不是全壘打就是三振: 現今的本壘板對決 - 美國職棒

來源: The USA Today
網址: https://tinyurl.com/ya3cwsvv

Boom or bust as homers, strikeouts dominate diamond
不是全壘打就是三振: 現今的本壘板對決

WASHINGTON (AP) — Boom or bust. This is what baseball has become — and that
has owners worried.
不是全壘打就是三振，那似乎變成現在的棒球--也是球隊老闆們擔心的。

"It's just kind of what it is: home runs and strikeouts," Los Angeles Dodgers
pitcher Ross Stripling said.
「好像就變成那樣了：全壘打跟三振，」道奇投手Stripling說。

Stripling had just given up 10th-inning home runs on consecutive pitches to
Houston's Alex Bregman and George Springer on a night players combined for 10
longballs , nearly double the previous All-Star record.
Stripling在明星賽被太色的春天哥在第十局敲出全壘打，前一名太色的Bregman也才敲出
全壘打。總計10發全壘打，比前一屆幾乎多了一倍。

Last fall, you may remember, the Dodgers and Astros totaled 25 home runs in
the World Series , four more than had ever been hit before in a Fall Classic.
去年秋天，大家或許還記得，道奇跟太色在世界大賽總共敲了25發全壘打，比之前記錄還
多了4發。

"It's extremely tough to manufacture hits these days, especially with the
shift," Stripling said after the American League's 8-6 win Tuesday night. "I
certainly understand that's where the game's going, and so I think this game
encapsulated that."
「現在要打安打是越來越難了，尤其是在佈陣的狀況，」Stripling在星期二晚上美聯以
8-6打敗國聯後說到。「我當然了解現在棒球的走向，所以我認為今晚的球賽說明了一
切。」

It took until the 344th pitch for a run to be driven in on something other
than a homer, Michael Brantley's tack-on sacrifice fly that boosted the AL's
lead to 8-5. Joey Votto added the final home run in the bottom half, four
more than the previous All-Star mark.
全場總共投了第344球後終於有一分不是靠全壘打打下的，Brantley犧牲打讓美聯多添了一
分保險，然後下半局Votto再扛了全場最後一發全壘打，總計十發，比之前的明星賽記錄還
多了4發。

"Everybody's throwing 97 to 100," Washington ace Max Scherzer, the NL
starter, said in a reference to pitch velocity. "You're not going to string
three hits together like that. So everybody's just swinging for the fence."
「現在每個人都丟97-100，」國聯先發投手薛蛇講到投手的球速。「你不太可能可以在投
手都丟那種球速下連續打3支安打拿分，所以現在每個人都是敲大棒。」

Hours earlier, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred was expressing alarm.
Strikeouts (24,537) are on track to surpass hits (24,314) for the first time
and are likely to set a record for the 12th straight season. This year's
average of 17.0 per game is up from 12.6 in 2005. The current big league
batting average of .247 would be the lowest since 1972.
幾個小時前，聯盟主席Manfred才警示過。記錄第一次，本季三振數(24537次)已經超過安
打數(24314支)，而且會連續第12年創紀錄。今年的平均是每場17次三振，2005年是只有
12.6個。目前聯盟平均打擊率是.247，1972年以來的新低。

And the average of 2.28 homers per game is just below the record 2.51 set
last year.
目前全壘打是2.28/場，只比去年2.51/場低。

"Standard operation nowadays, right? We're going to homer-and-punch-out as an
industry," said Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who led the AL to victory. There's
a great love affair with both results."
「那大概是現在棒球的SOP了，是吧? 我們將變成全壘打-三振的棒球產業，」太色的總教
練Hinch說。「兩種結果都是讓人著迷的。」

Among 90 plate appearances, 44 ended in a home run, strikeout (25) or walk
(nine), at 48.9 percent the highest in All-Star history, according to STATS.
根據STATS，90上場打擊，總計44個以全壘打，三振(25次)以及保送(9次)做收，48.9趴，
是歷屆明星賽最高。

"I don't really want to see guys shorten up and slap the ball around the
infield just to avoid a strikeout. That doesn't excite me," Colorado's
Charlie Blackmon, who won the NL batting title last year while hitting 37
home runs. "I don't mind strikeouts. That doesn't mean I want guys swinging
way out of the zone, but it doesn't bother me."
「我不想看到球員拿短棒把球打到內野，只為了不被三振。那引不起我的興趣，」落磯選
手Blackmon說，他去年拿下國聯打擊王，打了37發全壘打。「我不介意被三振，我不是要
叫大家去追打好球區以外的球，只是三振對我來說不會怎樣。」

Many cite shifts as the cause of the, well, big shift in offense,
transforming groundballs that once were hits into outs. There have been
20,587 shifts on balls in play, according to Baseball Info Solutions. That
projects to a full-season total of 34,668 — up 29.8 percent from last year
and an increase from 6,882 for the entire 2013 season.
很多人認為佈陣也是造成現今棒球的原因，把以前一些會是滾地安打的變成了出局。據統
計，本季累計有20,587次佈陣，預計本季結束可以到34,668次--比去年增加了29.8趴，
2013年整季也才6,882次。

"There is a growing consensus or maybe even better an existing consensus
among ownership that we need to have a really serious conversation about
making some changes to the way the game is being played," Manfred said. "We
are not at the point where I can articulate for you what particular rule
changes might get serious consideration. I can tell you the issues that
concern people: I think that the period of time between putting balls in
play, the number of strikeouts, to a lesser extent the number of home runs,
the significance of the shift and what it's done to the game, the use of
relief pitchers and the way starting pitchers are going to be used."
「現在有共識在球隊老闆群裡，我們應該要認真討論現在的棒球，要做些改變了，」主席
Manfred說。「我現在不能告訴你什麼樣的規則改變是我們有再認真思考的。我能告訴你的
是，像是BA之間的時間，三振數，減少一些全壘打，佈陣的重要性以及它對比賽的影響，
救援投手的使用，以及如何使用先發投手等。」

When it comes to change, players are Luddites. Union head Tony Clark
maintained his members are "stewards of the game" and are resistant to
tinkering with the rules for fear of unintended consequences.
當談到改變，球員就是死腦筋的了。工會主席Clark堅持球員才是棒球的"主角"，對於調整
規則他們則擔心會有無法預測的後果。

"We may get to a point where those coming to the ballpark or have an interest
in coming to the ballpark for whatever reason aren't 100 percent certain that
what they are seeing is the type of game that they want to see," Clark said.
「我們可能會到了一種狀況是，那些想要來球場看球的球迷，不管是什麼原因，希望要看
到的比賽不是要那種百分百確定要看哪種比賽的狀況了。」Clark說。

Home runs bring the crowd to its feet, especially by the home team. Think
back to the 1998 Nike advertisement with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, titled
"Chicks Dig the Long Ball." The Yankees' Aaron Judge started the barrage with
a second-inning solo shot off Scherzer.
全壘打確實可以讓球迷開心，尤其是對地主球迷。1998年Nike的廣告，找了Maddux跟
Glavine來拍，標題是"女生喜歡大砲"(Chicks Dig the Long Ball)。洋基大砲Judge在明
星賽第二局就從薛蛇手上打了一支陽春砲。

"I know the fans enjoy seeing these homers," Judge said.
「我知道球迷最愛看全壘打了，」Judge說。

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