來源: The USA Today
網址: https://tinyurl.com/y933je65
Do you really need experience to be an MLB manager?
要當MLB教練是"有經驗尤佳"嗎？
MILWAUKEE — Experience is overrated.
經驗這檔事是過譽的。
Or so it now seems in baseball, where the idea that big-league managers have
to first toil in the minors or on someone else’s staff is going the way of
complete games. The managers of three of the teams still playing had little
or no on-field training before getting hired, with Craig Counsell and A.J.
Hinch coming out of the front office, and Alex Cora coming out of the TV
booth with a stopover on Hinch’s staff in Houston last year.
或者是現在在棒球界是這樣，就像當MLB教練之前要先去小聯盟或是當過某人的教練團成員
這種想法就跟投手投球要投九局差不多。目前還在打季後賽的四隊，在當總教練之前，有
三隊的教練只有很少或甚至沒有實地的經驗；Craig Counsell跟AJ Hinch是從制服組出來
的，Alex Cora是從電視棚來的，去年才在Hinch的教練團。
“There's different ways to get experience in a job, for a job,” said
Counsell, who was working in the Milwaukee Brewers’ front office when he was
hired in 2015. “Anytime you get the big job, whatever job that is for
anybody, I don't think anybody's ever completely prepared for it. There's
always a learning curve for the big job.
「有很多方式可以在工作裡，或是為了某份工作，得到經驗，」Counsell說。他在2015年
從酒鬼制服組被聘為總教練。「不管在甚麼時候得到一份很重要的工作，不管那個工作是
甚麼，我不認為有人會完全就是準備好了的，對於一份重要的工作都會要有學習曲線
的。」
“But I feel like the experiences I got did prepare me to do this,” added
Counsell, who played for five teams in his 16 years in the majors. “And I
think that's what a lot of teams are saying about the people they're hiring.”
「但是我想我過去的經驗幫助我準備好做這工作，」Counsell說，他在16年MLB生涯替五隊
打過球。「我認為那是很多隊伍現在說到他們想要聘的人的樣子。」
The trend began almost a decade ago when Hinch was hired to manage the
Arizona Diamondbacks in May 2009 despite never having coached or managed a
game at any level. Instead, he’d spent his entire post-playing career in the
Diamondbacks’ front office.
這趨勢大概是在10年前，2009年，Hinch被聘去做響尾蛇的總教練，他沒有任何執教的經
驗。相反地，在他離開球員身分後，他都是在響尾蛇的制服組工作。
After being fired in July 2010, Hinch went back to the front office, working
as the San Diego Padres’ vice president of professional scouting. But when
the Houston Astros were looking for a new manager after the 2014 season, they
called on Hinch.
Hinch在2010年七月被開除，他回到制服組，當教士隊職業球探部門副主管。但當太色在
2014年球季後開始找總教練，他們找上了Hinch。
By then, other teams had begun warming to the idea that not all managers
needed to have similar resumes. With so much emphasis on analytics, power has
shifted to the front office and lessened the need for that “old-school”
managerial experience. Lineups and in-game moves are now dictated as much by
numbers as they are by feel.
到那個時候，其他各隊開始對不是所有總教練都需要有類似資歷這種想法比較可以接受，
再加上分析棒球以及球隊管理權力逐漸轉向制服組，不再像以前那麼需要"老學校"那種總
教練經歷，先發名單跟比賽中做法都是靠數字，而不是像以前是憑感覺的。
Since then, the Brewers have hired Counsell, the Seattle Mariners took Scott
Servais out of the front office and the New York Yankees lured Aaron Boone
out of the broadcast booth. Cora spent four years as a color analyst for ESPN
and one season as Hinch’s bench coach before the Red Sox named him manager.
從那之後，酒鬼聘了Counsell，水兵把Scott Servais從制服組調出來，洋基把Aaron
Boone從球評位置請來，Cora在ESPN做了四年的分析，一年在Hinch的板凳教練，之後成為
紅襪的總教練。
"It’s not the answer key that everybody can just go to the front office and
learn the inner workings of an office and be good at the manager position,”
Hinch said. “But it is a route. And it's proven to be something that there's
valuable lessons to be learned that way, just as there's valuable lessons to
be learned on-the-job training leading a team.
「不是每個人就是去制服組，學習制服組內部運作的方式，然後就會當總教練，那不是標
準答案，」Hinch說。「但是那是一種方式，那證明了那種路徑可以學到一些寶貴的經
驗，就像可以實地訓練學習帶領一支隊伍也可以學到寶貴的經驗一樣。」
“I'm not sure there's a perfect way either way,” Hinch added.
「我也不確定哪種方式才是完美的方式，」Hinch說。
To be fair, it’s not as if these teams have plucked guys off the street or
out of beer leagues to manage. Counsell, Boone, Cora – all had long playing
careers, which gave them opportunities to study various managers and how they
went about their jobs.
公平一點來說，不是說球隊就可以隨便在路上抓個人或是一些小俱樂部球隊裡抓人就可以
當教練。Counsell，Boone，Cora這三個人，都打過很長的棒球，那給了他們機會去看不同
教練的執教方式，讓他們了解教練的工作。
In fact, when the Brewers last made the playoffs, in 2011, Counsell was on
the team but not getting much playing time. So he observed.
事實上，當2011年酒鬼最後一次進季後賽，Counsell是在隊上，但是沒有多少上場機會，
所以他觀察。
“I was doing a lot of the thinking about this stuff because I knew I wasn't
going to play,” he said. “When you're in that stage of your career, you do
put yourself in that position of thinking about what the manager is doing. I
think that's kind of natural for guys that are on the bench at the end of
their career.”
「我花了很多時間思考這些事，因為我知道我不會上場，」他說。「當事業到了一個階
段，會把自己放在一個位置，思考教練這工作是怎樣的。我想那對一些球員在生涯末期是
在坐板凳的人來說是很自然的。」
But is that enough to turn over the keys to a franchise?
但是那些足夠來管理一支球隊嗎?
Boone led the Yankees to the second-best record in baseball in his first
season, but his management of his pitching staff cost the Yankees the AL
Division Series. Maybe that doesn’t happen if he’d spent a year or two on
someone’s bench.
Boone在他第一年執教就率領洋基拿到第二好的戰績，但是他在管理投球教練上面讓他輸掉
了ALDS。或許讓他在某人的板凳教練上待個一兩年的話，那種狀況就不會發生了。
Then again, Joe Maddon worked his way up the ranks before becoming a manager
and his moves nearly cost the Chicago Cubs the 2016 World Series title.
不過，Joe Maddon是一路慢慢爬上來當總教練，他的一些做法也差點讓小熊丟掉了2016年
世界大賽的冠軍。
“I can see how the trend is going, because there's a lot of good stuff out
there,” said Dave Roberts, who had both front office and coaching experience
when the Los Angeles Dodgers hired him in November 2015.
「我可以看到趨勢的變化，因為很多好的事情從那發生，」躲人總教練Dave Roberts說，
他在2015年被聘為躲人總教練前有制服組跟值教經驗。
“But you still have to put that right person that the players and coaches
respond to.”
「但是還是要放一個對的人，一個球員跟教練會有反應的人。」
In other words, experience still matters. It's just that the definition of it
has changed.
換句話說，經驗還是重要，只是經驗的定義已經改變了。