22年前的今天：Kerry Wood單場20k - 美國職棒

20K精華
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOYME2Q4nAg

整場（小熊水管）
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lehub-k5Apw

https://www.mlb.com/news/kerry-wood-s-20-strikeout-game-score-still-elite

Wanna top Wood's 20-K game? Good luck

想超越Wood的單場20-K比賽？祝你好運

What’s the most dominant game that a pitcher can pitch?

一個投手於一場比賽的巔峰造極之作為何呢？

The knee-jerk reaction is probably to say, "a perfect game." But today’s
date, May 6, evokes the anniversary of an ever-so-slightly imperfect game
that might actually have the best case of all.

大家應該會下意識回答「完全比賽」。但22年前的今天（美國時間5月6日），這場那麼
些許不完美的比賽也許是上面那問題的最佳解答。

Twenty-two years ago today, 20-year-old Kerry Wood scraped the ceiling of
pitching performance with a record-tying 20-strikeout, one-hit masterpiece
against the Astros at Wrigley Field. It was the fifth start of Wood’s
career, and he woke up that day with a 5.89 ERA and 12 walks over his first
18 1/3 innings as a big leaguer. Wood’s first pitches at Wrigley portended
more of the same; they came in a disastrous warmup that he cut short,
figuring if he had anything that day, he’d better save it for the game.

二十二年前的今天，20歲的Kerry Wood在Wrigley Field對上太空人隊時投出這追平紀錄
的20三振，並只挨一安打的頂天表現。這只是Wood生涯的第五場先發，而在此之前他在
大聯盟生涯的18.1局中的防禦率為5.89，並投出12次保送。Wood在那天Wrigley的頭幾球
似乎預告著和之前類似的結果；畢竟他那天暖身不足，所以如果他有何看家本領，最好
是留到比賽時再來慢慢發揮。

Then, Wood unleashed perhaps the most devastating set of pitches ever seen
from a Major League mound. When Wood struck out Derek Bell swinging to end
the Cubs’ 2-0 win over the Astros in a crisp two hours and 19 minutes, he
had tied Roger Clemens’ all-time record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game
and refused to yield even a single walk. Houston’s only baserunners came
when Ricky Gutierrez’s grounder glanced off third baseman Kevin Orie’s
glove for a third-inning single (a play that Cubs fans begged to be ruled an
error as Wood’s masterpiece progressed) and when Wood plunked Craig Biggio
with a curveball in the sixth.

然後呢，Wood展現了或許是大聯盟史上最具破壞性的投球。當Wood藉由讓Derek Bell揮
空三振助小熊隊在兩小時19分鐘以二比零擊敗太空人隊時。Wood追平了Roger Clemens所
創下的九局比賽最高三振紀錄，而且沒有投出任何四壞保送。太空人唯二的上壘人次是
Ricky Gutierrez三局上一記由擦過三壘手Kevin Orie手套的滾地球所形成的一壘安打（
隨著比賽趨向不凡，小熊球迷開始央求這支安打以失誤記錄），以及Wood於六局上以曲
球砸中Craig Biggio造成的觸身球。

“We knew we were in trouble in the first inning,” Gutierrez recalled.

「我們在第一局的時候就知道大事不妙了。」Gutierrez回憶道。

By one metric, Wood’s Wrigley afternoon is the most dominant nine-inning
performance of the Modern Era -- ranking above no-hitters and perfect games
alike. That metric is game score, a statistic created by sabermetrician Bill
James that puts a handy number on just how stifling a pitcher was on any
given day. A pitcher’s score starts at 50, then rises as the hurler
accumulates the good stuff (strikeouts and innings) while avoiding the bad
stuff (hits, walks and runs allowed). The formula goes:

在一項計量數據中，Wood那天下午在Wrigley的表現於現代棒球中是超越無安打和完全比
賽的最佳九局表現。這項數據就是Bill James為了將投手當日表現做個簡易量化所創的
投手先發分數。以50分為基準，對投手有利的數據（三振、局數）累積越多分數越高；
反之對投手不利的數據（安打、四壞、失分）越多分數越低。公式如下：

‧ Start with 50 points (the average start)
‧ Add one point for each out recorded (or 3 points per inning)
‧ Add two points for each inning completed after the fourth frame
‧ Add one point for each strikeout
‧ Subtract two points for each hit allowed
‧ Subtract one point for each walk allowed
‧ Subtract four points for each earned run allowed
‧ Subtract two points for each unearned run allowed

‧ 以50分開始算
‧ 每出局數加一分，也就是每一局加三分
‧ 第四局結束後每一局額外加兩分
‧ 每一次三振加一分
‧ 每挨一安打扣兩分
‧ 每投出一次四壞球扣一分
‧ 每失一自責分扣四分
‧ 每失一非自責分扣兩分

Now you’re probably getting an idea of why Wood’s game score still tops the
list. He did all of the good stuff, and none of the bad. Broken down, Wood’s
apex game looks like:

現在你大概知道為何Wood這場比賽的投手先發分數至今仍為此排行榜之首：他做了所有
有利的事，而沒有做任何不利的事。Wood這場頂級表現逐項來看長這樣：

50 + 27 (complete game, 27 outs) + 10 (five innings complete after the
fourth) + 20 (strikeouts) - 2 (one hit allowed) = 105 game score

50 + 27（27出局完投）+ 10（第五至九局）+ 20（三振）- 2（安打）= 105 總分

(The statistics James used to calculate game score came from a pitcher's
box-score line, which in the 1980s didn't include hit-by-pitches, and still
doesn't today. Even if one applies the one-point penalty for walks to Wood's
HBP, his score would only drop to 104, and still into a tie for first place.)

（James用來計算投手先發分數的數字來自1980年代就開始用的投手記錄表格式，而直到
現在該格式裡都不包含觸身球。但即使觸身球以四壞保送計而扣一分，Wood單場104分依
然在該排行榜中並列第一。）

It’s worth pondering if Wood’s 105 will ever be eclipsed, because as the
years go by, that number is beginning to look more and more like one of the
highest bars set in the MLB record book. Think about the ingredients needed
to even get close:

Wood的單場105分是否會被會超越是個值得深思的問題，因為隨著時間演進，這數字只會
越來越顯得難以超越。仔細想想光是需要接近此數據就需達成的條件：

1) Go the distance: Without those 37 points added from a complete game,
thereby putting a pitcher at a base score of 87 before strikeouts, hits,
walks and runs, a candidate’s only real shot is to do something like strike
out all 24 batters he sees over an eight-inning shutout performance
(50+24+8+24 = 106). And if he’s literally that perfect through eight, a
manager might lose his job if he doesn’t put the pitcher back out for the
ninth.

一、投完整場：如果沒有完投的所帶來37分，一個投手能接近此境界的最可能方式就是
連續三振24人，並且在沒有任何安打保送失分下也就得106分。在一個投手當天真的那麼厲
害的情況下，若教頭第九局沒讓他續投可能會捲鋪蓋走人。

The 2019 season saw just 45 complete games -- down from 166 per year at the
start of the decade -- and starting pitchers averaged roughly five innings
per outing.

和上個十年初每年166場相比，整個2019球季僅45場完投，且平均每個先發投手只撐了大
約五局。

2) Go the distance … and keep the runs column clean: The four points
subtracted for even a single earned run allowed is an automatic deal-breaker
if you’re chasing Wood. The two-point penalty for an unearned run
essentially is too, unless that run comes around to score completely via
errors or hit-by-pitches. So you need a shutout, and last year, MLB pitchers
combined for just 26 shutouts of any kind -- regardless of the number of
strikeouts, hits and walks. Can you name the three pitchers who tied for the
MLB lead with a whopping two shutouts apiece?

二、投完整場且無失分：如果你要追逐Wood的紀錄，即使你只失一自責分，其造成的四
投手分數損失基本上也就自動讓你喪失資格了。而一非自責分所造成的兩分損失也差不
多，除非那非自責分完完全全是由失誤或觸身球所導致。所以你基本上需要投出完封；
而不計三振、安打、保送數，去年大聯盟投手群一共只投出了26場完封。你能列出去年
投出了並列聯盟最多的兩場完封的三位投手嗎？

3) Strike nearly everyone out: While a complete game gets a pitcher’s score
within 18 points of Wood’s 105, even a stellar 15-strikeout, no-walk
no-hitter leaves a pitcher at just 102. One has to go for broke in the
strikeout department -- and be economical while doing so.

三、幾乎全員三振：當你投出完投時就起碼87分，但就算你投出15三振、無安打無保送
也只讓你的分數來到102分。你必須使盡畢生三振功力—而且還得節省用球量。

There’s a reason why MLB has only seen five 20-strikeout, nine-inning
performances. As MLB.com’s Andrew Simon explored a year ago this week,
almost no one has hit the average checkpoint of even 15 strikeouts through
seven innings since Max Scherzer’s 20-K night in 2016. And, even if you’re
on pace, you’ll have to convince your manager to run up your pitch count;
Wood needed 122 pitches to plow through the Astros in 1998, a season in which
Cubs skipper Jim Riggleman let the rookie eclipse 120 pitches in eight
different starts. Last year, Trevor Bauer was the only pitcher to go 120-plus
in even half that many games.

大聯盟史上只出現五次九局20三振的表現是有原因的。根據Andrew Simon於一年前的此
時所做的研究，自從Max Scherzer於2016年投出單場20三振後就幾乎再也沒有人於七局
內投出15三振。而即使你有跟上進度，你也必須說服你的教頭讓你繼續燃燒投球量；當
年Wood用了122球力壓太空人，而該季小熊教頭Jim Riggleman讓這位菜鳥在八場先發中
投超過120球。而去年，Trevor Bauer是唯一一個投出四場用球量過120的投手。

Scherzer is Wood’s closest competitor over the past 22 years -- not for his
20-K game, but rather his 17-strikeout, no-walk no-hitter in the 2015 season
finale against the Mets. Scherzer finished that day with a game score of 104
(50+27+10+17), coming oh-so-close. While there are only 16 100-plus-point
game scores on record since 1904, MLB has actually seen a flurry of them in
recent years -- including Justin Verlander’s 14-strikeout, one-walk
no-hitter against the Blue Jays last September, and his former teammate
Gerrit Cole’s 16-K, one-hit shutout against the D-backs in May 2018. Those
might be the two most dominant regular-season games across the Majors in the
past two seasons, and yet each one translated to a game score of “only” 100
-- still six points shy of surpassing Wood.

過去22年來唯一能挑戰Wood紀錄的競爭者是Scherzer，但我們說的並不是那場20三振的
比賽，而是他於2015年季末對上大都會隊的所投出17三振無安打無四死完封。Scherzer
該場的投手分數為就差那麼一丁點的104分。即使1904年來大聯盟史上只出現了16場投
手分數破百的比賽，這現象最近幾年倒是有蠢蠢欲動的趨勢—這包含了去年九月Justin
Verlander對上藍鳥隊所投出的14三振一四壞無安打比賽，以及2018年五月由他的前隊
友Gerrit Cole對上響尾蛇隊所投出的16三振一安打比賽。這也許是大聯盟這兩年來最
具宰制力的兩場比賽，然而這兩場所對應到的投手分數都「只有」還差六分打破Wood紀
錄的100分。

We’ll certainly know if a pitcher ever does pass Wood, because he set the
bar so high that the only possibilities left including something historic --
like a 20-strikeout no-hitter, or a record 21- or 22-K day to allow for the
possibility of a stray hit or walk. Cole, Scherzer or Verlander might be
capable of that, but even then it would require their absolute peak abilities
on a given day.

由於Wood設下了如此高不可攀的障礙，我們可以想像如果一個投手要破此紀錄大概必須
投出些像是20三振無安打、或者在不小心挨一安或丟出四壞的情況下投個破紀錄的21、
22三振這樣的史詩級表現。Cole、Scherzer或Verlander也許有能力達成這目標，但條
件是他們在當天必須在絕對頂尖的狀態下投球。

Wood’s breakout day at Wrigley wasn’t just special in the moment; it might
grow in stature even more as it withstands the test of time. And to think …
if the ball off Orie’s glove had indeed been ruled an error, Wood’s game
score might actually be insurmountable.

Wood那天在Wrigley的生涯代表作絕對不只是僅在當下的一個特殊時刻；它的地位也許
會透過時間的考驗而更加崇高。想像一下，如果那擦過Orie手套的球被記為失誤，Wood
這場比賽的投手分數只會更加難以超越。

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