※ 引述《Jerryamd (Let's go cubbies)》之銘言：
: Pop quiz question: What can Cubs fans look for in 2012?
: 2013.
很多地方翻得不錯
但還是來修一下
: But that's too easy. Let's go to the essay part.
: 先來個隨堂考吧: 熊迷們對2012會有甚麼期待呢 ?
: Ans: 明年再來吧
: 好吧這樣就交搞太簡單了，還是來騙騙搞費吧。
確實的
至少太色人還可以期待狀元 顆顆
: How bad was the team Theo Epstein and his makeover artists took over this
: offseason?
: Theo 和他的藝術家們(化妝師?)這季面對的處境到底有多遭呢 ?
: Last summer, you could make the case (I did) that the Cubs, who've been
: around as long as the National League has, were on pace to their worst
: statistical season ever. Then they caught fire. Well, they struck a match in
: a cave. In July, they finally won three in a row, sweeping Houston, by far
: the worst team in baseball in 2011. By season's end, they almost caught the
: always-tough Pirates for fourth place in a six-team division. They won 71,
: lost 91.
: 上個夏天，你可以(最起碼我做了)對小熊做點評估，一個跟國家聯盟存在了多久小熊就活
: 了多久的球隊，在去年正一步步的走向史上最糟的球季。然後它們就被火燒了(???)，
: Well，它們在洞穴裡點亮了火柴。小熊在七月終於贏得了一次三連勝，橫掃了太空人，
struck a match in the cave 這邊是反嘲啦
因為前句說Cubs "著火"了 <- 狀況開始變火燙了
下一句就補完: 其實這個高潮還蠻小的 (橫掃太空人算啥小高潮 XD)
大概可以翻這樣
終於, Cubs 開始燙起來了....嗯, 大概是在洞穴裡點亮火柴這樣的熱度吧
: So the others teams' half-innings overwhelmed what was a league-average
: offense, albeit one that that was pretty much station-to-station, scorning
: bases on balls (only Houston took fewer) and that kind of tofu baseball. From
: that 2011 powerhouse, they've spent the offseason offloading their two OPS
: leaders, the only two over 111 OPS+ among the regulars. They've replaced
: their flawed but predictable corner infielders with flawed but unpredictable
: players.
: So this season they could be even worse. And that's probably a good thing.
: Which leads us to:
: 所以在另一個半局的時候，即使對方球隊只有聯盟平均的攻擊指數，卻還是可以壓倒性的
這邊翻得不對
接上文意思是說,
投手和守備太爛了, 因此對手球隊打下的分數壓倒了攻擊只算是平平的Cubs
不是說對方攻擊平平 是Cubs 攻擊平平
: 對付小熊，雖然那只是一戰一戰的打下，靠著壞球上壘得分(只有太空人沒拿到)，小熊這
station-to-staion offense 指的是大多只有一個壘包一個壘包的推進
還有四壞球很少 (只比太色人多)
加起來這段是描述他們的攻擊缺少四壞和長打
: 打得像豆腐般的棒球。從 2011 的 Powerhouse裡，小熊在球季後放走了兩個 OPS leader
powerhouse 原來是描述強隊 這裏也是反嘲
意思是說, 原本攻擊就不強了, 季後還放掉球隊兩個打的最好的.....
: ，球隊裡唯二 OPS+ 超過 111 的人。小熊把有缺陷但是還可以預測的角落內野手換成了
: 有缺陷但沒辦法預測的球員。所以這個球季小熊可能會打得更爛，但這或許會是好事。因
: 為這會帶領我們進入下面的問題。
: Is the Cubs' new management on the right track?
: 小熊的新任經理會讓球隊走在正確的道路上嗎 ?
: It's the only possible track. Under deposed general manager Jim Hendry, the
: Cubs saw some tread still on the tires of the 2003 almost-there team, made
: some fixes, and produced division champions in 2007 and 2008. By that time,
: though, the wear was evident; six of the eight position starters in 2008 were
: age 30-plus, and the four main starting pitchers were either well-worn
: veterans or Carlos Zambrano.
: By then, it was too late for patches, but patch the Cubs did, and the result
: was last year's blowout. Now, it's time to throw the old tires away and start
: over with new ones, produced by modern technology.
: 這是唯一有可能的道路。在被火掉的金含吉的帶領之下，小熊依稀看到了那差一點成功的
: 的 2003 年，再做了些調整後於 07 和 08 年拿下了分區冠軍。但在那時候，明顯的，8
: 個先發裡面有6 個年紀超過了30 歲，而四名主要的先發投手分別是有名的老兵還有大Z。
: 到了 08 年，要補強已經太晚了。雖然小熊還是試著補強了一下，但結果就是去年的大爆
: 炸。現在，是時候該把 03 年的模式丟了，以現代科技為基礎開始找尋新的通往成功的道
: 路。
: That's certainly the direction new management is going. The Cubs, who got in
: this hole by tying themselves to aging players with expensive, sometimes
: long-term, contracts, are jettisoning those with both hands. Off go Aramis
: Ramirez, Zambrano, Carlos Pena, John Grabow, and Sean Marshall. Kosuke
: Fukudome was shipped to the American League last summer.
: That's a lot of established major leaguers out the door. With some of them
: and some more duct tape, the Cubs maybe could have been a close-to-.500 team
: this season, but to what purpose?
: 這是現任經理試著要做的事。小熊，一支被年老的，昂貴的，長期的合約綁住雙手的球隊
: ，試圖著想要掙脫枷鎖。送走了拉米，大Z，Pena，Grabow，Marshall，福留，這些人在
: 去年夏天被送到了美聯。
: 這些都是些有用的大聯盟球員，有以上部分的人再補強一些洞的話，小熊或許可以在今年
: 有一個五成勝率的球季，但是這樣有甚麼用呢 ?
: If you follow the Cubs at all, you know about Zambrano, who joined Milton
: Bradley and Sammy Sosa as 21st-century Cubs whose attitudes should be retired
: like so many Ernie Banks No. 14 jerseys.
: Pena wasn't responsible for Team Turmoil, but he wasn't the future for a
: rebuilding second-division club. Grabow was an expensive mistake. Ditto
: Fukudome. Marshall was a luxury, an ace setup man on a losing team who was
: about to get more expensive. And Ramirez?
: 如果你一直有在關注小熊，那你應該很了解大Z。他的態度和 Bradley 與 Sosa 一樣應該
: 要被退休。
: Pena 不應該對球隊的混亂負責，但他不是重建中的球隊的未來。Grabow是個昂貴的錯誤
: 。福留也是個昂貴的錯誤。Marshall 可以當作王牌中繼，但是太奢侈了，而且也越來越
: 貴。而拉米呢 ??
: For the past few years, Ramirez has seemed one jog down to first base away
: from the disabled list even when he's been playing. He has averaged 118 games
: per year over the last three seasons and has spent much of his time on the
: field waving at ground balls; it's generally conceded that his offense is
: what separates him from American Legion ball. But even that is open to
: criticism, and criticize did Cubs broadcast analyst Bob Brenly after the Cubs
: allowed Ramiriez to walk away.
: "He's a numbers gatherer. He gets his stats at the end of the year, every
: year, but defensively he's just fallen off the face of the earth. As a
: baserunner, he kills you, he's a log jammer on the bases, and I'm not buying
: any of this leadership for Starlin Castro stuff at all."
: So the Cubs did their spring cleaning this winter. By next offseason, the
: Cubs will be obligated to just two holdovers from the Hendry era—Alfonso
: Soriano, whose interminable contract will terminate after 2014, and closer
: Carlos Marmol (signed through 2013).
: 在過去的數年裡，拉米似乎像事是個為了避免受傷而漫步上一壘的人。他在過去三年裡平
: 均每年出賽 118 場，並且在場上花了許多時間對著滾地球揮手。唯一能把他跟業餘棒球
: 區別出來的大概只有他的攻擊了吧。即使是這樣還是被一些人攻擊。小熊的廣播員 Bob
: Brenly 在拉米走路以後這樣說：
: "他是個數字的收集者，他會在球季末有一些數字，每一年都這樣。但是他也只是在慢慢
: 走下坡(不太確定語意)。以一個跑壘者來說，他會讓你想死。在壘上他是個會阻礙你的人
他是個數字的收集者, 他會在球季末有些數字, 雖然知道意思但翻得不順
"他每年刷數據刷的還不難看, 但是.."
fallen of the face of the earth 比走下坡要強很多
這字面上意義就可以看得出來
掉到地表以下, 當然就是(守備上)完全崩盤囉
log jammer 就是跑壘太慢塞住後面的人
: ，而我一點都不想為了這種 Castro 般的特質付錢。"
: 所以小熊在冬天為了來年做了些清倉，到了今年的季末，小熊只會有兩個金含吉的爛約。
: 索爺的約會到 2014 年，還有馬毛到 2013 的約。
: ________________________________________________
: 晚點繼續.....lol