Papi talk - 美國職棒

只翻譯 Papi 第一人稱敘述的部分。

Papi talk: Red Sox slugger tells all in book with Herald’s Massarotti
Source: http://0rz.tw/532H6

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By the end of that spring (of 1999), I think I was talking to my pop on the
phone almost every night. I was down, bro. I didn’t know what to do. A
couple of days before the Twins sent me back to Triple A, my pop called me
and said, “Stay there, I’ll be there in a couple of hours.” I was
confused. I said to him, “Where are you, Pop?” He told me he was at the
Miami airport. He already had flown over from the Dominican (Republic) and he
was going to drive to Fort Myers because he wanted to see me and talk to me.
He must have known it was serious, that I needed his help. He was always good
at reading me.

在（1999 年）春天結束的時候，我想我幾乎每個晚上都在和我老爸講電話。老
兄，我覺得很不爽。我不知道要怎麼辦。在 Twins 把我送回 Triple A 之前幾
天，我老爸打了通電話給我，＂待在那裡，我再幾個小時就會到。＂我覺得很奇
怪。我對他說，＂老爸，你在哪裡？＂他告訴我他正在 Miami 機場。他老早就
從 Dominican (Republic) 飛過來了，並且他正要開車到 Fort Myers，只因為
他想要看看我並跟我聊聊。他一定知道這件事情很重要，而且我需要他的幫助。
他總是那麼的了解我。

A couple of days after my pop arrived, I got called into (Tom Kelly’s)
office and the Twins told me I was going back to Triple A, that they were
giving the first baseman’s job to Doug Mientkiewicz. I was devastated. I was
pissed off, upset, you name it. I didn’t know what to think, where to go,
what to say. The Twins told me I could have a couple of days to get my things
together before I reported to the team, but I was so (expletive) that I
wanted to tell them to go to hell. I didn’t want to report at all. I wanted
to quit. I thought I belonged in the big leagues and I couldn’t believe they
were sending me back.

在我老爸來之後幾天，我被叫到（Tom Kelly 的）辦公室，Twins 告訴我我必須
回到 Triple A，而一壘手的位置將交給 Doug Mientkiewicz。我幾乎快崩潰了
。我十分的生氣，不安，隨便你怎麼說。我不知道該怎麼想，我不知道該去哪，
我不知道該說什麼。Twins 告訴我我可以先休息幾天調整身心，然後再去跟球隊
報到，但我只想叫他們下地獄。我完全不想去報到。我不想打球了。我認為我是
屬於大聯盟的，我不敢相信他們竟然把我送回小聯盟。

When I walked out of the clubhouse that morning, my pop was there waiting
for me. He took me by the arm and he said, “Hey, let’s go have breakfast,”
and we went to this diner not far from my condo on Summerlin (Road). He let
me yell for a while, and then he started cracking jokes. Ten minutes after we
sat down, my pop had me laughing.

當我走出球團的那個早晨，我老爸就在那裡等著我。他抓著我的手說，＂嘿，我
們去吃早餐吧。＂我們去了 Summerlin（路名）上的餐廳，就在我公寓附近而已
。他聽我怒吼了一陣子，然後他開始說笑話。在我們坐下後十分鐘，我老爸就讓
我笑了出來。

The next day, I was still in bed when my pop knocked on my bedroom door.
He wasn’t going to let me cry about it. He stuck his head in the room and
told me, plain and simple: “Time to go to work.” I got my (expletive)
together and went to the ballpark, and I think the Twins were surprised I
showed up. I think they thought I would take couple of days, get my head
together, then come back. I didn’t waste any time. As soon as I got to minor
league camp, I remember hitting three home runs in a game against the
Cincinnati Reds -- one to left field, one to center, one to right. My pop was
there to watch. My pop always taught me to hit to all fields, and that’s
something I’m still good at now. He taught me to do everything. After camp,
I spent almost the whole year in Triple A and hit .315 with 30 homers and 110
RBIs, my best year in the minors. I was killin’ again. The Twins called me
up in September -- I should have been there earlier -- and I really didn’t
play too much. I don’t think I had a hit in 20 at-bats, but I wasn’t too
upset. I did what I had to do to get back there.

隔天，我老爸來敲我房門的時候我還在呼呼大睡。他並不打算讓我在那自怨自艾
。他把頭探進來，然後簡單明瞭的說，＂該幹活了。＂我調整好身心後便去了球
場，我想 Twins 一定很訝異我來了。我猜他們一定覺得我需要休息幾天，理一
理頭緒，然後才能再踏進球場。我沒有浪費任何時間。在我到達小聯盟訓練營後
，我記得我立刻在面對 Cincinnati Reds 的比賽中敲了三支全壘打－－一支在
左邊，一支在中間，一支在右邊。我老爸就在場邊。我老爸總是教我要能把球打
到任何方向，而我想我從以前到現在都做的很好。他教我做所有的事。在訓練營
後，我在 Triple A 待了一整年，並繳出了打擊率 .315 及 30 支全壘打和 110
分打點的成績，而這是我在小聯盟表現最佳的一年。我又在屠殺了。Twins 在九
月把我叫上大聯盟－－我早就該在那裡了－－不過我沒有太多上場的機會。我想
我在 20 個打數裡沒有敲出任何安打，但我不太擔心。我做到我該做的，並且我
回到大聯盟了。

After that year, I never really went back to the minors again. But when I
look back now and think about what I could have done, how lucky was I? I was
pissed off the Twins were sending me back. I was convinced they didn’t like
me. I was ready to quit and walk away from baseball -- for good -- and the
only thing that stopped me was that my pop was there to calm me down, to talk
to me, to straighten me out. My main man gave me good advice. But what if my
pop wasn’t there? What if I had walked out? What happens to someone who doesn
’t have parents like that, who care for their kids, who really talk to them
and straighten them out and point them in the right direction?

在那年之後，我就沒有再回到小聯盟了。但每當我想到過去，以及想到我曾經作
的決定，我總是想，我到底有多幸運呀？當 Twins 送我回小聯盟的時候，我實
在是氣炸了。我認為他們不喜歡我。我決定不打棒球了－－永遠不打了－－而阻
止我的是我的老爸，他就在那裡，讓我平靜下來，跟我聊天，幫我理清方向。我
生命中最重要的人給了我忠告。但如果我老爸不在那裡的話？如果我放棄棒球的
話？如果有人沒有這種父母的話，誰來關心這些孩子，誰來幫他們理清頭緒，誰
來幫他們指引方向？

I was lucky, bro.

老兄，我真的很幸運。

Like I’ve said a million times, my main man took care of me.

就像我一直說的，那個人總是在照料著我。

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（休息一下......(￣▽￣＃)﹏﹏）

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