中英對照版》名人堂投手Dizzy Dean獨到的復出方式

原文連結：https://www.mlb.com/news/dizzy-dean-unretired-from-the-broadcast-booth?t=offbeat

標題：

Hall of Famer exits booth, takes mound

The one-of-a-kind Dizzy Dean returned in a one-of-a-kind way

名人堂選手離開播音間 再戰投手丘

獨一無二的Dizzy Dean（註1）以獨一無二的方式復出

內文：

Forget Jordan returning from retirement -- twice.

別管（Michael） Jordan退休後兩度復出了。

Ignore Andy Pettite’s return to the Bronx.

也請忽略Andy Pettite曾一度在紐約洋基復出。

And don’t even think about Gronk’s upcoming reunion with Tom Brady.（註2）

甚至連Rob Gronkowski即將要復出與Tom Brady團員再戰都不夠看。

Dizzy Dean had the chance to be the greatest to ever come back from retirement.

Dizzy Dean才有機會一搏從退休後復出的最佳姿態

It has less to do with the fact that he did it six years after he retired -- after all, he was still only 37 -- but how he managed to make his return to the mound.

不過跟年齡沒有什麼關係，畢竟當時他才37歲而已，而是他如何回歸投手丘的方式。

Few players in baseball history can match Diz, on or off the field.

棒球史上很少有選手在場內外與Diz並駕齊驅。

The Hall of Famer absolutely decimated offenses when he and his brother Paul led the Gashouse Gang Cardinals teams of the 1930s.

這位名人堂選手在1930年代與弟弟Paul（Dean，也是投手，註3）帶領「煤氣工幫」紅雀重挫了對手的火力。

He won 58 games in 1934-35 and led the league in strikeouts for four consecutive seasons.

Dizzy Dean在1934到1935年共拿下58場勝投，並且已連續4個球季勇奪全聯盟的三振王。

He racked up complete games at a rate few could ever match (he led the league in that category three times) -- and when he didn’t start, the Cardinals were sure to call on him to close games out.

他累計完投比賽的速度少有人及（完投數曾3次居聯盟之冠）——而且當Dean沒先發的時候，紅雀還會叫他上場終結比賽。

As good as his right arm was, his mouth was even more famous.

正如他如此優秀的右手臂，他的嘴更加出名。

He regularly bragged about his abilities on the field, claiming that he and his brother Paul could almost single-handedly deliver a World Series championship to the Cardinals.

Dean總是誇口他在場上的能力，聲稱幾乎只憑他和弟弟保羅之力，就為紅雀隊奪下世界大賽冠軍。

Of course, he also famously said, “It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up," and the duo proved that true in the team's 1934 World Series victory.

當然，Dean也有流傳甚廣的一句話是：「如何你真能做得到，那就不是吹噓。」1934年紅雀隊奪下世界冠軍，這對兄弟檔確實扮演重要力量。

The next year, during a Spring Training game against the Giants – the team that had lost five straight to hand St. Louis the NL pennant -- 

隔年（1935年），春訓期間紅雀對上巨人隊（譯者註：當時還是紐約巨人）——也就是在1934年連輸掉5場比賽，以至於把國聯冠軍錦旗拱手讓給紅雀的球隊（譯者註：當時美、國聯龍頭直接打世界大賽）。

Dean walked by their dugout, asking if anyone could cash a $5,300 check (the exact amount of a World Series bonus).

Dean走到巨人隊的休息區，他問有沒有人可以兌換一張5300美元的支票（金額正是世界大賽的獎金）。

“I wanna thank you fellas for collapsin’ so we could make all that dough,” he said.

他說：「我要感謝你們兵敗如山倒，我們才可以得到這筆錢。」

Naturally, all that talking set him up to become the ideal broadcaster.

自然而然地，這樣的口才讓他日後成為稱職的廣播聲音。

After retiring because of arm pain in 1941, he soon became the voice of the Cardinals and Browns alongside Johnny O’Hara.

Dean在1941年因手臂疼痛退休，他很快就成為播報紅雀和聖路易布朗隊（譯者註：Browns，巴爾的摩金鶯隊前身）的球評，跟Johnny O’Hara搭配。

That continued or a few years, but in 1947, he started calling the Browns exclusively.

Dean的球評生涯又延續了幾年，從1947年開始，他甚至單獨播報布朗隊的比賽。

That may not have been great for the Brownies. They were -- to put it lightly -- terrible.

但那年對布朗隊而言不是很好，即便含蓄地評價也是：很糟。

They went 59-95 that year -- the worst in the Majors.

當年布朗隊的戰績是59勝95敗，大聯盟最糟。

They scored the third-fewest runs, and gave up the fourth-most.

他們的得分倒數第三，卻丟掉第四多的分數。

They drew just over 4,000 fans a game, the least in the league by far.

他們每場只吸引4000名觀眾，至今都是大聯盟最糟的紀錄。

That gave Dean plenty to complain about on the air, using his own unique of way of describing things.

這反倒給了Dean在播報時大量抱怨的素材，而且是以他獨到描述事物的方式。

“Doggone it, brother, get the ball over the plate,” Dean said on one broadcast. “Don’t walk that guy. Doggone it, I swear I could do better than a lot of those guys pitching these days.”

「真該死，老兄，把球傳到本壘啊。」Dean一次在播報時這樣說：「拜託不要保送那個人，真該死，我保證我還可以比現在很多人投得好。」

The fans loved Dean's boast, and started sending countless telegrams to the old hurler saying that he should do exactly that: Get on the field and show the St. Louis pitchers how it's done.

球迷太愛Dean的播報了，發送了無數封電報給這個老投手，告訴他就應該照他說的那樣做：上場秀給那些聖路易布朗隊的投手看，應該怎麼做才對。

The Browns, always desperate for something to entice fans to come to the park, decided it was a good idea and signed him to a contract on Sept. 18. (For once, Dean was happy with the amount. “It’s the best contract I ever got,” Dean said, “since it’s the first one I didn’t send back for more money.”)

此時的布朗隊渴求能吸引觀眾入場的誘因，認為這的確是個好主意，所以在9月18日跟Dean簽訂合約（Dean對合約金額感到滿意，他說：「這是我拿到過最棒的合約，是第一個我沒有退回，要求更多錢的合約。」）

Dean and Smith made sure the cameras were around for the signing, too：

Dean和布朗隊的公共關係主管Ed Smith簽約時，還確定有被鏡頭圍繞：

Though the team’s publicity director Ed Smith said that Dean would pitch at the manager’s discretion, skipper Herald “Muddy” Ruel seemed less enthused. 

Smith說Dean會遵循總教練的指令投球，但教頭「泥人（Muddy）」Herald Ruel的似乎沒那麼感興趣。

On the same day that Dean’s contract was inked, Ruel said he had heard nothing about it other than it seemed like the fans were excited.

就在簽約當天，Ruel說他對此事毫無所悉，但球迷似乎相當興奮。

When asked if Dean would pitch, he offered a simple, “No comment.”

當被問及會不會讓Dean投球時，他簡短回覆：「不予置評」。

But, with St. Louis assured of its spot in the cellar and the White Sox set to finish not much better, Ruel acquiesced.

但在當年布朗隊確定墊底，以及白襪隊的戰績也好不到哪裡去的情況下，Ruel還是默許了。

On the final day of the season -- Sept. 28, 1947 -- Dean took the mound. 

1947年9月28日，球季的最後一天，Dean站上投手丘。

The plan worked, and 15,910 people paid to see the all-time great play one more time -- the third-most that came to Sportsman’s Park that year.

出奇招奏效了，共有1萬5910人買票進場，見證傳奇巨星再次投球，是當年布朗隊主場「運動員球場」第三多的進場人數。

Of course, not everyone was as enthused with his return. One of the Dayton Daily News’ printers, Carroll Scheibenzuber, said, “Sure, the guy hasn’t thrown a ball in seven years, but as a radio broadcaster, he’s certainly thrown the bull.”

當然，不是所有人都為Dean的回歸感到興奮，《Dayton日報》的印刷商之一Carroll Scheibenzuber表示：「拜託，這傢伙7年沒丟過球了，但作為一個播報員，他的嘴上工夫確實是很厲害啦。」

Perhaps Ruel should have let him pitch sooner. Though he likely had a little less zip on his fastball, he pitched like he played for the other St. Louis team.

或許Ruel應該早點讓Dean上場的。即便Dean的球速慢了一些，他的表現還是像另外一個聖路易球隊（紅雀）的投手。

Dean threw four shutout innings, giving up three hits (one of the infield variety) and, best of all, no runs.

Dean丟出4局無失分，被打出3支安打（其中一支是內野安打），最棒的是沒掉分。

Diz, in classic fashion, also tried to hit with a blue striped bat before the umpire disallowed it, and then proceeded to smack a base hit with a regular piece of pine.

Dean甚至還想留下更多經典畫面，想要以藍色條紋的球棒打擊，但裁判禁止了，但還是用普通的松木球棒打出了安打。

Of course, he would get this comeuppance, 

可想而知，他還是得到「報應」了，

leaving the game with -- you guessed it -- a dreaded injury.

他因——你猜猜——嚴重受傷離場。

It wasn’t even his old, busted pitching arm that got him in trouble.

甚至不是因為他老殘的投球手臂，讓他陷入麻煩。

Just like every guy in his 30s playing a pickup game, Dean pulled a muscle while running to first base.

而是像30多歲偶爾才打一場比賽的人一樣，跑向一壘時拉傷了。

The headlines summed it succinctly:

新聞標題簡潔地總結：Dizzy Dean重返投手丘，但不得不因拉傷離場

Ever the showman, Dean didn’t let that stop him from entertaining the crowd. 

即便如此，也沒有阻止滿身秀味的Dean在那場比賽娛樂觀眾。

When he was called out at second base later in the inning, Dean “pretended that he hadn’t heard the decision,” forcing an umpire to come out and convince him to leave the field.

像是那場比賽他在二壘被判出局，但Dean假裝沒聽見判決，讓裁判不得不上前勸他離場。

When he got back to the bench, he and Johnny Perkins fanned each other with white towels.

當他回到板凳上，他跟Johnny Perkins（註4）用白毛巾互搧巴掌。

Sadly, that injury called for the premature end to Dean’s big league comeback tour, 

難過的是，受傷導致Dean的大聯盟復出之旅的提前結束。

though, sure enough, the Browns’ bullpen did what Dean had been complaining about all season long:

不過，完全在意料之中，布朗隊的牛棚又幹了讓Dean抱怨一整季的事情：

 They gave up five runs in the top of the ninth to lose the game.

他們在九局上半掉了5分輸掉了比賽。

Hey, as Dean always said, it’s not bragging if you can back it up, and he did back it up. At least for a few innings.

對吧，就像Dean總是說，如果你做得到就不是吹噓，他的確做到了，至少持續了幾局。

註1：Dizzy Dean活躍於1930年代，生涯曾效力紅雀、小熊與布朗隊。他在1934年單季拿下30勝，成為國家聯盟最後一位單季達到30勝的投手。1953年入選棒球名人堂。生涯通算150勝，1967局，ERA3.02，1163次三振。
　
註2：兩人皆為美國NFL（國家美式足球聯盟）球員。
　
註3：小Dizzy Dean兩歲，1934、1935都拿下19勝，1943年退役，生涯9個球季通算50勝。
　
註4：喜劇演員。