Not to suggest it's been a while since anybody won a Triple Crown, but the
last time it happened (1967) a gallon of gas cost 33 cents … the average
salary of a big league baseball player was $10,000 … and the Internet was so
slow, it was almost like it didn't even exist. Heh-heh. Almost.
我也不是要說三冠王是多麼了不起的一件事啦，但上次有人達成這項成就是1967年
的時候，那時候一加侖的汽油可只要33分呢!而大聯盟球員的平均薪資是$10,000鎂
而且那時候的網路慢到跟幾乎沒有一樣!
But now along comes Miguel Cabrera to threaten to force people to learn how
to spell Yastrzemski again. And that's a beautiful thing. But as this edition
of the September History Watch is about to report, there's all kinds of
history out there for Cabrera to make, even if he doesn't win the Triple
Crown:
但現在Cabrera出現啦，而他強迫我們大家試著去拼對Yastrzemski，真是棒透了。
September History Watch又來啦，我們來告訴你即使Cabrera沒有達到這項成就
他還是在紀錄上留下了些甚麼。
First off, let's give you a clear picture of how special this is, to find a
man making this serious run at the Triple Crown with a mere two weeks left in
the season.
好，先來個在球季剩下兩個禮拜依然追逐著三冠王的男人的照片。
http://tinyurl.com/ckjfhzx
Cabrera leads the league in batting average. And leads the league in RBIs. And
is second in his league in home runs (40), just two back of Josh Hamilton.
Well, friends, that's more astonishing than you might think.
Cabrera現在的打擊率跟打點都是美聯之冠，全壘打也以40支落後Hamilton兩支
(現在只差一支啦)。這可是非常驚人的呀朋友!
This is Year 45 A.Y. (After Yastrzemski). And according to the Elias Sports
Bureau, this is the first time in any of those seasons that any player has
reached the final two weeks of the season, and was leading his league in
batting and RBIs, and within two of the lead in homers.
今年是45 A.Y.。而根據官方的紀錄，這是第一次有球員在最後兩個禮拜還保有打擊率
和打點的領先，而全壘打跟第一名也只有兩支的落後。
Think of all the great hitters who have roamed the baseball earth in all
those years: George Brett, Johnny Bench, Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds, Mike
Schmidt,. Kenneth Griffey Jr. and many more. None of them ever made this kind
of run at a Triple Crown. But now Miguel Cabrera has. So he's already on
historic turf.
試著想一下史上那些強大的打者們:George Brett、Johnny Bench、Albert Pujols、
Barry Bonds、Mike Schmidt、Kenneth Griffey Jr.還有其他其他其他的強者們。
沒有一個人有在這個時間還保有三冠王的競爭力。所以Cabrera已經創造了歷史!
And now another tidbit that astounded us September History Watchers.
Suppose Cabrera wins two-thirds of the Triple Crown but winds up second in
home runs. That would seem like a disappointment, but maybe not after you
hear this:
好吧，那如果Cabrera最後是個兩冠王呢?聽起來很讓人失望對吧，但先來聽聽
這個，也許你的心情會好點。
Would you believe that we're closing in on nearly a half-century since anyone
won a Triple Crown, and nobody has had a season since in which he won two
legs of this trifecta and finished second in the third category? That word,
again, was "nobody." In fact, we've only had two third-place finishes by
players who led in the other two:
你相信已經有將近半個世紀的時間沒有人達成三冠王的成就，也沒有人贏了其中
兩項並且在第三項居於第二嗎?對你沒看錯，我是說"nobody"!
事實上，紀錄告訴我們只有兩個人在其中兩項第一，第三項是第三。
Jim Rice 1978 (led in HRs and RBIs, third in batting race)
Matt Kemp 2011 (led in HRs and RBIs, third in batting race)
And now another incredible feat on Cabrera's plate: He leads the league in
batting and RBIs. Plus, he has already hit 40 homers. Would you believe that,
in the history of baseball, only two men have ever done that without winning
a Triple Crown? Here they are:
更不可思議的來瞜~Cabrera的打擊率和打點領先聯盟，另外他已經敲出了40支HR了。
你相信在整個大聯盟史上只有兩個人有留下這樣的成績嗎?就是下面這兩個。
Jimmie Foxx 1938 (hit 50 HRs, eight behind Hank Greenberg)
Todd Helton 2000 (hit 42 HRs, eight behind Sammy Sosa)
Speaking of Foxx, he's had his own unique Double Crown all to himself for
more than 70 years, only to find himself in danger of having Cabrera crash
his party. Amazingly, in the live ball era, Foxx is the only man ever to lead
the American League in batting and RBIs but not win a Triple Crown. So even
if Cabrera can't catch Hamilton in the home run race, if he leads the league
in the other two categories, he'll still have done something cool and
historic.
先來談談Foxx吧，"這種兩冠王"的紀錄已經保持超過70年了，但現在他大概
很怕Cabrera會毀掉他的派對吧。事實上在活球時代以後，Foxx是美聯唯一的
球員在打擊率和打點上領先但最後不是三冠王的。如果Cabrera的全壘打趕不上
Hamilton，但他保持他的另外兩項數據，他還是完成了一件很了不起的事。
Over in the NL, for some reason, that particular Double Crown (batting and
RBI titles) hasn't been quite as rare. But it's still been done just six
times in the past 85 years:
而國聯的"這種兩冠王"好像就沒有那麼稀少了，但85年來的歷史也只有六位。
Stan Musial 1948
Tommy Davis 1962
Joe Torre 1971
Al Oliver 1982
Helton 2000
Matt Holliday 2007
Of that group, only one man had a real shot at a Triple Crown in the last two
weeks of the season. And that was the great Stan Musial, in 1948.
這六位也只有一位在最後兩個禮拜還保有三冠王競爭力的。1948年的Stan Musial。
Ralph Kiner and Johnny Mize tied for the league lead in homers that year,
with 40. Musial was sitting on 38 home runs with nine games left in the
season but hit only one more and finished one behind them.
那年Raplh Kiner和Johnny Mize以40支全壘打共享了全壘打王的寶座。
而Musial在剩下九場比賽的時候是38支全壘打，但最後只多敲了1支，以1支
的差距在他們後面。
Hold on. It gets better. Other than Musial, only one other player in the
live ball era managed to lead his league in batting and RBIs and wind up as
close to the league lead in home runs as Cabrera is now (two or closer). This
man:
等等等等。從活球時代以後，只有一個人跟Cabrera現在的狀況很像。
The immortal Rogers Hornsby in 1921