Buchy遭到懷疑違規投球 - 美國職棒

Pitchers doctoring baseballs, but is it cheating?

http://0rz.tw/MUSld By Marc Normandin on May 9 2013, 8:00a

When Jack Morris and Dirk Hayhurst accused Clay Buchholz of doctoring the
ball against the Toronto, the Blue Jays themselves were oddly quiet about it.
After reading a report from Yahoo!'s Jeff Passan, we might have a better
sense of why it is that the Jays didn't think Buchholz was cheating: if he
was doing anything to the ball, it was with something that is as "prevalent
across baseball as chewing tobacco and sunflower seeds."

雖然Jack Morris和Dirk Hayhurst都跳出來指控Clay Buchholz對球動手腳，但是藍鳥隊
本身卻異常的安靜。Yahoo!的Jeff Passan指出為何藍鳥並不視其為作弊行為：這種行為
就像嚼菸草和葵花子一樣常見。

Sources told Passan that pitchers use BullFrog spray-on suncreen and mix it
with rosin in order to create a substance they can utilize for better grip,
and that they've been doing it for years. It's not a movement thing -- the
key is grip. And pitchers just don't see how it could be considering cheating:

消息來源告訴Passan投手們會用BullFrog牌噴霧式防曬油來混合止滑粉，而該混合物能讓
頭手握球時更好握─這已經行之有年了。這跟球的尾勁無關，重點在於握球。投手們並不
視其為作弊行為。

"I just don't get the difference between BullFrog and hitters using pine
tar," the NL pitcher said. "No difference whatsoever. Pitcher needs better
grip so he knows somewhat where it's going and doesn't hit the batter in the
head.

某國聯投手表示：「我看不出來投手使用BullFrog和打者使用松焦油的差別在哪裡。完全
沒差別─投手要確定自己得球會往哪裡去，而不是直接往打者的頭飛去。」

Hitters want a better grip on their piece of game equipment, and pitchers
just seem to want the same. According to Peter Gammons, there are hitters who
don't even have an issue with pitchers loading up on sunscreen and rosin:

打者想在握自己的器具時能握的更好，投手也是。據Peter Gammons表示：有一些打者完
全不在意投手去弄防曬油和止滑粉：

Explained that Jeff Passan's Bullfrog resin story was not about "cheating," 3
hitters agreed, "better pitchers have grips than "bean us."

有三位打者認同Jeff Passan的說法，「投手抓好球總比打中我們好。」

So, pitchers don't deem it unfair, as it doesn't create movement like a
scuffed baseball would. To back that up, remember, Clay Buchholz's pitches
actually have less movement on them this year according to PITCHf/x, but his
command seems to have improved. Then there are hitters, and while the three
Gammons spoke to aren't a full sample of the hundreds in baseball, it's also
probably safe to think that hitters wouldn't make a stink about it. After
all, their own pitchers are utilizing the same methods, meaning it's just a
part of the game at this point -- it's not exactly a secret they are just now
learning because Hayhurst and Morris decided to make a stink.

所以投手們不認為那不公平，因為那不像磨損的棒球能製造球的軌跡變化。輔助證據就是
PITCHf/x─Buchholz在今年球的變化幅度甚至還比較小，但同時他的控球有進步。同時也
有打者─雖然三位不足以代表全體球員─但我們或許可以因此得出打者們並不會對這件事
多做抱怨的結論。畢竟自家的投手也這麼做─這已經是比賽的一部份，而不是秘密了。只
是Hayhurst和Morris決定拿這件事出來開砲。

Honestly, this Passan story makes Hayhurst and Morris look worse for bringing
up a supposed cheating scandal with no proof to begin with, especially since
Hayhurst's follow-up article essentially said, "cheating is okay and it's
also okay if Buchholz uses something, he should just be more discreet about
it!" and Morris was committed to calling Buchholz's pitches spitters, as well
as something about the number of rodeos he's been to. But, rather than get
into that whole tired thing, where Red Sox fans will defend their side and
Blue Jays fans will defend their own, how about we all just quit on this one
and agree that, since hitters and pitchers seem to think this is a non-story,
that it's a non-story?

老實講，Passan的文章讓拿不出證據就指控他人作弊的Hayhurst和Morris更難堪─尤其是
Hayhurst在不久後追加的文章中酸說「作弊是OK的，Buchholz用什麼東西也OK，只是他應
該藏好一點」之類的話。Morris也稱Buchholz的球為「口水球」，還在那裡扯rodeo的次
數( http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rodeo 是什麼意思自己看XD )
。但是在紅襪迷藍鳥迷會各自擁護自家球隊的情況下，這不過只是一場無聊的爛仗而已。
既然打者和投手不認為這有什麼，這就不代表著這沒什麼？

The real story is why Major League Baseball doesn't have an approved and
readily available substance for grip like they do for hitters with their
bats. Pitchers are complaining about the balls this season, saying they're
harder to grip, increasing the need for something like the BullFrog and rosin
concoction. It's hard to believe the league when they say, "There have been
no changes to our procedures for the preparation of baseballs" when you've
lived through such claims about the production of baseballs during the
late-90s -- that time to the benefit of hitters -- despite research that says
exactly the opposite occurred. If Passan's claims about widespread BullFrog
use are true, it doesn't sound as if an MLB-approved substance would change
much in the game besides the need for discretion.

我們真正需要探討的議題是大聯盟為何不開放幫助握球的物質，就像開放松焦油那樣。有
些投手抱怨這季的球更難抓，所以才會增加投手使用BullFrog加止滑粉的需求。很難相信
聯盟所謂的：「我們一直以來都沒有改變棒球的製程。」這種話─尤其是當你經歷過90年
後期那段聽說棒球製程對打者有利的時期(雖然數據結果似乎不是這麼說)。如果Passan所
謂的「BullFrog是被廣泛使用的東西」是真實的報導，那麼我想：聯盟開放合格的物質似
乎也不會對比賽造成太大的影響。


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文章中引用的原報導是 http://0rz.tw/5bY3i By Jeff Passan

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http://ppt.cc/D3RL

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