(初次翻譯，請不吝指正)
原文出處:
The Hardball Times
http://ppt.cc/oOX8
Let Athletes Be Athletes: Fast Hitters Don’t Have to Be Lefties
JUNE 10, 2014 BY DAN FARNSWORTH
腿哥一定要是左打嗎？？
(打者從左打區出發真的會比較快？)
When it comes to projecting and developing amateur and minor-league players,
speed is completely overrated. I get why it is though; if the “hit-o-meter”
—a hypothetical tool that puts a two-digit, written-in-stone number on a
player’s hitting ability—had come out before the radar gun and stopwatch, I
probably would be lamenting the lack of hard-throwing pitchers and speedy
defensive outfielders in baseball. It is easy to measure speed, and it doesn’
t take a genius to figure out which players are good at using their speed to
impact a baseball game.
當我們要預測或養成一位業餘或是小聯盟的球員，速度這技能是被過份高估的。我知道
為何會如此：假設在雷達測速槍或碼秒出現之前，有一個所謂"打擊能力計"這種儀器，
直接測出一組兩位數字來表示打者的能力，我現在可能會因為聯盟缺乏剛速投手與具速
度的防守型外野手而難過呢！速度是如此容易測量，也不需要多聰明就可以知道球員如
何運用速度去影響球賽。
The part I have an issue with is when a fast hitter is virtually instructed
to abandon his hit tool early in his baseball development to focus solely on
his speed. Players like Carlos Gomez have been encouraged to hit the ball on
the ground rather than try to drive the ball, only to change gears before
enjoying career-defining success. But don’t believe me; let’s let Gomez
tell us himself:
這部份我想討論的問題是：一個具有腿的打者在養成過程中，往往很早就被教導只專注
在他的速度而拋棄其他打擊能力的培養。如Carlos Gomez曾經被鼓勵把球往地上打，而
非把球帶遠，在享受職業生涯成功之前唯有轉換技能(按：這句不太理解)。不用相信我
說的，讓我們聽聽Gomez自己怎麼說：
"For five or six years, I tried to hit the ball on the ground and bunt and hit
it the other way,” Gomez says. “I know people wanted to help me to do my
best, but it wasn’t working. I finally said, ‘I’m tired.’ If I was going
to be out of baseball, I wanted to at least try it my way.”
「大概有五六年，我試著把球往地上打、或是觸擊、或是用其他方式打擊，」Gomez說：
「我知道大家都想幫助我讓我表現好，但這些都沒用。最後我說；『我真的累了！』也
許終究我無法打棒球，但至少我想用我的方式試試看！」
Other hitters, usually natural right-handers, are taught to hit from the left
side in order to take advantage of being closer to first base. This
presumably allows them to get to first quicker and beat out more infield
singles. Billy Hamilton is a notable recent example, having begun to switch
hit in 2010. Shane Victorino also picked it up in the minor leagues at the
Double-A level in the Dodgers organization. Maybe that is the only way some
players get a shot at playing higher-level baseball, but these
career-altering decisions are made much too quickly when a player has plus
speed.
其他腿哥，通常天生是右打，卻被教導轉成左打只因為離一壘壘包比較近，這大概可以
讓他們更快到一壘，跑出更多內野安打。Billy Hamilton應該是最近值得注意的例子，
他自2010年開始左右開攻。夏威夷人Shane Victorino當年也在道奇AA開始練左右開弓。
也許對某些球員來說這是可以讓他們升到更高階的唯一方法，但是對擁有傑出速度的球
員，這種關係職涯的轉換決定往往下得太快！
I wrote an entire article about why even fast hitters shouldn’t hit ground
balls. Here I would like to question the second tactic fast hitters are
taught: are batters truly faster to first base from the left side of the
plate?
我曾經寫過一篇文章探討腿哥為何不應該打滾地球(參照http://ppt.cc/Uc9x)，這裡我
要對腿哥常常被教導的策略提出第二個質疑：從左打起跑真的會比較快到達一壘嗎？
It is obvious why they could be. The middle of the left-handed batter’s box
is at least a stride length closer to first base than for right-handers. In a
game where 0.4 seconds is the difference between average runners and the
fastest in the game, a few feet shorter distance certainly means a great
deal. However, think about the position in which a left-handed batter
finishes his swing.
這個結果似乎是顯而易見，左打區的中心距一壘壘包至少比右打區少一個大跨步的距離
。在一場比賽中，如果一般速度跑者和最快跑者的差距是0.4秒，僅僅數呎的距離當然
有著很大的決定性。然而，我們要考量當左打者完成揮擊時他的姿勢是如何！
(圖)http://i.imgur.com/BJTYHbc.png
(V-Mart左打)
(圖)http://i.imgur.com/HKKW2Mb.png
(V-Mart右打)
Now compare that to the position he is in at the end of his right-handed
swing.
Which position looks more ready to accelerate to first base? As a left-handed
batter, Victor Martinez here has to turn his shoulders and feet toward the
right side of the diamond before he can really be expected to reach full
speed. As a righty, his body is already facing first base, and he only needs
to start pumping his legs to get under way.
比較右打完成揮擊時的姿勢，哪一種姿勢看起來像是準備好加速衝向一壘了？站左打時，
V-Mart必須要將他的肩膀與腳轉向右邊線(一壘的方向)，他才能加速至最高速；反而站右
打時，他的身體已經是面對一壘壘包，他只需要提腿加速即可。
I am sure one or two of you are already logging into the comments section to
yell at me, “WHAT ABOUT ICHIRO, IDIOT?” Fair question, but the name-calling
isn’t necessary. Ichiro Suzuki used the best of both worlds by starting
closer to the bag on the left side while also beginning to run as he hit.
Though it is impossible to argue this strategy limited his hit tool (career
.319 batting average/.361 on-base percentage), there always have been
rumblings that he intentionally sapped his impressive power through this
approach.
看到這裡，我想有些鄉民已經在下面開噓了"怎麼不說說朗神呢？"沒錯，Ichiro將兩邊的
優點都擷取了：站左打比較靠近一壘壘包，同時在擊球時就已經準備起跑了！雖然不可能
去說這個策略限制了他的打擊能力(拜託，生涯AVG.319與OBP.361)，還是有許多聲音表示
這樣的方式削弱了他的power。
Since not everyone can be Ichiro, let’s look at some numbers. For starters,
I selected the 25 switch hitters with the most plate appearances thus far in
2014 and looked at their infield hit rates from each side of the plate. To
grab a bigger sample of numbers, I included the totals since the start of the
2013 season.
既然朗神不是人人能當，來看一些數據吧！首先，我選了25名在2014年有最多PA的左右開
弓打者，去比較他們站左打或右打時的內野安打比例，為了讓數據量大一些，我把2013球
季的數據也加進來。
Here is the full list, complete with infield hit percentages (infield hits
per ground ball) as well as the total number of ground balls for each side.
The last column is simply the difference between the infield hit percentages
for each side.
如下表，裡面有站各邊的內野安打率(滾地球形成內野安打的比例)。最後一欄則為兩邊比
率的差距。
2014球季左右開弓打者內野安打率(含2013球季)