中國棒球隊接管一支在德州小聯盟的球隊 - 美國職棒

來源: The USA Today
網址: https://tinyurl.com/y7tgdbpe

Chinese baseball team takes over Texas minor league club
中國棒球隊接管一支在德州小聯盟的球隊

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (AP) — The starting lineups are announced in English
and Spanish at home games for the independent Texas AirHogs.
在德州獨立聯盟球隊AirHogs主場，宣布先發棒次是用英文跟西班牙文。

And then the Chinese national anthem is played.
然後再來是播中國的國歌。

For about 30 members of the Chinese national baseball team, the suburban
ballpark a few miles west of downtown Dallas has become their summer home and
training ground in an unprecedented setup.
對於這約30名中國國家棒球隊的球員來說，這在德州達拉斯郊外幾哩的棒球場就是他們夏
季的家跟訓練場，是史無前例的規格。

They are a revolving part of the roster for a professional team in the United
States, playing more games and against tougher competition while working to
improve for future international events such as the upcoming Asian Games and
2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
他們參與了美國一支職業棒球隊的部分輪值，打更多的比賽，面對更強的對手，希望在即
將來臨的亞運以及2020東京奧運可以更加改善他們的戰力。

"The system that they've created here, where we work out in the morning,
we've got weight training, the pitchers have a system where we throw on, the
coaches have kind of set up a system that's really helped them to be able to
make the adjustment to play more games," Sun Jianzeng, a 26-year-old
right-hander, said through a translator.
「他們建立的系統，像是早上的訓練，重訓，投手系統，教練系統等，幫助球員調整，得
以應付更多的比賽，」26歲的右投Sun Jianzeng透過翻譯說到。

Chinese players who professionally back home would play only 20-30 games a
season make up about two-thirds of the expanded roster for the American
Association team now formally known as the AirHogs powered by Beijing
Shougang Eagles. The players ranging in age from 18 to 29 rotate on and off
the active roster to play 6-7 games per week in one of the low-minor leagues
not affiliated with Major League Baseball.
中國的職業球員在中國一年打大概20-30場比賽，而在北京首鋼金鷹接管了AirHogs後，三
分之二的擴大輪值是中國棒球球員。年紀18-29歲，會輪流輪值，平均一禮拜打6-7場比
賽，打低層級非隸屬MLB的比賽。

"It makes it workable, because we don't want to wear these guys down," said
AirHogs manager John McLaren, a big league coach for three decades who has
worked with Chinese teams since 2011.
「這模式可行，因為我們不希望操爆他們，」AirHogs教練John McLaren說。McLaren也曾
在MLB執教，而在2011年後就一直與中國球隊合作。

Players not on the active roster for games go through early workouts at
AirHogs Stadium, 10 minutes from the home ballpark of the Texas Rangers.
There are conditioning and weight training drills that are new to the Chinese
players.
而沒在輪值名單內的球員則是早上就去AirHogs體育館訓練，距離條子主場約10分鐘路
程。對於這些中國球員來說，調節演練跟重訓演練是全新的概念。


"They're trying to do something they've never done before, which is play this
many games on a daily basis, and you throw into the fact that with the
exception of maybe three or four pitchers, they're physically and
experienced-wise overmatched," said Larry Hardy, a former Rangers pitching
coach filling the same role for the AirHogs. "But they're getting better."
「他們在做他們以前從沒做過的事，像是每天打這麼多比賽，三到四名投手，他們在體能
上與經驗上都比不上對手，」前條子投手教練現在是AirHogs的投手教練Larry Hardy說。
「但是他們在進步中。」

McLaren had a short stint managing Seattle in 2007-08 and was Washington's
interim manager for three games in 2011. He was on the Philadelphia Phillies
staff the past two seasons.
McLaren在2007-2008在西雅圖水手短暫執教過，在2011年也曾為華盛頓擔任三場臨時總教
練。他過去兩球季也是費城人教練團成員之一。

He also managed China at the World Baseball Classic in 2013 and 2017. Over
that time, there would be gaps of six or seven months when he wouldn't even
see the team — and players would barely play baseball. China has a 2-10
record in its four WBC appearances, getting outscored 102-18 in those games.
在2013跟2017的WBC他擔任中國的總教練，在那段時間，會有6到7個月他會根本看不到他的
球員--而他的球員也幾乎打不到棒球。四次WBC出場，戰績2-10，被得102分，而只得了18
分。

"These guys, I don't think they'd ever played twice in a week," McLaren said .
「我不認為他們一個禮拜有打過兩次比賽過，」McLaren說。

That changed when the Chinese Baseball Association made arrangement with the
AirHogs, allowing them to focus on daily development.
這一切在中國棒球協會與AirHogs合作後就改變了，這讓這些球員們的成長與日俱增。

They are now together all the time in a 12-team league that stretches more
than 1,300 miles from Texas into Canada. The closest stop is Cleburne, Texas,
where 53-year-old former big league slugger Rafael Palmeiro is starring for
the Railroaders.
他們現在整天在一起，在一個12支隊伍的聯盟打球，橫跨德州到加拿大，超過1300英哩。
最近的地點會是在德州Cleburne，那裏有一位53歲曾經是MLB大棒的Rafael Palmeiro為
Railroaders打球。

China's only Olympic berth was in 2008, going 1-6 in group play after an
automatic berth as the host nation. That was the last time baseball was part
of the Summer Games until its return two years from now in Japan.
中國唯一一次在奧運打棒球是在2008年，因為地主而有出賽權，在分組賽是1-6。那也是最
近一次奧運有棒球賽事，而在2020棒球會重返東京奧運。

The AirHogs are a league-worst 17-44 this season, but player-coach Na Chuang
said the team has progressed faster than expected, increasing the confidence
of the Chinese players who will leave with McLaren and some of their national
coaches for the Asian Games in Indonesia before the end of the 100-game
AirHogs season.
AirHogs目前是該聯盟戰績最差，17-44，球員教練Na Chuang說球隊的進步比想像的快，讓
這些中國球員的信心倍增，這些球員會跟McLaren以及其他一些中國教練在100場球季結束
前出發到印尼打亞運。

Kevin Joseph, who pitched in the majors briefly with the St. Louis Cardinals
in 2002, is part of McLaren's staff as an assistant coach and invaluable
translator. He learned Mandarin while spending more than eight years teaching
baseball to young people after a friend with connections to baseball
officials in China invited him there.
Kevin Joseph，曾經短暫為紅雀投過球，現在是McLaren教練團成員，擔任助理教練以及翻
譯。他的中文是因為有人牽線，邀請他去中國教年輕球員打球八年中學的。

"The big need, I think, for China is they don't play a lot of games. So for
them to be able to come, and to learn the rhythm of a baseball lifestyle,
play against better competition, has been a great experience," Joseph said.
"The players have really meshed well with the Chinese guys, they love them."
「我認為最需要的，對中國球員來說，他們沒打很多比賽。所以，對他們而言，能來這
裡，學習棒球的文化，與更強的對手對戰，就是很好的經驗了，」Joseph說。「這裡的球
員跟跟這些中國球員融和的很好，他們很愛他們。」

Joseph said hitters have changed the way they swing the bat, being more
aggressive and ready to hit pitches coming faster than they've seen before.
Joseph說這些打者開始改變他們的揮擊，更具侵略性，準備好打以前他們所沒看過的快速
球。

For the pitchers, the emphasis has been on throwing more fastballs and fewer
breaking balls. Hardy said the catchers have started to understand what the
coaches are looking for from pitchers.
而對投手而言，比較著重在丟更多快速球，減少變化球。Hardy說現在捕手比較了解教練想
要看到投手丟怎樣的球了。

"The level of play is a lot higher," Jianzeng said. "You can make smallest
mistakes, can be hurt here as a pitcher. ... Because you're playing so many
games, you're learning about yourself as a pitcher, and you're getting a lot
more experience."
「這裡打球的層級高多了，」Jianzeng說。「犯了極小的失誤，就會受到很大的傷害...因
為在這邊打很多比賽，可以學到如何成為一個投手，可以得到很多的經驗。」

There are the inevitable hiccups because of communication issues and culture
differences, including the style of play the Chinese players were used to,
but Joseph said things have gone well overall.
無可避免的，因為溝通因素以及文化差異而會有一些小問題發生，像是中國球員過去習慣
的打球方式，但是Joseph說大部分還是好的發展。

"It's fun just to watch them interact with everybody, and themselves, and
show up every day, kidding and joking," said McLaren, sitting in the coaches'
office next to a narrow room cramped with lockers. "It's a clubhouse. They're
a different culture, speak a different language, but the laugh in the
clubhouse is the same."
「看他們之間的互動以及跟其他隊伍的互動是很有趣的，每天看他們上場比賽，互相逗弄
開玩笑等，」McLaren說。「這是個球隊，他們的文化不同，說著不同的語言，但是笑聲是
一樣的。」

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