標題:Vlad's tryout: Mismatched shoes and a big arm
Vladimir Guerrero的測試會:尺寸不一的鞋子、雷射肩
The wild story of Vlad Guerrero's tryout
Vlad Guerrero測試會幕後的荒誕故事
"I was in the Dominican for my normal visit," former Expos scout Fred Ferreira told MLB.com.
「那次我到多明尼加是例行性的探訪」,前蒙特羅博覽會隊的球探Fred Ferreira告訴MLB.COM
"I had about 20 players or so, 25 maybe.
「我大概要看20到25個球員(測試)。
And just as we get to the gate, a motorcycle pulled up with a player on the back and the fella driving it asked me if we could see another player.
當我們到大門的時候,一架摩托車停下來,從後座放下一個球員。駕駛問我可不可以也看看這位球員,
I said sure and asked what position. He was an outfielder and his name was Vladimir."
我說:『當然好,他是守哪個位置的?』他回答:『外野手,他的名字是Vladimir』。」
During his 16 years in the big leagues, Vladimir Guerrero was larger than life.
在16年的大聯盟生涯中,Vladimir Guerrero是眾所矚目的巨星。
He hit 449 home runs, he won an MVP Award, he stole nearly 200 bases,
他打出449支全壘打,得過一次MVP,盜壘近200次,
his throws felt almost poetic -- unobstructed by gravity or time, sailing along gracefully to their intended targets.
他的長傳簡直如詩如畫,不受重力或時間的影響,優雅地朝目標翱翔而去。
He was known as Big Bad Vlad or Vlad the Impaler or Big Daddy Vladdy.
他以大壞Vlad(Big Bad Vlad)、刺穿者Vlad(Vlad the Impaler)或佛老爹(Big Daddy Vladdy)等外號為人熟知,
Hitters wanted to be like him, pitchers were afraid to throw it near (or even far from) him. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
打者以他為標竿,投手很怕對他丟內角球(甚至丟得開一點也怕)。而他也已獲選進入名人堂。
His family has become a baseball-mashing factory.
他的家族也像是善於產出把球炸裂者的工廠
But was Vlad Guerrero always this famous?
但Vlad Guerrero一直都是這麼出名嗎?
No, he wasn't, and his Expos tryout at the age of 18 shows it.
No, he wasn't, and his Expos tryout at the age of 18 shows it.
不是這樣的,他18歲時在博覽會隊測試會的場景可以佐證。
Here's more on that surreal afternoon back in 1993, in the Dominican Republic town of Mendoza ...
接下來會介紹更多1993年那個在多明尼加Mendoza小鎮超現實的下午...
Guerrero had been to a couple of big league camps before casually dropping in to see Ferreira at the Expos' facility that afternoon.
Guerrero had been to a couple of big league camps before casually dropping in to see Ferreira at the Expos' facility that afternoon.
Guerrero在參加博覽會隊的測試會之前,曾參加過幾個大聯盟球隊的訓練營,
The Dodgers had him for 30 days, the Yankees had tried him out as a pitcher but, for some reason, he didn't stick in either place.
像是在道奇隊(訓練營)待了30天,洋基也讓他以投手身份測試,但出於某一些原因,他沒有定下來。
His brother Wilton -- who had an eight-year MLB career -- did end up getting a contract with Los Angeles.
他的弟弟Wilton——有過8年大聯盟生涯——則有跟道奇隊簽下合約。
18-year-old Vlad had reached his full height, but hadn't totally filled out.
18歲的Vlad身高已完全發育,但還是不夠壯。
He'd been playing baseball since he was 5 years old, just not always with baseballs.
他從5歲起開始打棒球,不過也從事其他運動。
He and his friends used lemons or limes rolled up in socks, guava tree bats and milk cartons for gloves.
他和他的朋友用襪子把檸檬或萊姆包起來當球,用芭樂樹幹當球棒,用牛奶紙盒當手套。
He did have very "large hands," as Ferreira noted in his scouting report,
Ferreira(博覽會隊球探)在球探報告中寫道,Guerrero確實有一雙「大手」
perhaps from years of herding uncooperative cattle on his family's farm in the town of Nizao Bani.
或許源自於他在Nizao Bani小鎮的家族農場放牧,跟難搞的牛打了好幾年交道。
"We generally start with our outfielders throwing to third base, and then home, and he threw, well, sort of exceptionally," Ferreira remembers (Other scouts had compared his arm to Roberto Clemente's).
"We generally start with our outfielders throwing to third base, and then home, and he threw, well, sort of exceptionally," Ferreira remembers (Other scouts had compared his arm to Roberto Clemente's).
「我們通常先讓外野手長傳到三壘,再傳本壘,他的長傳,怎麼說呢,有點出乎意料。」Ferreira回憶道。(有其他球探則認為他的雷射肩堪比傳奇球星Roberto Clemente)
"He opened my eye immediately. You wanna see life on the ball and it had that skip in the infield. It wasn't a ball that was bouncing to third. On the fly, real good."
"He opened my eye immediately. You wanna see life on the ball and it had that skip in the infield. It wasn't a ball that was bouncing to third. On the fly, real good."
「他立刻讓我的眼睛為之一亮,(他的長傳)簡直讓棒球有了生命力,球在內野落地的彈跳也不是那種碎跳,還有球飛行的軌跡,真的很讚!」
"Our next step would be running the 60-yard dash," Ferreira says. "Vladimir ran -- he was one of the first three or four to go
「下一階段的測試是60碼衝刺(54公尺)」, Ferreira說:「Vladimir跑得...他是跟第一批3或4個球員一起跑的,
-- and he ran a 6.6, which was exceptional for me. ... And uh, he had two different shoes on."
他6.6秒就跑完,簡直把我震驚了...呃...而且,他的雙腳穿了不同的鞋。」
Ferreira asked Vlad if he had another pair of shoes like that at home, and Vlad laughed.
Ferreira問Vlad在家裡有沒有一雙像樣一點的鞋子,Vlad只是笑了笑。
"Yeah, they were two different colors," Ferreira recalls. "I spotted it right away but didn't say anything.
「對啊,就是兩種不同的顏色。我馬上就注意到了,但沒說什麼。」Ferreira回憶,
He put half of a sock at the top of one.
他其中一隻襪子還拉到另外一隻襪子的一半。
You might get a 6.8 or 6.9, but he ran a 6.6 and that was enough right there."
「通常跑6.8秒6.9秒就不錯了,6.6秒足以令人驚艷。」
Two tools that can't really be taught: Throwing and running (with mismatched shoes).
有兩項技能是不能透過教授就學會的,就是長傳跟衝刺(還穿著尺寸不一的鞋)。
有兩項技能是不能透過教授就學會的,就是長傳跟衝刺(還穿著尺寸不一的鞋)。
Vlad had excelled at both, which made everyone wonder, "Who is that kid?"
Vlad卻兩全其美,讓所有人好奇:「這個小子到底是誰啊?」
Now, it was time to hit.
現在,來到測試打擊的時刻了。
Now, it was time to hit.
現在,來到測試打擊的時刻了。
Ferreira had Guerrero bat leadoff so he could see him seven or eight times before he had to catch a flight back to Miami.
Ferreira讓Guerrero打第一棒,所以在他飛回邁阿密之前,可以觀察他7、8次。
"So he's leading off the first inning, he hits a ground ball to the hole at short, and he's running down the first-base line
「他在第一局首打席打了一個游擊方向,有機會穿出去的滾地球,他沿著一壘邊線狂衝,
and boom -- he pulls a muscle," Ferreira recalls. "I walked over to him and knew he probably wouldn't continue any more today."
結果...啪!他拉傷了肌肉。」Ferreira回憶:「我走向他,大概知道他無法繼續今天的測試了。」
But Ferreira, a man known as "The Shark of the Caribbean" for his signings of great Hispanic players like Jose Vidro, Bernie Williams and Orlando Cabrera,
But Ferreira, a man known as "The Shark of the Caribbean" for his signings of great Hispanic players like Jose Vidro, Bernie Williams and Orlando Cabrera,
但Ferreira以「加勒比海的鯊魚」聞名,曾簽下西班牙裔球員,像是Jose Vidro、Bernie Williams及Orlando Cabrera等人(註2),
had seen all he needed to see. (Hence his scouting report for Vlad, which listed "No found weakness" under the section entitled Weaknesses.)
Ferreira覺得他已經得到他需要的資訊了。(所以他在紀錄Vlad的球探報告關於弱點的分項欄底下寫了:「找不到弱點」)
Ferreira asked the now dejected teenager if he wanted a contract with Montreal.
Ferreira問這位有點垂頭喪氣的年輕人,是否想要跟蒙特羅博覽會隊簽約?
Ferreira asked the now dejected teenager if he wanted a contract with Montreal.
Ferreira問這位有點垂頭喪氣的年輕人,是否想要跟蒙特羅博覽會隊簽約?
Guerrero's eyes lit up, Ferreira went with him to his mother's house in nearby Nizao Bani and they inked a $10,000 deal.
Guerrero眼睛霎時亮了,他跟Ferreira一起去母親靠近Nizao Bani鎮的住處,簽下了一紙10000美金的合約。
Sports Illustrated has since named it the second-best baseball deal ever, behind only the Yankees getting Babe Ruth from the Red Sox.
運動畫刊(Sports Illustrated)評價這是棒球史上第二佳的合約,僅次於洋基跟紅襪交易來Babe Ruth。
Guerrero was immediately put on an Expos-affiliated Dominican League summer team,
Guerrero馬上被安排到博覽會隊所屬的多明尼加聯盟的夏季球隊打球,
and that's where Ferreira saw he could hit a little bit as well.
Ferreira也藉此得見Guerrero的打擊也不差。
"I was anxious to see him the first couple games and he was elite there," Ferreira says.
「頭幾場比賽我迫不及待想看他的表現,他也表現得超水準。」Ferreira說
「頭幾場比賽我迫不及待想看他的表現,他也表現得超水準。」Ferreira說
"Just hitting the ball all over the place. Had a hit wherever it was at. Ten hits in three games. He was player of the month six months in a row."
「Guerrero把球打向全場,球投到哪裡都可以擊出安打,3場比賽就打了10支安打,連續6個月都是單月最佳球員。」
註1:Guerrero的弟弟Wilton Guerrero、姪子Gabriel Guerrero都打過大聯盟;Guerrero的兒子Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 21歲,目前在大聯盟藍鳥隊效力,2019年新人年就繳出出賽123場,打擊率2成72,全壘打15隻、打點69分,新人王票選第6名的好成績。
註2:José Vidro在大聯盟待了12個球季,留下128支全壘打、打擊率.298、打點654分;Bernie Williams生涯16個球季都效力洋基,累計2336支安打、287全壘打、1257分打點、打擊率.297;在大聯盟效力15球季,生涯通算2055支安打,2162盜壘,854打點,兩次金手套。
註2:José Vidro在大聯盟待了12個球季,留下128支全壘打、打擊率.298、打點654分;Bernie Williams生涯16個球季都效力洋基,累計2336支安打、287全壘打、1257分打點、打擊率.297;在大聯盟效力15球季,生涯通算2055支安打,2162盜壘,854打點,兩次金手套。
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