來源: The USA Today
網址: https://tinyurl.com/ybglphxy
Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel was tipping his pitches. Eric Gagne let Boston
know.
紅襪守護神Craig Kimbrel投球動作被破解。Eric Gagne通知紅襪球團
BOSTON — He is the greatest closer in Los Angeles Dodgers’ history, revered
in Los Angeles for his magnificence, and considered one of their all-time
legends.
他是洛杉磯躲人球團最偉大的守護神，他的偉大在洛杉磯備受尊崇，被認為是他們有史以
來幾個偉大傳奇人物之一。
Now, Eric Gagne might be as welcome as an I-5 freeway pileup in Los Angeles
if the Dodgers’ don’t win their first World Series championship since 1988.
但是現在，若是躲人今年沒拿下自1988年以來的第一座世界大賽冠軍，Eric Gagne的受歡
迎程度大概會變得跟洛杉磯的高速公路大塞車差不多。
Gagne, 42, became the most welcome snitch in Boston since Whitey Bulger,
secretly informing his good friend, Red Sox manager Alex Cora, that his
closer, Craig Kimbrel, was tipping his pitches.
42歲的Gagne，成為了自Whitey Bulger之後最受波士頓人喜愛的報馬仔，他偷偷的通知了
他的好朋友，紅襪總教練Alex Cora，跟他說紅襪守護神Craig Kimbrel的投球動作被破解
了。
Cora jumped on the information, passed it along to his pitching coach and
video staff, and voila! his struggling closer is now fixed.
Cora得到消息後大驚，趕緊把這消息通知投球教練跟攝影組，然後噹噹噹，他掙扎不已的
守護神就修好了。
“We feel confident that he’s back," Cora said, “and that he’s going to
dominate.”
「我們很有信心的說他回來了，」Cora說。「他會將會主宰這次系列戰。」
Yep, just in time for the World Series when the Red Sox host the Dodgers in
Game 1 beginning Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
是的，剛好來得及在世界大賽第一戰星期二在芬威主場開戰。
Pardon the Dodgers for not getting nostalgic and enlisting Gagne to throw out
a ceremonial first pitch when the series shifts to Dodger Stadium, wishing he
simply would have kept his thoughts to himself.
原諒躲人沒有請Gagne來替躲人主場的世界大賽開球，希望Gagne就把他的想法藏在心裡。
“I’ve got a lot of friends around the league," Cora said, “the network is
a big one. People are always paying attention. They always text or call and
we run it through the coaching staff."
「我在聯盟裡有很多朋友，」Cora說。「這人際網絡很大，這些人都很注意，他們會傳簡
訊或是打電話，然後我們會把這些訊息傳給教練團。」
Cora didn’t want to publicly identify Gagne for fear of the backlash in Los
Angeles, but when asked to identify the area code that originated the text
message, the one that could be responsible for the Red Sox’s fourth World
Series title in 15 years, he broke under the pressure.
Cora沒在公開場合把Gagne講出來，怕這會在洛杉磯引起反衝，但是被問到那個訊息的電話
區域碼是多少的時候，那個有可能事關紅襪在15年以來的第四冠的訊息，他在備受壓力下
講出來了。
“Montreal."
「蒙特婁。」
Ah, yes, the hometown of one Eric Serge Gagne, who was a teammate with Cora
for seven seasons, six in Los Angeles, and one in Boston.
對啦，那是Eric Serge Gagne的家鄉，他跟Cora一起打球七年，六年在洛杉磯，一年在波
士頓。
“Sometimes," Cora said, “you get so focused on mechanics that you forget
about the simple stuff. He was tipping his pitches for two weeks."
「有時候，」Cora說，「有時候太過注意在投球機制上，卻忘記最基本的東西。他在過去
兩周的投球動作都被人破解。」
And, sometimes, it pays to have great friends.
有時候，有好朋友真的是有好處。
Cora and the Red Sox staff knew something strange was going on during the
postseason. Kimbrel was getting his saves, but getting clobbered at the same
time. The Yankees and Astros were laying off his slider, and whacking his
fastball all over the ballpark.
Cora跟教練團知道在季後賽有些事情怪怪的，Kimbrel有拿下救援，但是同時間也常常被砲
轟，洋基跟太色放掉他的滑球，抓他的快速球打得滿場飛。
They just couldn’t figure out why.
他們只是不知道到底發生了甚麼。
It turned out, Gagne detected, that Kimbrel’s glove was pulled tighter to
his beard when he threw his breaking ball than his fastball. He was also
turning his head toward home plate and picking up the catcher’s target
earlier on the fastball than the breaking ball.
事實是，Gagne發現，Kimbrel在要丟變化球的時候會把手套靠著他的鬍子比丟速球來得更
靠近。他在轉頭看本壘板看捕手暗號的時候，若是要投快速球，這些動作會比較要丟變化
球來的快。
“You could see the difference in the swings they were taking, that’s for
sure," Red Sox starter Rick Porcello told USA TODAY Sports. “They weren’t
swinging at everything, and taking good hacks. Once he found out he was
tipping his pitches, all of a sudden the fastball was getting on them, and
they were swinging and missing at the breaking ball."
「你可以看到他們在揮擊上的差別，那是可以確定的，」紅襪先發Porcello跟記者說。
「他們不是每一球都打。當他發現他的投球動作被識破，很快的快速球就又抓到他們了，
然後他們會揮擊變化球然後揮空。」
Kimbrel is one of the greatest closers in the game, with the second-highest
career save percentage in Major League Baseball history, (90.7%, 333 saves in
367 opportunities). He yielded the third-lowest opponent’s batting average
(.146) and was fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (13.66).
Kimbrel是棒球裡幾位偉大守護神之一，史上救援成功率第二(367次上場，333救援成功，
90.7趴)，對手打擊率第三低(.146)，每九局三振次數排第五位(13.66次)
Suddenly, the Yankees and Astros were treating him like a human piñata. He
didn’t blow a save, but he gave up at least one run in each of his first
four postseason appearances against the Yankees and Astros, yielding six
hits, five earned runs and five walks in 5⅓ innings. He threw 41 breaking
balls, and only nine times did anyone bother to swing. Just five missed.
突然間，洋基跟太色把Kimbrel打的跟人體糖果包一樣，他沒失掉救援點，但是在前四次季
後賽上場他都至少掉一分，總計5⅓局，被打六支安打，掉了5分，5次保送。總共丟了41個
變化球，只有九次有人揮擊，裡面只有5個是揮空。
“It happens," Porcello said. “You’re getting hit around, and you don’t
even know why. It could be anything from you taking two deep breaths before a
fastball, and one deep breath before a breaking ball.
「這種事情會發生，」Porcello說。「被打得暈頭轉向，但是不知道為甚麼。有時候有可
能就是要投快速球前會深呼吸兩次，然後投變化球是深呼吸一次這種小動作。」
“Tipping is one of those things that can be tough to figure out. When you’
re in the heat of a moment, your body is doing certain things for a reason,
and you don’t always feel it."
「投球動作被識破是幾件棒球裡很難去發覺原因的，當在緊張的時候，身體會因為某些原
因做了某些事，但是自己不會察覺。」
Cora and the Red Sox staff never saw it either. It took Gagne, sitting on his
couch pulling for Cora, to discover the flaw. He sent a text message to Cora
immediately after Game 4. Cora had Gagne and Kimbrel exchange text messages.
Soon, Red Sox pitching coach Dana LeVangie and the video staff got involved.
Cora跟紅襪教練團也沒看到，是Gagne坐在沙發上看才發現這個問題，他馬上在第四戰後傳
簡訊給Cora。Cora，Gagne跟Kimbrel開始互傳簡訊，很快的紅襪投手教練Dana LeVangie跟
影像同仁也開始參予。
They moved Kimbrel’s hands towards his belt to start his delivery, and just
like that, the Astros had no idea what was coming.
他們把Kimbrel要投球前的手拉到皮帶的位置，然後就這樣，太色球員完全不知道接下來發
生了甚麼。
“When he was warming up and he had his hands at the belt,” Cora said, “I
looked at the [Houston] dugout and there was a lot of looking around. I was
like, ‘yeah. All of a sudden they were taking fastballs right down the
middle. They took some bad swings on sliders.
「當他開始熱身然後把手放在皮帶位置時，」Cora說。「我看著太色休息區，看到很多人
在看來看去，我那時候是想，『哈~沒錯！』然後他們開始打快速球，他們開始被滑球騙
到。」
“We just played two of the most clever teams in the big leagues. He’s
probably been doing it for a while. Too bad that it took us so long to figure
it out."
「我們剛跟聯盟裡兩支最聰明的隊伍比賽，他可能這樣子做有一段時間了，花了我們這麼
長的時間才發現真的很糟糕。」
Now, Kimbrel doesn’t have any fear about espionage, or worry that he became
hittable overnight. He can relax now, letting his sheer talent take over in
the World Series.
現在，Kimbrel不用擔心是不是有內奸，或是擔心他一夜之間就變成餵球手，他現在可以
輕鬆一下，就讓他的天賦主宰世界大賽。
“I've been battling it for a while and couldn't find a good place to not
hide it," Kimbrel said. “I was getting a little frustrated, mad at myself
just because I couldn’t get out of some things.
「我已經掙扎好一段時間，找不到好的方式，」Kimbrel說。「我有點沮喪，對我自己很
生氣，因為我找不出原因。」
“It just feels good to throw some pitches and have them not know what was
coming."
「現在可以投一些球讓他們抓不到，不知道我要投甚麼球真的很爽。」
Just in the nick of time.
剛好來的及。
“I’m sorry Boston that I gave quite a few of you heart attacks the last few
days," Kimbrel said.
「我對於紅襪粉很抱歉，我讓大家過去幾天心臟病發很多次，」Kimbrel說。
“But we’re all good now."
「但是我們現在很好了。」
And for Eric Gagne, well, he’s never been more popular in Boston.
至於對Eric Gagne呢? 他在波士頓已經受歡迎到不行了。