Curt Schilling has a new lease on life - 美國職棒

Coach Curt

Earlier this month, Schilling was inducted into the Philadelphia Phillies’
Wall of Fame, honored by a team he won 101 games for and helped lead to the
1993 World Series. But he says he would rather have been with his girls,
coaching softball.

月初費城人想邀他去Philadelphia Phillies’Wall of Fame的活動，表揚他在費城的101
勝，並幫助他們在打進世界大賽。不過Schilling告知球團他想跟壘球隊的女孩子們在一
起。

“’Cause I love this,” he says. “I have a huge advantage. I’ve already
been famous. These girls, no matter what they win, will never make me famous.
I want these girls to go to college, to get an education paid for, and they
can. And I can make them better doing that.”

「因為我喜歡。我有很大的優勢─我已經很有名了。而這些女孩，不管怎麼贏球都不會
讓我有名。我希望他們念大學、接受教育，我知道他們可以。我可以讓他們更能做到。」

The other coaches, the girls, and the parents love Coach Curt.

其他教練、女孩和家長們都喜歡他。

“He is a great guy who has really taught our daughters a lot on the field,”
writes Kelly Johnson, a parent, in an e-mail. “But also, more importantly,
a lot about life lessons off of the field, which at the end of the day is
definitely really what matters most.”

其中一位球員的家長Kelly Johnson來信：「他是個很棒的人，在場上用心教導我們的女
兒─但更重要的是他在場下也會敎他們人生課程─這才是最重要的。」

Schilling has had to retool his tough guy image, because there is crying in
girls’ softball.

Schilling也得扭轉硬漢形象，因為隊員會哭。

“The challenge for me is that they are a lot more emotional,” he says.

「最大的挑戰就是他們比較情緒化。」

But there are pluses as well.

“Girls are easier to coach,” he says. “They do exactly what you ask them
to do.”

「不過他們比較好帶，他們會照著你說的去做。」

But right now at Walt Disney World, there is trouble brewing. The Mass
Drifters are in the losers’ bracket of the World Series — lose and they go
home.

不過Mass Drifters現在落入敗部，再輸一場就要回家。

( 文中的迪士尼：https://twitter.com/USSSAPride/status/361953234442657792 )

Coach Curt has seen worse jams. In 2004, he beat the Yankees and then the
Cardinals with blood oozing from his surgically repaired ankle to help end an
86-year-old Boston curse. He was a hero, paraded around the Magic Kingdom in
a shiny red convertible with Mickey Mouse.

不過總仔看過大風大浪囉，2004年紀後賽、血襪、打破詛咒，最後在波士頓光榮大遊行。

This time is different. Here, there are no crowds, only devoted parents
watching their girls play.

物換星移，沒有滿山滿谷的觀眾，只有球員的家人觀戰。

At first glance, Schilling is just another soft-bellied coach, lugging a
camouflage backpack and equipment bags on the steamy back fields behind the
baseball stadium.

一瞥之下，Schilling只是個在球場後方拉著裝備袋的中年教練。

In the previous day’s loss, the team was listless. Schilling, in his second
year coaching, says they looked like 11 players who wanted to be in 11
different dugouts.

錢一場吞敗後，整個球隊萎靡不振。執教第二年的Schilling表示他們像是11個不同球隊
的球員。

“They played like dog [expletive],” he says. “And they knew it.”

「打的像狗屎一樣，她們也知道。」

So he called a team meeting. This would be the polar opposite of the famous “
why not us?” mantra he preached during the Red Sox’ 2004 championship
season.

Schilling召開了球隊會議。不過這跟2004年的“why not us?”有著天壤之別。

“I said, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. I will forfeit tomorrow’s game
and you will go home. You’re not going to put this uniform on and go out
there with what I saw today.’ And it had nothing to do with making errors.
It was the attitude and the effort. So they sat down there for a good hour
and talked amongst themselves.”

「我說，接下來會這樣：我會放棄明天的比賽，妳們都會回家─跟今天我看到的一樣的話
，妳們明天不會穿上那件球衣。這跟今天的失誤無關，而是跟態度、努力有關。」

她們接著在那裡長談。

His daughter, Gabriella Schilling, plays first base. Last year, she threw her
arm out of its socket while pitching, requiring reconstructive shoulder
surgery. Stubborn as her father and wearing his No. 38, she fought with him
to get back into the lineup.

Schilling的女兒Gabriella Schilling守一壘。去年Gabriella投球投到脫臼，動了肩部
重建手術。不過跟他的老爸一樣硬，這位一樣穿著38號的小球員歷經波折後重回打線。

Before the rains, the Drifters rallied to go ahead in their last at-bat on a
double by Georgia Lapierre, a rail-thin freshman catcher from Attleborough,
Mass. In the bottom half of the inning, Gabby Schilling made a bullet throw
home to end the game in a cloud of dust.

下雨之前，Drifters靠著最後打擊的捕手Georgia Lapierre打出二壘安打超前，下半局則
是靠著Gabby Schilling雷射肩幹掉回本壘跑者結束比賽。

“I was unbelievably proud,’’ says her father. “This kicks the [expletive]
out of anything I did playing baseball.’’

「不可思議的光榮感，這感覺比我打棒球期間還屌。」

Better than the bloody sock game?

比血襪還好？

“Well, it’s different,” says Schilling. “This is harder, way harder,
because I don’t have any control over this.”

「不太一樣，這比較困難─我沒辦法控制。」

Making him proud

It bothered Schilling to auction off the bloody sock, which fetched
$92,612.50 in February.

拍賣血襪的事情讓Schilling心煩。(血襪在二月以$92,612.50賣出)

“All that stuff bothered me,” he says. “I sold all that stuff to pay the
banks back for the note, instead of filing bankruptcy and keeping it all, I
sold it all. It sucks.’’

「這些東西讓我心煩，」Schilling表示：「我賣掉這些東西來贖債券，而不是留著這些
東西然後破產。」

"It Sucks."

But none of that matters now. When the Drifters switch fields and promptly
make six errors in the first inning to fall behind, 5-0, Coach Curt does not
scream at them, he chirps encouragement. Schilling tells the girls there are
zero players in Cooperstown who never made an error.

不過這都不重要了。Drifters第一局交換攻守後發生六次失誤，馬上以0-5落後，這時
Schilling沒有大吼大叫，他鼓勵她們、告訴他們Cooperstown的球員也都會發生失誤。

“Grind it out,” he orders.

「撐過去。」Schilling下令。

The Drifters battle back and tie the score. At one point, Schilling sees
something and moves his left fielder back eight steps — perfect position to
catch the ensuing line drive.

Drifters反攻後追平比數。後來Schilling好像看出什麼之後，叫左外野手後退八步─
完美接住下一個平飛球的位置。

“Almost looks like he knows what he’s doing,” says assistant coach Dan
Zucco, laughing. “He has one of those every game or two.”

助理教練Dan Zucco笑著說：「簡直就像他知道接下來會怎樣。每場都會來一兩次。」

Another time, Schilling predicts a two-run home run by sweet-swinging Maddy
Barone of Taunton, Mass. Then came the thunder, the lightning, and the rain.

他還預測到Maddy Barone會扛出兩分砲。接下來開始打雷、下雨。

After a one-hour delay, the Drifters move to another field that has lights
and resume play. Schilling takes a pinch of Skoal and asks for somebody to “
be a hero.”

延了一小時之後更換到有照明的場地，Schilling揪了一小撮菸草之後要某人「當英雄」。

The Drifters score three times for an 8-5 victory. After the last out,
Schilling shuts his ever-present notebook and fist-bumps all the girls.

Drifters接下來得了三分，已8-5拿下勝利。拿下最後一個出局數之後，Schilling闔上一
直拿著的筆記本，和球員們振臂歡呼。

He addresses the troops.

“As mad and as angry and disappointed as I was yesterday, I am equal parts
incredibly proud of what I just watched,” he says. “We went from being some
team looking at going home to this.

他告訴球員：「跟我昨天的生氣、憤怒和沮喪一樣─今天是一樣程度的驕傲。我們原本是
一支看起來像是準備打包的球隊。」

“You guys dug yourself out. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know that you’
d be able to dig your way out of it. Un-be-lievably proud of every one of you.

「我不騙妳們，妳們之前是挖洞給自己跳。我不知道妳們有能力爬出來─我對妳們每個人
都感到無比光榮。」

“You played a phenomenal game after the first inning. A phenomenal game, and
you earned every ounce of that win. Incredibly proud of you guys! We got our
path for us tomorrow, 8 a.m. game. What do you guys want to wear? Whites? OK,
get ’em washed. Be here at 7, OK? Get your rest.’’

「你們再第一局之後打了一場很棒的比賽─很棒。你們從這場勝利中學到了無限的東西，
我為妳們感到無比的光榮！我們順利的打進明天的比賽─早上八點。你們想穿什麼？白色
？很好，打敗他們。明天早上七點到場，好好休息吧。」

Then he wraps his big right arm around his daughter’s head, gives her a soft
kiss on the forehead, and heads toward the Magic Kingdom, head high, a hero
again. At least for a day.

接著Schilling用右手環抱女兒的頭，親親的吻了額頭後，再次昂首前往魔法王國─再次
成了英雄。至少這一天是的。

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＊Athletic frame.
＊High baseball IQ. Xander
＊Smooth, fluid swing. Bogaerts
＊Elite batspeed. #01
＊Strong and explosive hands.
＊Above-average-to-better power ceiling, potential 30 home run bat.

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