Ballparks Come, Ballparks Go, the Memories Are Forever
by GEORGE VECSEY
Published: March 30, 2008 The New York Times
http://0rz.tw/6b4hv
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My father played hooky to attend the first game in Yankee Stadium. I always
think of him when I see pictures of the raw new ballpark in the Bronx. The
first time he took me to the Stadium was in 1947 to see a dying man in a
camel hair coat, rasping on the loudspeaker, which made me a Babe Ruth fan
for life. Ever since, the Stadium has seemed funereal to me. But then again,
we were Brooklyn fans.
我父亲跷课去参加了洋基球场的第一场比赛。
每当我看到Bronx区那施工中新球场的照片，我总会想到他。
他第一次带我去洋基球场是1947年，去看一个著驼毛大衣的垂死之人。
沙哑的声音从扩音器传来，我这辈子从此便成了贝比鲁斯迷。 （*1）
在那之后，洋基球场总是让我感觉阴阴的。
不过呢，我们到底曾经是布鲁克林队的球迷。 （*2）
Somehow or other, my other enduring memory is an empty Yankee Stadium on the
day of Martin Luther King’s funeral in 1968, not a soul in the house. My
friend Jim Bouton felt the need to throw that day, so he pitched off the
mound, and I squatted where Berra and Dickey had squatted, using a mitt
borrowed from Coach Jim Hegan’s locker. (Hegan used a falsie to protect his
hand, but I told Bouton I didn’t need the extra armor.) We dressed in the
main clubhouse and used the players’ sauna. The Stadium was stone silent.
我另一个永存的记忆是一座空荡荡的洋基球场。
1968年那天，马丁路德金的丧礼，球场里一个人影也没有。
我的朋友Jim Bouton在那天特别想丢球。
所以当他在丘上投出时，我则蹲在那Berra跟Dickey蹲过的地方， （*3）
用着一个从Jim Hegan教练的置物柜‘借’来的手套。
（Heagan有用一个水饺垫来保护他的手，不过我跟Bouton说我不需要多余的防护。）
我们在主队休息室更衣，还用了球员们的桑拿。
那时的洋基球场就像石头一样安静。
After decades of working at the Stadium, the original or the instantly
antiquated rebuilt version, I try to see the awe through other people’s eyes
— Tony Gwynn taking videos before the 1998 Series, rookies’ eyes widening,
fans on a pilgrimage. I think of it as a hard place, with Steinbrenner
meanness squashing the humanity in guards, ushers, executives. But I remember
“Good friends we had/good friends we lost/Along the way,” as Bob Marley put
it — Steve Hamilton, Bill Robinson, Bob Fishel, Michael Burke, some of the
finest people I’ve ever known. I think about Mantle’s shot off Barney
Schultz in the 1964 Series. And Bob Sheppard’s dignity. In the last
generation, an old Brooklyn fan could feel immense respect for Joe Torre’s
team.
在这球场工作了几十年后，保括原来的还有修缮完马上就被古董化的复刻版，
我试着在别人的眼里找那一丝惊叹。
Tony Gwynn在1998世界大赛前用摄影机录影时、
菜鸟们睁大了的眼睛、球迷们的朝圣之旅。
我认为这是个严酷的地方，
Steinbrenner的刻薄打扁了在保安、引座员、球队经理们中的人性。
不过，就如Bob Marley唱的，我记得那些 （*4）
‘那些在途中/我们有过的好朋友/我们失去的好朋友’。
Steve Hamilton，Bill Robinson，Bob Fishel，Michael Burke，
这些我认识过最棒的人啊。
我常想起Mantle在1964年大赛里，从Barney Schultz手上打出的那一击；
还有Bob Sheppard表现出的尊严。
在这最后的世代，一个布鲁克林队的老球迷对Joe Torre的球队感到无比的尊敬。
Shea Stadium rose on the ashes of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds, and the
smoldering ashes of the Corona Dumps, memorialized in “The Great Gatsby.”
The Mets arrived in my home borough in 1964, paint still drying, workers
tightening bolts, usherettes dressed like stewardesses, Casey clowning it up.
萧氏球场（Shea Stadium)从Ebbets Field还有马球场的尘埃中隆起，
还有那Corona Dumps的灰烬，只能在‘The Great Gatsby’里纪念。 （*5）
大都会队在1964年来到我家这区。
油漆未干，工人们忙着旋紧螺栓，女引座员穿的像空中小姐一样。
Casey变起了戏法。 （*6）
It was a dump built on a dump. I’ve spent months of my life in the doddering
press elevator. I’ve seen fans clawing at the sod in 1969, paint peeling off
the seats in the late ’70s, and Mookie Wilson’s bizarre at-bat in 1986 that
made me hastily junk a column on the Red Sox finally exorcising the ghosts.
那是个在垃圾堆上建起的垃圾堆。
我的生命大概有几个月是花在那衰老的记者用电梯上。
我看着1968年的球迷们耙走那草坪，油漆在七零年代末期片片剥落。
还有Mookie Wilson一九八六年那个奇幻的打席，
害我得草草把那篇红袜终于破除魔咒的特稿作废。
Because it was home, I took my kids to games, talked baseball with the great
mixture of fans when the airplanes and obnoxious sound system allowed us. I’
ve seen sushi come to Shea. Seen the landmark Serval Zipper sign disappear
out behind center field. Seen Omar Minaya from the neighborhood come back to
run the club.
因为那是我们的主场，我带着我的孩子们去看比赛；
在当喧杂的人群、飞机、还有烦人的音响系统允许时跟谈谈棒球经。 （*7）
我看着寿司来到Shea。看到那地标般的Serval Zipper招牌消失在中外野后。
看到地头蛇Omar Minaya回来掌管这球队。
Now both teams are putting up new ballparks, with fewer seats and higher
prices. Our tax money is paying for infrastructure for stadiums where fewer
of us can afford to go. I don’t claim to get it.
现在两只球队都建起了新球场，带来了变少了的座位还有变贵的门票。
我们的税金替球场的周边建设买单，
但能负担得起去看球的却变少了。
我可真是搞不懂。
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译者注 （*1）贝比鲁斯的著名演讲‘Farewell to Baseball’。
可以在这个连结听到。http://tinyurl.com/yntggv
这个连结里的演说都很棒喔。
（*2）布鲁克林道奇队，洛杉矶道奇队的前身。
（*3）Yogi Berra还有Bill Dickey，洋基队的名捕手。皆为名人堂成员。
（*4）美国著名雷鬼歌手，你可能曾在电影‘我是传奇’里听到他的歌声。
（*5）著名小说，中译大亨小传。
讲述的是二十世纪初的美国梦故事，故事位于纽约。
（*6）Casey Stengel，在1962年时以72岁的高龄，
接掌新科球队大都会队的兵符。
（*7）Shea Stadium紧邻纽约的LaGuardia机场（LaGuardia Airport）。