http://ppt.cc/EKfT
Noel Rodriguez sipped a beer and watched his favorite team lose by
seven runs Monday night. He wore a bright orange jersey, No. 7, with Jose
Reyes’s name stitched on the back. He paid $100 for it last year, he said,
and within months it was obsolete.
在星期一晚間的比賽中，Noel Rodriguez邊喝著啤酒邊看著他支持的馬林魚輸球，他身上
穿著Jose Reyes的7號亮橘色球衣，去年還值100美元的球衣，不過才幾個月就已經過時
了。
“I was going to put a sticker on it that said, ‘SOLD,’ ” said Rodriguez,
31, who works in customs at the Miami airport. “But they might push me out of
the park.”
Actually, the Miami Marlins, off to a 3-12 start — including a loss Wednesday
night — after their latest purge of expensive players, need more fans like
Rodriguez. He does not believe ownership cares much about winning, he said,
and still wishes the team had not traded Miguel Cabrera in 2007, let alone
Reyes and the others dumped since last summer.
在邁阿密機場擔任海關的Rodriguez說：我本來打算在衣服上貼"已售出"的貼紙，這位忠
實的球迷也在考慮不再進場了，馬林魚截至星期三為止，開季以來的戰績為3勝12敗，
"我覺得管理階級根本不在乎贏球，如果07年球隊沒有把Miguel Cabrera交易出去，去年
沒有清倉大拍賣該有多好。"
The Marlins, who have struggled to draw fans through good times and bad in
their two decades, rank 29th in the majors in average attendance, ahead of
only the Cleveland Indians. Through Tuesday, they averaged 19,247 per game
and did not sell out their opener despite offering fans a free ticket to
another game.
過去20年馬林魚不管戰績好壞，球迷都不太捧場，平均進場人數倒數第二，僅勝過克里
夫蘭印地安人，開季以來平均一萬九千餘人，即使開幕戰進場可以多拿到一張免費票，
當天也沒有滿座。
The reason for the fans’ bitterness, by now, is well known. After building
Marlins Park, largely with taxpayer money, the owner Jeffrey Loria splurged
on free agents before last season and pushed the payroll to $107 million,
according to baseballreference.com. Now, after a last-place finish and several
trades, the payroll is $33 million and the team is starting over again.
馬林魚球迷現在的痛，眾所皆知就是在用納稅人的錢蓋好Marlins Park後，老闆Loria
雖然在當年自由球員市場上帶回許多大魚，也把團隊薪資推到一億美元大關，但現在
球隊在大拍賣後又進入重建期，今年薪資是全大聯盟最低的三千三百萬美元。
As a franchise, the Marlins are used to patience. After the team won the 1997
World Series, its first owner, H. Wayne Huizenga, gutted the roster. Five
losing seasons followed, but several players acquired in the overhaul helped
the Marlins win again in 2003.
對馬林魚團隊來說，他們以耐心見長，在1997年拿下世界大賽冠軍後，重整陣容，把隊
中核心賣掉，經過五個球季的等待後，當時換來的潛力球員開始大放異彩，在03年再度
奪下冠軍。
“I was on the team in ’98 that lost 108 games,” Redmond said. “They had
made a lot of changes and went with a lot of young guys who played a lot of
years in the big leagues and won World Series. I think the message here is
there’s an opportunity for guys to get a chance to establish themselves at a
young age. And they’re good players, too, which is exciting.”
現任馬林魚教頭Redmond說：我當時也在球隊陣中，在拿下冠軍後的隔年，我們輸了108場
比賽，管理階層做了很多的改變，讓一些小夥子年紀輕輕就在大聯盟磨練，然後又再次贏
得世界大賽，我想這表示只要這些年輕球員有機會表現而且建立起信心，他們都是很出色
的球員，這讓我們很興奮、很期待。
原來去年世界大賽冠軍是 Florida Marlins
December 4, 2007: Miguel Cabrera Traded by the Florida Marlins with Dontrelle
Willis to the Detroit Tigers for Burke Badenhop, Eulogio De La Cruz, Cameron
Maybin, Andrew Miller and Mike Rabelo.
Camron Maybin...
Andrew Miller...
下次再整理03年那批拍賣