http://ppt.cc/OtnZ
Chicago Cubs fans may disagree, but all streaks ultimately come to an end.
On Wednesday night, the Boston Red Sox may fail to sell out Fenway Park
for the first time in nearly a decade.
小熊球迷也许不同意，但所有的连续纪录终会有结束的一天，这个星期三晚间，将是近
10年来第一次芬威球场没有卖满座的比赛。
Including their home opener Monday, the Red Sox have sold out a
major-league-record 794 consecutive games, a streak that dates to the 2003
season, the year before the team ended an 86-year drought and won the
World Series. Since then, rain or shine, freezing temperatures or summer heat,
the Red Sox have sold all 37,000 or so seats at Fenway Park.
包括他们星期一的主场开幕战在内，红袜连续满座的大联盟纪录延续到794场比赛，从
04年红袜结束86年世界大赛冠军荒的前一年开始，不管刮风下雨还是寒风刺骨甚至烈日
当空，红袜在芬威球场每场都卖出超过3万7千张票。
The Red Sox’ streak dwarfs the 455 consecutive sellouts by the
Cleveland Indians in the 1990s, and it is nearly five times as long as
the second-longest current streak, 169 games, by the San Francisco Giants.
(The Philadelphia Phillies’ sellout streak ended last August at 257 games.)
红袜的纪录让1990年代印地安人连续455场满场的纪录看起来渺小，不仅如此，他们
更比现役排名第二连续169场满场的旧金山巨人多了将近五倍。
(费城费城人的纪录在去年八月结束，停在连续257场满场)
But even Red Sox fans, who are among the most involved in baseball,
finally have reasons to stay away. The team’s epic collapse in 2011
was followed by a last-place finish last season. The improvements to Fenway
Park, including seats added to the top of the Green Monster, are no longer
a novelty. Ticket prices have pushed up over the years.
但就算是如此热爱棒球的红袜迷们也有原因不进场，像2011年的大崩盘让红袜去年在
美联东区垫底，加上芬威球场近年的整修在绿色怪物上新增许多座位，坐在绿色怪物
上看球变得不新鲜了，当然近几年票价上涨也是原因之一。
Tickets in April are also more difficult to sell because the weather is cooler
and children are in school. Worse, the Red Sox will play 17 home games
this month, a team record for April, making it that much harder to sell every
ticket. The streak may end as soon as the second home game of the season —
Wednesday’s matchup against the Baltimore Orioles — when the Red Sox expect
ticket sales to surpass 30,000, but not reach capacity.
票在四月显得更难卖了，因为气候寒冷，小朋友也开学，更糟的是，红袜这个月有17场
的主场比赛，是队史在四月的新高，使得要卖完每张票更加困难，纪录最快会在星期三
面对金莺的比赛时终止，预估可以卖出3万张但不到满场。
Fenway Park’s capacity is 37,493 for night games and a few hundred less during
the day, when some center-field bleacher seats are covered. With standing room,
attendance can hit 39,000. Even so, Fenway Park is considered the third
smallest stadium in baseball, trailed only by those in Oakland, Calif., and in
St. Petersburg, Fla., where the Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays seal off
entire sections because of lackluster ticket sales.
芬威球场在晚间的比赛最多可容纳3万7千4百9十3人，下午场因为中外野观众席遮起来
的关系会少几百个座位，如果加上站票，实际能塞进3万9千人，就算如此，芬威球场
还是被认为是第三小的棒球场，前两个分别是奥克兰运动家和坦帕湾光芒的主场，
因为票销售不佳的原因，封闭了好几个区域的座位席。
Regardless of how long it lasts, and how it is defined, the Red Sox’ sellout
streak is the result of a confluence of factors, the most important being a
winning team. When the run began May 15, 2003, with Pedro Martinez beating the
Texas Rangers, 12-3, the team — under a new management group that featured
Lucchino, the owners John Henry and Tom Werner and General Manager
Theo Epstein — was embarking on a long run of strong baseball that included
World Series titles in 2004 and 2007.
不论这个纪录能持续多久，又或者是如何定义满场，红袜的连续满场是许多综合因素
汇集起来的结果，最重要的当然是成为一支常胜军，从03年5月15日纪录开始的那场比赛
起，Pedro Martinez主投，红袜以12比3打败德州游骑兵，整支球队也有全新的管理团队
John Henry,Theo Epstein等人让这支球队成为具有竞争力的强队，也分别在04年和
07年拿下世界大赛冠军。
Lucchino said season-ticket renewal rates were 88 percent to 90 percent
this year, down from about 95 percent in recent years.
Lucchino说季票续约比率从近几年的95%掉到88~90%。
“We hope to really thank them with a decent season,” he said of Red Sox fans.
“That would be the best thank you of all.”
"我希望今年可以以一个像样的球季来回报球迷，这是感谢球迷最好的方法。"