Ballparks Come, Ballparks Go, the Memories Are Forever
by GEORGE VECSEY
Published: March 30, 2008 The New York Times
http://0rz.tw/6b4hv
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My father played hooky to attend the first game in Yankee Stadium. I always
think of him when I see pictures of the raw new ballpark in the Bronx. The
first time he took me to the Stadium was in 1947 to see a dying man in a
camel hair coat, rasping on the loudspeaker, which made me a Babe Ruth fan
for life. Ever since, the Stadium has seemed funereal to me. But then again,
we were Brooklyn fans.
我父親蹺課去參加了洋基球場的第一場比賽。
每當我看到Bronx區那施工中新球場的照片，我總會想到他。
他第一次帶我去洋基球場是1947年，去看一個著駝毛大衣的垂死之人。
沙啞的聲音從擴音器傳來，我這輩子從此便成了貝比魯斯迷。 （*1）
在那之後，洋基球場總是讓我感覺陰陰的。
不過呢，我們到底曾經是布魯克林隊的球迷。 （*2）
Somehow or other, my other enduring memory is an empty Yankee Stadium on the
day of Martin Luther King’s funeral in 1968, not a soul in the house. My
friend Jim Bouton felt the need to throw that day, so he pitched off the
mound, and I squatted where Berra and Dickey had squatted, using a mitt
borrowed from Coach Jim Hegan’s locker. (Hegan used a falsie to protect his
hand, but I told Bouton I didn’t need the extra armor.) We dressed in the
main clubhouse and used the players’ sauna. The Stadium was stone silent.
我另一個永存的記憶是一座空蕩蕩的洋基球場。
1968年那天，馬丁路德金的喪禮，球場裡一個人影也沒有。
我的朋友Jim Bouton在那天特別想丟球。
所以當他在丘上投出時，我則蹲在那Berra跟Dickey蹲過的地方， （*3）
用著一個從Jim Hegan教練的置物櫃『借』來的手套。
（Heagan有用一個水餃墊來保護他的手，不過我跟Bouton說我不需要多餘的防護。）
我們在主隊休息室更衣，還用了球員們的桑拿。
那時的洋基球場就像石頭一樣安靜。
After decades of working at the Stadium, the original or the instantly
antiquated rebuilt version, I try to see the awe through other people’s eyes
— Tony Gwynn taking videos before the 1998 Series, rookies’ eyes widening,
fans on a pilgrimage. I think of it as a hard place, with Steinbrenner
meanness squashing the humanity in guards, ushers, executives. But I remember
“Good friends we had/good friends we lost/Along the way,” as Bob Marley put
it — Steve Hamilton, Bill Robinson, Bob Fishel, Michael Burke, some of the
finest people I’ve ever known. I think about Mantle’s shot off Barney
Schultz in the 1964 Series. And Bob Sheppard’s dignity. In the last
generation, an old Brooklyn fan could feel immense respect for Joe Torre’s
team.
在這球場工作了幾十年後，保括原來的還有修繕完馬上就被古董化的復刻版，
我試著在別人的眼裡找那一絲驚嘆。
Tony Gwynn在1998世界大賽前用攝影機錄影時、
菜鳥們睜大了的眼睛、球迷們的朝聖之旅。
我認為這是個嚴酷的地方，
Steinbrenner的刻薄打扁了在保安、引座員、球隊經理們中的人性。
不過，就如Bob Marley唱的，我記得那些 （*4）
『那些在途中/我們有過的好朋友/我們失去的好朋友』。
Steve Hamilton，Bill Robinson，Bob Fishel，Michael Burke，
這些我認識過最棒的人啊。
我常想起Mantle在1964年大賽裡，從Barney Schultz手上打出的那一擊；
還有Bob Sheppard表現出的尊嚴。
在這最後的世代，一個布魯克林隊的老球迷對Joe Torre的球隊感到無比的尊敬。
Shea Stadium rose on the ashes of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds, and the
smoldering ashes of the Corona Dumps, memorialized in “The Great Gatsby.”
The Mets arrived in my home borough in 1964, paint still drying, workers
tightening bolts, usherettes dressed like stewardesses, Casey clowning it up.
蕭氏球場（Shea Stadium)從Ebbets Field還有馬球場的塵埃中隆起，
還有那Corona Dumps的灰燼，只能在『The Great Gatsby』裡紀念。 （*5）
大都會隊在1964年來到我家這區。
油漆未乾，工人們忙著旋緊螺栓，女引座員穿的像空中小姐一樣。
Casey變起了戲法。 （*6）
It was a dump built on a dump. I’ve spent months of my life in the doddering
press elevator. I’ve seen fans clawing at the sod in 1969, paint peeling off
the seats in the late ’70s, and Mookie Wilson’s bizarre at-bat in 1986 that
made me hastily junk a column on the Red Sox finally exorcising the ghosts.
那是個在垃圾堆上建起的垃圾堆。
我的生命大概有幾個月是花在那衰老的記者用電梯上。
我看著1968年的球迷們耙走那草坪，油漆在七零年代末期片片剝落。
還有Mookie Wilson一九八六年那個奇幻的打席，
害我得草草把那篇紅襪終於破除魔咒的特稿作廢。
Because it was home, I took my kids to games, talked baseball with the great
mixture of fans when the airplanes and obnoxious sound system allowed us. I’
ve seen sushi come to Shea. Seen the landmark Serval Zipper sign disappear
out behind center field. Seen Omar Minaya from the neighborhood come back to
run the club.
因為那是我們的主場，我帶著我的孩子們去看比賽；
在當喧雜的人群、飛機、還有煩人的音響系統允許時跟談談棒球經。 （*7）
我看著壽司來到Shea。看到那地標般的Serval Zipper招牌消失在中外野後。
看到地頭蛇Omar Minaya回來掌管這球隊。
Now both teams are putting up new ballparks, with fewer seats and higher
prices. Our tax money is paying for infrastructure for stadiums where fewer
of us can afford to go. I don’t claim to get it.
現在兩隻球隊都建起了新球場，帶來了變少了的座位還有變貴的門票。
我們的稅金替球場的週邊建設買單，
但能負擔得起去看球的卻變少了。
我可真是搞不懂。
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譯者註 （*1）貝比魯斯的著名演講『Farewell to Baseball』。
可以在這個連結聽到。http://tinyurl.com/yntggv
這個連結裡的演說都很棒喔。
（*2）布魯克林道奇隊，洛杉磯道奇隊的前身。
（*3）Yogi Berra還有Bill Dickey，洋基隊的名捕手。皆為名人堂成員。
（*4）美國著名雷鬼歌手，你可能曾在電影『我是傳奇』裡聽到他的歌聲。
（*5）著名小說，中譯大亨小傳。
講述的是二十世紀初的美國夢故事，故事位於紐約。
（*6）Casey Stengel，在1962年時以72歲的高齡，
接掌新科球隊大都會隊的兵符。
（*7）Shea Stadium緊鄰紐約的LaGuardia機場（LaGuardia Airport）。