去年的Lidge一樣惡名遠播，落的人
人喊打。如果你總想著這是個屎缺，老是被迫出去面對難堪的局面。你一定會搞砸的!
”
Even when embracing the role, players fall into pinch-hitting abysses that
last for what seem like eons. Stairs hit a home run July 11 last year. His
next hit came Sept. 10, when he smacked a ninth-inning grand slam. In
between, he went hitless in 30 at-bats, and it exemplified his all-or-nothing
approach.

既使接受了解這樣的角色，代打還是要被考驗可能非常久沒有安打的窘境，這樣的難堪會
讓打者落入看似一輩子的黑暗期。舉例來說，Stairs去年6/11打了支全壘打，下一支一直
到9/10才出現，那是一支集滿氣的九局滿貫炮。在這期間，他30個打數0安打，代打的表
現通常很不公平地會被放大來看，沒有先發這麼多打數，only one shot, one chance，
不是英雄就是狗熊的，這壓力是代打必須勇於面對承受的。

"That is such a difficult role to succeed in, to be productive," Padres
manager Bud Black said. "To come to the park at 2 and hit at 9:30, one
at-bat, in most cases, against the other teams’ best relievers, it’s not
easy to perform."

"這是一個非常困難可以表現很成功和很製造很多打點的角色." Padres manager Bud
Black說到。"晚上的球賽，兩點就要到球場準備，到9:30才輪到你，只有一次上場機會
，在絕大部分的狀況下，面對對方最好的救援投手，這不是簡簡單單就可以表現自己的能
力。"(翻到這邊覺得好心酸喔...)

And yet, Stairs’ greatest at-bat came in a pinch role. His pinch-hit home
run against Jonathan Broxton buried the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2008
playoffs and led to the Phillies’ World Series victory. It was a win for
short, fat guys everywhere.

雖然Stairs表現的機會只有時間短短的幾棒，但他表現的很非常棒。他從Dodges closer
Jonathan Broxton手中打出的破僵局的2分代打全壘打，是NLCS第四場的關鍵打擊，也帶
領著Phillies拿到World Series Campion 2008。這雖然是時間短短的幾棒，影響力卻是
非常大。

Last October, Stairs felt comfortable with his accomplishments: 17 seasons,
259 home runs, more than 5,000 at-bats – all among the best for Canadians.
He took a job as hitting coach at the University of Maine and planned on
coaching his 16-year-old daughter’s softball team and set up baseball
clinics for the summer. He was ready to announce his retirement in late
January when he received a call from his agent, Bob Garber, whom he had told,
"Don’t talk to me until you get me a job."

去年十月，Stairs對他的成就感到滿意—17個球季，259支全壘打，超過5000的打數—是
加拿大球員裡最佳的。之後，他擔任Univ. of Miaine的打擊教練，並打算擔任他16歲女
兒在softball team的教練，以及在夏天開設baseball clinic。在他打算在今年一月底宣
布退休的同時，接到他經紀人Bob Garber的電話，他說"直到你幫我找到下個工作前，不
要和我說你要退休。"

Garber said the Padres wanted Stairs, the perfect veteran complement for a
team teeming with young players. His wife and three daughters gave Stairs the
go-ahead, urging him to go after the team record and pinch-hit record and hit
a home run with a record-tying 11th team, Montreal being his only homerless
stop. His response: "I’m not worried about records. I’m worried about my
body breaking down."

Garber告訴他，Padres想要借助他這位老手的經驗來教導球隊裡年輕的球員。Stairs的太
太和三個女兒給他一個green light去締造紀錄。Stairs說他不擔心紀錄的問題，倒是身
體狀況。

It’s held up so far, and who knows how much longer Stairs can last? Jamie
Moyer is pitching at age 47, Tim Wakefield and Omar Vizquel plying their
trades at 43. Stairs has a home run this spring and three more shots to the
warning track, and if he needs a little extra oomph, he can always eat a
couple burgers and drink some beer and get back to 200 pounds.

誰都不知道Stairs能再打幾個球季。Moyer已經47歲，Wakefield和Vizquel都43了。
Stairs在春訓打了一支全壘打，三支打到全壘打牆的長打，如果他需要更多的精力，他總
是可以吃吃喝喝，回到那200磅的身材。

Whatever it takes to stay relevant. Stairs has managed to do it this long,
and there’s plenty left to accomplish. Twelve teams down, 18 to go.

無論要麼做才能保持相當的打擊水準，Stairs這麼多年都走過來了，他知道該怎麼做，現
在只剩一些紀錄去完成。

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梯爺打B胖那場還是印象深刻阿!祝福你囉!

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◆ From: 71.10.72.167
※ 編輯: Moscom          來自: 71.10.72.167         (03/14 15:58)
推 Carreras:摩斯康爺 你這篇不轉藍鳥及修道人 好像說不過去 pu :D~~
→ Moscom:讓他們過來看 熱鬧點XD
→ Carreras:ㄟ  睿智呀  <(_ _)>
→ vanpersie:每次看當他上場就覺得不爽 因為怕他三不五時幹一發 能
→ vanpersie:做到這樣的PH也真的值得尊敬了
推 arbalest:梯爺可不是叫假的  XD