Poscast with my baseball hero - 美國職棒

Poscast with my baseball hero
Joe Posnanski
MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2011



（這篇是SI專欄作家 Joe Posnanski 所寫的文章，關於他的英雄，球員時代的 Duane
Kuiper。Joe Posnanski 是個非常棒的運動作家，而 Kuiper，也許是如今棒球世界最好
的播報員。）



There's a baseball bat in my office that I sometimes pick up when stuck
between paragraphs. I don't swing the bat, at least not at full speed. No, I
put it up against my shoulder and walk around with it for a little while. I
let it quiver behind my head as I imagine standing in against fastballs.
After a while, I put the bat down and return to my writing. I could say that
the bat helps me think, a wooden muse, but that's not exactly right. I could
say the bat clarifies things in my head, sharpens them, and that's true ...
but no that's not quite right either. The bat reminds me exactly why I do
this ... and maybe why someone keeps paying me to do it ... and maybe why I
got so lucky.

每當文思阻扼，我常會拾起辦公室角落的球棒。我並不揮棒，至少不是全力揮擊。不。我
將棒子斜靠肩上，走個幾步。有時讓它在腦後輕輕搖晃，想像自己面對一記耀眼的快速球
。良久，再放下棒子，回去寫作。或者我可以聲稱球棒幫助了我的思緒，如木製的繆思，
但並非如此；或者說它猛烈擊中了我某些想法，其實也不盡然……。好像都不大對。它提
醒了我為何從事這項工作……也許解釋了為何有人仍願支付薪資讓我從事這項工作………
也許它說明了我有多幸運。


* * *

One of the wonder of our games. I think, is that they are exactly as
important or unimportant as you make them. A pitcher could throw a perfect
game in the seventh game of the World Series, and it wouldn't mean much of
anything to my mother, for instance.* On the other hand, an intentional walk
to Yuni Betancourt in a June Brewers-Marlins game might set me off on a
5,000-word post. It is not just perspective, it is commitment. It is all
about how deeply you want to enter the world.

一項我們的賽場上的神奇魔咒。球員們可以如你所想要的那般重要（或不重要）。比方說
，一名投手在世界大賽第七戰投出完全比賽，對我媽而言可能並不代表什麼。然而，如果
六月中的釀酒人與馬林魚之戰，有人敬遠 Yuni Betancourt，也許我會怒寫五千字分析文
章，憤擊鍵盤如飛（譯按：六月，戰況尚未吃緊。Yuni Betancourt，絕非釀酒人打線最
危險的前五名打者）。凡此種種，非關視角，這是獻身與承諾。這一切取決於你願意多深
入這個世界。


*Then again: what happens on Dancing With The Stars and American Idol means
quite a lot to her, and absolutely nothing to me. All depends on your world.

*同樣的，《與明星共舞》(Dancing With The Stars) 及《美國偶像》(American Idol)
發生的那些大小事對我媽都有深刻意義，卻與我絕緣。端看你處於哪個世界。


When I was 10, I wrapped myself in the world of the 1977 Cleveland Indians. I
don't recall this being much of a choice, but looking back on it I guess it
was a choice. Nobody I knew cared as much. Even though we were all 10 in
school, there was a cynical strain running through the other kids in my
class, and they mostly made the entirely sensible and terribly unromantic
decision that the Indians were not worthy of their best hopes. Even by then,
more than 30 years ago, the Indians had not been to the World Series in
almost 25 years -- an impossibly long stretch of time to a 10-year-old -- and
the last time Cleveland HAD reached the World Series it was upset and swept
and humiliated by the New York Giants. The Indians were of great interest, of
course, because we were kids, and they were our baseball team. But the other
kids in school seemed to understand what I plainly did not ... that the
Cleveland Indians were not very good at baseball.


十歲時，我捲入1977年克里夫蘭印地安人隊的世界中。我不確定這是否為一選擇，至少現
在回首，我猜這是個選擇後的結果吧。沒有人比還在意他們。即使我們都只是十歲的孩子
，班上總會有些冷言冷語，理性地宣佈印地安人根本不值得他們的祝福。即使當時（將近
三十年前），印地安人已近二十五年未能攻入世界大賽。二十五年，溢出一個十歲小孩所
能想像時間的極限。而上一次他們打進世界大賽的結果：慘遭紐約巨人隊羞辱地橫掃。直
落四。我們愛那支印地安人，當然了，我們不過是些孩子，印地安人是我們的球隊。但學
校裏另外那些人似乎看得比我更明白一些……是的，我們的克里夫蘭印地安人不大擅長打
棒球。


I pinned my hopes on them every year -- full, unabashed, unchained hopes. I
was not much into analysis. To me, Rick Waits could be Ron Guidry. Why
couldn't he? Rick Manning could be Fred Lynn. Buddy Bell could be George
Brett. Jim Kern could be Goose Gossage. Charlie Spikes could be Dave Parker.
I believed in the depth of potential, the certainty that any of us could wake
up tomorrow and be someone else, someone better. I was, at the time, the
shortest kid in class, the one wearing the thick glasses, the kid who so
clearly wasn't the smartest or the most athletic or most artistic or most
musical or most anything.


每一年我都堅決支持他們。全心全意，毫不羞赧，不可自拔。戰力分析於我沒什麼意義。
對我而言，Rick Waits（譯按：生涯EAR+ 93，軟派投手）可以是 Ron Guidry（塞揚獎投
手，四屆全明星，五屆金手套。路易斯安那閃電。臺灣人都知道的王葛格恩師），有何不
可？Rick Manning（生涯 56轟男）可以是 Fred Lynn（新人王，MVP，連九屆全明星），
Buddy Bell（轉戰德州後才變身超人）就是 George Brett（三千安，古柏鎮，皇家先生
），Jim Kern (ERA+ 116) 可以是 Goose Gossage (ERA+ 244)，Charlie Spikes（玻璃
人）是 Dave Parker（蜘蛛人）。我相信潛力無可限量，相信明天早上醒來，我們都有可
能變成另一個人，更好的人。那時我的身高全班最矮，厚眼鏡，顯然不是班上最聰明的孩
子，也不是最會運動、最有藝術天份、最有音樂細胞，或最其它任何有的沒的。


But tomorrow, who knows? I kept believing in the power of tomorrow morning.

但明天，誰知道呢。我始終相信明天早晨的力量。


Duane Kuiper was my hero on those Indians teams. There was an uncomplicated
reason for this. Kuip played second base and I played second base. When you
are 10, you don't need much more than that. The kid next door can be your
best friend because ... he's the kid next door. Accessibility is 90% of
everything when you are 10.


Duane Kuiper 是印地安人眾將中我的英雄。理由並不複雜。Kuip 守二壘，我也守二壘。
當你只有十歲時，這就夠了。住在隔壁的小鬼可以是你最好的朋友因為……他住隔壁。可
得性高、容易接近，影響十歲小孩的萬事萬物超過九成。


That said, I'm not sure that if I had played shortstop that Frank Duffy would
have been my hero. There was something Duane Kuiper, something about the way
he played baseball that deepened and strengthened the connection. I've tried
to explain it before ... Duane Kuiper, I feel quite certain, dived for more
ground balls than any player of his era. Players would later tell me they
called him "Step and a dive Kuiper," and that matches my memory. He was
ALWAYS on the ground. This seems kind of a funny thing now, a quirky thing,
but then it only meant to me that Duane Kuiper cared more and made more plays
than anyone else. It never occurred to me, not even once, that perhaps other
second basemen, like the regal Frank White, were making the same plays
standing up. I can assure you that no one in the South Euclid Little League
dived for more ground balls than I did.


縱使如此，我不確定如果當年我守的是游擊，Frank Duffy（’77年印第安人游擊手）會
不會是我的英雄。Duane Kuiper，怎麼說呢，他某種打球的方式總是加深、堅固了這種聯
繫。記得我曾解釋過了……，Duane Kuiper，我這麼相信著，比當時所有球員撲過更多滾
地球。球員們後來告訴我他們稱他「移動飛撲男 Kuiper」，完美符合我的回憶。總是倒
在紅土地上，現在想來似乎有些好笑，甚至滑稽。但當時那一切對我只說明了一件事：
Duane Kuiper 比任何人都在意球賽。我從沒想過（一次都沒有），也許其它二壘手能身
不沾泥的接傳同一個滾地球，比如帝王 Frank White。我敢保證南歐幾里德少棒聯盟沒人
撲的滾地球比我多。


Duane's weaknesses as a player have been well-covered on this blog. He could
not get on base as often as you might hope for an every day player -- his
.325 career on-base percentage was below league average. He could not run
particularly fast. His stolen base percentage -- he stole 52 bases and was
caught 71 times -- is one of the worst in baseball history. Most famously, he
hit one home run in a startlingly long career.


Duane 身為一名球員的缺點，我已在此部落格好好提過了。他的上壘率不能達到一名每日
先發選手的水準（上壘率 .325，低於聯盟平均）、速度不算飛快（盜壘成功 52 次，失
敗 71 次，盜壘成功率史上倒數）。最著名者，他在漫漫生涯長路中只擊出了 1 支全壘
打。


And yet, the career was long. Kuip got 1,000 games in the big leagues -- more
than any non-pitcher with one or fewer homers. Why did he play so long? I
didn't know for sure as a kid, but I'm sure I sensed it. Everybody loved
Duane Kuiper. They loved how hard he played. They loved the cheerful attitude
he brought with him to every game. They loved the knowledge that he would
dive for every ground ball, and that he would almost always put the ball in
play, and that he would play with everything he had all the time. It is human
nature, I think, to lean to the C+ person who is giving everything over the
B- person who is not. Duane Kuiper exuded joy and effort. For a 10-year-old
boy entirely certain that he had been given no particular talents, that made
Kuip everything I wanted to be.


何況，他的生涯著實長久。Kuip 在大聯盟打滾超過一千場，比任何生涯一發野手都多。
他怎麼能撐這麼久？當我還是個孩子時，我不能確定，唯確定我感覺到了一點什麼。大家
都愛Duane Kuiper。人們喜歡他的拼勁，喜歡他為每一場比賽帶來的樂觀積極，喜歡知道
他會撲接每一個滾地球，幾乎每次都能攔下，起身，全力傳球，每一球。人們總會傾向選
擇全力付出的 C+ 選手而非有所保留的 B- 選手，天性使然。Duane Kuiper 身上流露著
喜悅與努力，對一名自知沒有任何特殊才能的十歲小孩，這讓 Kuip 成為了我想成為的唯
一。

* * *

I've written this before ... I never once, my entire childhood, had anyone
tell me that I could write well. Not once. I know people in this crazy
journalism business, a lot of them, who have always known their destiny, who
started neighborhood newspapers when they were 3, who broke the story of
lunchroom corruption when they were in the fifth grade, who wrote their first
novel at 11. I meet more and more young people who know their destiny, and I
admire and am even a bit jealous of their conviction.


我曾經提過……整個童年，沒有人告訴過我（一次也沒有）我擁有寫作才能。我知道在這
瘋狂的新聞界，許多人帶著天生的烙印而來。有些人三歲能編輯街譚巷議，有些人五年級
便報導揭發了餐館的小貪污。有人十一歲寫成小說。我遇見越來越多年輕人前知自己的天
職，我羨慕，甚至有些嫉妒他們的信念。


Because no one ever told me that I could write, I was obsessed in my early
journalism years with the concept of "talent." I would ask myself (and anyone
who would listen) the same question: Am I TALENTED enough to make a living as
a sportswriter? The answers were generally unsatisfying. None of my closest
friends knew any sportswriters. My parents did not know any sportswriters.
And so, it was a foreign world for them. Was I talented enough? How would
they know? I wasn't a bad speller. I put too many commas in my sentences --
cut down on those. Try not to use too many big words. Beyond that, though,
none of them could really help me. Was I talented enough? The best plan,
everyone agreed, seemed to be to keep doing it until they called me in and
made me turn in my playbook.


因為沒人肯定我能寫作，剛入行時，我曾深深為「才能」二字傷神。我時常捫心自問（並
且問任何願意傾聽者），我是否有足夠「才能」成為一名運動作家？答案總不能令人滿意
。我每一個要好的朋友都不認識半個運動作家，我父母不知道任何運動作家。於是，我成
了一座被遺忘的孤島。我有足夠的才能嗎？他們怎麼知道呢？我的拼字還算不錯。我句子
中逗號太多（需改正）。我該少用些華而不實的詞彙。除此之外，他們無法再提供更多奧
援。我是否有足夠的才能？最好的計畫或許是（大家似乎也都這麼認為）繼續撐下去，直
到他們叫我回家，繳收我的 playbook。


But, it turns out, that plan was exactly right for me. It was the plan I had
unknowingly learned from Duane Kuiper. See, he played in the big leagues
without speed and without power, he played in the big leagues by showing up
every day filled with energy and life and the stubbornness to dive for every
ground ball, the hunger to put the ball in play over and over in the hopes
that enough of them would squeeze through. Now, years later, I realize that
THIS is talent too, maybe the most useful talent, the talent of the every
day. I worked absurdly hard ... I really did. I read everything. I wrote
constantly. I traveled as far away as they would let me, to the smallest
towns they could find, to write the stories that would appeal to the fewest
people. And I did it all joyfully, because in time I found that I loved
writing about as much as Duane Kuiper loved baseball. That was my talent. I
loved this stuff.


然後結果是，這個計畫完全奏效。這計畫是我在無意識中向 Duane Kuiper 所習得。看，
他沒有傑出的有速度與長打力，卻能在大聯盟生存，他之能如此，在於每一天的全力投入
賽場，投入生活，在於他撲接每一個滾地球的固執，在於他對接下每一球的飢渴，日復一
日保持希望，希望能搆著小白球的一部份，越多越好。時光飛逝，我開始明白這也是某種
「才能」，也許是更有用的一種，一種關於日常生活的才能。我努力工作……真的，我盡
可能地閱讀，持續寫作，我願意到最偏遠的地方，最荒涼的城鎮，採訪可能是最少人能讀
到的報導。然而我充滿感激，因為我最終發現，我熱愛寫作一如 Duane Kuiper 熱愛棒球
。這是我的才能，我熱愛這項工作。


I once heard Bruce Springsteen talk about the story behind one of his songs.
And when he finished explaining the song, line for line, he said something
like this: "How much of this was I actively thinking when I wrote the song?
None of it. But how much of it was INSIDE me when I wrote this song? All of
it." That's what I think about my connection to Duane Kuiper. I was just a
short 10-year-old kid with glasses who lived in Cleveland. Had I grown up in
Kansas City, I'm sure my hero would have been Frank White. Had I grown up in
New York, it would have been Willie Randolph. Had I grown up in Boston, it
might have been Rick Burleson. So when I flopped around and pretended to be
Duane Kuiper day after day -- in the backyard, in my basement, on the
diamond-hard Little League fields of Bexley Park -- I was not thinking about
how much that connection would shape my life.


我曾聽過 Bruce Springsteen 談到他歌曲背後的故事。當他終於結束逐行闡釋後，他說
：「在寫作當下，多少這些故事進入了我的思緒？也許沒有。但在那時，多少這些故事已
經內化於我？全部。」這也是我想像中 Duane Kuiper 與我的聯繫。我是個克里夫蘭長大
的十歲眼鏡矮子，假使我生在堪薩斯，那麼我的英雄該當會是 Frank White。若我生在紐
約，那會是 Willie Randolph。生於波士頓，也許就是 Rick Burleson。所以當我重重撲
摔，在我家後院，地下室，在有著如鑽石般硬土的 Bexley 少棒球場，聲稱我要成為
Duane Kuiper，我實未曾想過這樣的聯繫會如何改變我的人生。


But all of it was inside me. I'm a prisoner of narrative -- one of the
hazards of the job, I suppose -- but I remain convinced that a part of how I
ended up doing what I'm doing and living the lucky life I live was that when
I was a kid I watched Duane Kuiper play baseball and wanted to be just like
him.


但這些皆在我之中。我常被困在字句與敘述之間（職業風險，我想），但我仍堅信我之能
從事今天的職業，過著如此幸運的生活，部份原因是小時候我曾看著 Duane Kuiper 打棒
球，模仿 Duane Kuiper 打棒球。

* * *


It was inevitable, I suppose, that Duane Kuiper would find out that he was my
hero. I mean, I wrote about it a lot. Duane, as longtime announcer for the
Giants, was certain to hear about it.

無可避免地，我想，Duane Kuiper 將會發現他是我心中的英雄。我如此頻繁地描寫。
Duane，資深的巨人隊球賽主播，終將耳聞此事。


Duane is an extremely modest man ... he knows exactly what kind of player he
was. And, at the same time, I think he takes a lot of pride in his career, as
he should. He played in the big leagues! How many people can say that? What's
more, he STARTED in the big leagues! Of all the kids in the world who play
baseball, he was one of the few to reach the pinnacle, to really live the
dream, and he loved it, every minute of it.

Duane 是位極謙遜的紳士。他知道他屬於哪一種球員。而我想他對自己的球員生涯該要感
到驕傲。他打過大聯盟！有多少人能這般宣稱？更有甚者，他是大聯盟的先發球員！全世
界所有打棒球的小孩中，極少數才能站在巔峰，夢想成真，而他熱愛他的棒球，每分每秒
。

And, deep down, I think most ballplayers, maybe even all ballplayers, would
love to think that they inspired someone. I would love to ask Barry Bonds
that question. He seemed so bitter at times, so angry at times, so cheated at
times ... but deep down I can't help but wonder: Didn't he want to believe
that there was a kid out there -- maybe a bitter kid, maybe an angry kid,
maybe a kid who felt cheated by life -- who watched him play and was inspired
and became something he might not have otherwise become? Corny, sure, but
don't we all wish that just a little bit?


何況，內心深處，我想大部分的球員，也許每一個球員，都會高興他們激勵了某人。我會
很樂意去問 Barry Bonds 這個問題。他有時看來極苦澀，有時極憤怒，有時作了過多欺
騙。但我無法不如此揣想，難道內心深處，他不曾希望有個小孩（也許是痛苦的、憤怒的
孩子，也許是感受生活中種種欺騙的孩子）受到他的啟發，然後成為了不一樣的另一個人
？


I know Duane wished it. In a long history of baseball players, Duane Kuiper
does not stand out except for the single home run he hit off Steve Stone. But
in his own history, in his own life, his is a remarkable story. He is the son
of a Wisconsin dairy farmer. To this day, he wakes up early every morning. He
worked hard on the farm, and he worked hard at baseball, making himself the
best player he could become. I know Duane wished that there was someone,
maybe a few someones, out there who were just a little bit inspired by his
story.


我知道 Duane 是如此希望的。在漫長的棒球史上，Duane Kuiper 不曾特別出色（除了他
敲過 Steve Stone 那隻全壘打）。但他自己的歷史，在他的生活中，他擁有非凡的故事
。Duane 出身威斯康辛酪農之家，至今拂曉即起。他在農莊中努力工作，在棒球場辛勤耕
耘，成為他所能成為最好的球員。我知道 Duane 會期待有人，即使只有少許，能因為他
的故事受到一些激勵。


A year or so ago, a long tubular package came by mail. It was in my office
when I first saw it. I opened it up ... and inside was a Duane Kuiper used
bat. He thought I might like it.

大約一年之前，一件長管狀郵件寄到我的辦公室。我打開它……裏面是 Duane Kuiper 曾
使用的球棒。他想我會喜歡的。


Whenever I'm stuck between paragraphs, I pick up that bat and let it remind
me ... of something ... something as important to me as just about anything.

當我在文句段落間困厄時，我便拾起球棒，讓它提醒我一些事情……一些對我而言，無比
重要的事情。


* * *

This week, as mentioned, the Poscast is with Duane Kuiper. Among the many
great bits her shared was this: Duane is almost certainly the only player of
recent vintage, probably ever, to seriously consider failing a physical so
that he could stay in Cleveland. He is, undoubtedly, the only person to get
married in Hawaii and honeymoon in Cleveland. He is also the greatest guy in
the world; there's no better feeling than having your hero live up to all
your expectations and go beyond.


本週的 Poscast 訪問對象，將是Duane Kuiper。訪談中將提及，Duane 幾乎是有史以來
唯一企圖在交易體檢中失敗，以求留在克里夫蘭的球員。他也毫無疑問地是唯一在夏威夷
結婚，卻趕回克里夫蘭蜜月的人。他是世上最棒的人。沒有任何事比你的英雄符合甚至超
越你的期待，能令人感覺更好了。



文章連結：
http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2011/04/poscast-with-my-baseball-hero.html

訪問連結：
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/podcasts/joe_posnanski/


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