https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-2006-year-in-review
'06: An unlikely champ, pink bats and 1st WBC
'06：黑馬、粉紅球棒、第一屆世界棒球經典賽
Year: 2006
NLDS: Cardinals over Padres in 4; Mets over Dodgers in 3
ALDS: A’s over Twins in 3; Tigers over Yankees in 4
LCS: Cardinals over Mets in 7; Tigers over A’s in 4
World Series: Cardinals over Tigers in 5
MVPs: AL: Justin Morneau, Twins; NL: Ryan Howard, Phillies
Cy Youngs: AL: Johan Santana, Twins; NL: Brandon Webb, D-backs
Rookies of the Year: AL: Justin Verlander, Tigers; NL: Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
All-MLB Team (chosen by me, in 2020):
1B: Albert Pujols, Cardinals
2B: Chase Utley, Phillies
SS: Derek Jeter, Yankees
3B: Miguel Cabrera, Marlins
OF: Jermaine Dye, White Sox
OF: Carlos Beltrán, Mets
OF: Manny Ramirez, Red Sox
C: Joe Mauer, Twins
DH: David Ortiz, Red Sox
SP: Johan Santana, Twins
SP: Brandon Webb, D-backs
SP: Aaron Harang, Reds
SP: Chris Carpenter, Cardinals
RP: Trevor Hoffman, Padres
RP: Francisco Rodríguez, Angels
（上面這些應該就不用翻了）
When did the illusion that a Major League Baseball regular season was enough
of a marathon to whittle out any non-contenders from the postseason party
begin? Was it in 1973, when the Mets went 82-79 and still reached the World
Series? Was it in '81, when the Royals were under .500 in the first "half" of
the season, but got to play in the postseason because of their strong second
"half"? Was it in 2005, when the Padres barely sneaked over .500 at 82-80 and
still made the postseason? Or was it simply when Billy Beane said in “
Moneyball” that his “[stuff] doesn’t work in the playoffs?”
大家是何時產生了「棒球球季長度長到可以把任何沒競爭力的球隊從季後賽中淘汰」的
幻覺的？是大都會隊賽季82-79卻打進世界大賽的1973年嗎？還是皇家隊「上半季」勝率
不到五成、「下半季」卻暴衝打進季後賽的1981年呢？還是教士隊以82-80的成績勉強溜
進季後賽的2005年呢？還是從Billy Beane在「魔球」中說出「這套在季後賽不管用」這
句名言的時候呢？
I might argue that 2006 was the year that did it. The postseason never felt
less like a crapshoot than it did in '06.
我會說是2006年。沒有哪年的季後賽比06年更像是在賭花旗骰的。
You could argue there were five legitimately excellent MLB teams in 2006. The
Yankees (who won 97 games with a fun mix of young and old, including an
MVP-caliber season from Jeter), the A’s (93 wins from the peak “Moneyball”
era), the Twins (who had both the American League MVP Award and the AL Cy
Young Award winners), the Tigers (an all-time chemistry team, with an AL
Rookie of the Year Award winner in Verlander, and all sorts of appealing
veterans) and perhaps the best team of them all, the Mets (with a ridiculous
lineup that featured David Wright and José Reyes right as they were
exploding, the best year of Beltrán’s career and a still terrifying Carlos
Delgado). Any one of those teams would have felt like a worthy World Series
winner, and a title would have ended two decades of pain for the Tigers, Mets
and the Twins, it would have vindicated everything Beane was doing in Oakland
and it could have been the Yankees grabbing the crown right back after the
Red Sox had so cruelly stolen it from them two years earlier.
你可以說2006的大聯盟裡有五隻貨真價實的強隊：該年贏得97勝、擁有打出最有價值球員
等級的Jeter以及組成有老有少的洋基隊；贏得93勝、正值「魔球」巔峰期的運動家隊；
同時擁有該年美聯賽揚獎及最有價值球員的雙城隊；當年擁有著史詩級團隊化學效應、美
聯最佳新人Verlander以及一群各方看好的老將的老虎隊；當然還有擁有正在起飛的David
Wright和Jose Reyes、巔峰時期Beltrán以及戰力依舊的Carlos Delgado等驚人打線、實
力也許是這五支球隊之冠的大都會隊。
上述五支球隊都有問鼎世界大賽冠軍的架勢；老虎、大都會、雙城隊都可藉此解除長達二
十年的冠軍荒；Billy Beane可藉此向世人驗證他在奧克蘭所做的一切；而洋基則可藉此
將兩年前被紅襪殘酷地奪走的王冠給搶回來。
But none of those teams won the World Series that year. None of the 12 teams
that won more than 83 games won it. Nope: The St. Louis Cardinals won it.
但上述這些球隊當年都鎩羽而歸。甚至當年那12支超過83勝的球隊通通槓龜。不好意思，
最後是聖路易紅雀隊摘下桂冠。
The Cardinals had put together some terrific teams in the years before 2006.
The '05 squad had won 100 games. The '04 team won 105