这篇文是去年九月的，不过Guerrero正式退休，分享一下。以后大概看不太到这种打者了
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http://0rz.tw/fOz9Z
By Joe Posnanski (NBC名作家)
Appreciating the free-swinging excellence of Vlad Guerrero
回顾Vladimir Guerrero他自由奔放的打击
Not too long ago, I was working on a project that (sadly) never quite got off
the ground — it was a project to explore why we still love sports. Here we are
surrounded by the horror of concussions and NCAA hypocrisy and PED use and
countless other unsavory things … but we still love the games. In a weird way,
we love the games now more than we ever did.
不久以前，我原本要写一本书，虽然一直没有真的动手。内容探讨为什么人们还爱看运
动比赛。虽然现在有一堆恐怖的脑震荡新闻、大学球赛的黑暗面、禁药议题等等，但我
们还是爱看。某种程度上来说，人们比以前还更关注运动。
In the book, I was going to write an entire chapter about a Vladimir Guerrero
at-bat.
在那本书中，我原本打算用一整章描写Guerrero的一个打席
In my lifetime, there have been certain athletes who were just FUN to watch.
Now, I’m not referring to how good they were or how valuable they were …
simply how much joy they gave us. Some of the all-time greats were great fun,
of course: Magic Johnson was fun, Barry Sanders of course, Muhammad Ali.
Pistol Pete Maravich.
我活到现在，有些选手就是让人想看。我不是说他们多厉害，或多有价值…单纯是他们
让我们多开心。当然，有些名人也是这样：魔术强森很好看、Barry Sanders、拳王阿里
，Pistol Pete Maravich。
But there are some others too who weren’t all-time greats. The Cleveland
Browns used to have this amazing kick returner named Eric Metcalf (son of the
great Terry Metcalf) — he was widely viewed as a massive disappointment
because he could never quite translate his punt returning genius to his life
as a running back or a receiver. But, MAN was he fun — anytime he touched
the ball, he might just do something that would blow your mind. Actually quite
a few punt returners were like that. White Shoes Johnson was like that.
Dante Hall was like that. Devin Hester.
(这段是讲一个美足球员，专接踢发球后第一次进攻的，因和MLB无关就不解释了)
Dwight Gooden was amazing fun in the early days. The strikeout pitchers are
always fun. Jim Zorn was fun — scrambling quarterbacks are wonderful.
These days: Bubba Watson is fun. Joe Flacco is oddly fun*. Victor Cruz is fun.
Andrelton Simmons is fun — great defensive shortstop are fantastic.
Lionel Messi. Man, nobody’s as much fun as Steph Curry — you can’t watch
him play basketball without, at some point, just breaking out in a big smile.
早期的Dwight Gooden超好看。三振型投手永远都很好看。Jim Zorn很有趣─能带球冲刺
的四分卫很赞。Bubba Watson很好看，Joe Flacco是另一种意义上的好看。Victor Cruz
好看。Andrelton Simmons也很好看。防守型的游击手都很好看。踢足球的梅西。嗯，大
概没人比得上Stephen Curry。很难看完一场他的球而不开心的。
*Flacco is fun because his arm is just RIDICULOUS — if I could throw a
football as hard or as far as Joe Flacco, I would overthrow receivers by
40 yards again and again just to entertain myself. Maybe that’s why he
does it.
*Flacco好看的原因是因为他很扯：如果我有办法把橄榄球丢得和他一样远，我大概每次
都会丢在接球员前面40码来让我自己觉得爽。或许这是为什么他也这样丢的原因。
In my lifetime, I think that there was nothing in sports more fun than
watching Vlad Guerrero hit a baseball. He was one-of-a-kind. He grew up in
the Dominican Republic, and when he signed with the Montreal Expos he was
this big (6-foot-3), strong, fast, power-armed force of nature. I’ve heard
people compare Yasiel Puig to him, and that’s not a bad comparison — but
if anything Vlady was even more unbridled and absurd.
看过这么多，我想在运动场上，没有比看Vladmir Guerrero打击更爽的事了。他是独一
无二的。在多明尼加长大，和博览会签约时的他又高(6呎3)，又壮，俊足又强肩。我听
过别人拿Yasiel Puig去和他比。当然这样比也有些道理，但不管怎么看，Vlady是更加
狂放不羁。
From his first day in pro baseball, you could not throw a baseball by Vlady
— no matter how fast or slow, no matter how high or low, how far outside or
inside. If you bounced a pitch in front of the plate, he might hit it. If
you threw it over his head, he might hit it. He would definitely try.
从他踏入职业棒球的第一天，Vlady就没有打不到的球。不管快或慢，高或低，多外角或内
角。如果你本垒板弹一颗星，他也有可能打到。丢比他头还高，他也有可能打到。但
他一定会试着打看看。
There have been bad-ball hitters before, of course. Clemente was a famous bad
ball hitter. Yogi was a famous bad ball hitter. Manny Sanguillen proudly would
swing at anything. But there was something wonderful about Vlady’s free
swinging. Every at bat, it was like he was just trying to prove a point. From
2007 to 2011, by the Fangraphs numbers, Vlad Guerrero swung at more than
FORTY-FIVE PERCENT of the pitches out of the strike zone.
当然，以前也有专挥坏球的打者。Roberto Clemente是有名的例子之一。Yogi Berra也是
。Manny Sanguillen很自豪的有球就挥。但Vlady的球来就打有独特的魔力。每次他站上打
击区，他都好像是要告诉观众什么事一样。从2007到2011，根据Fangraphs的数据，
Guerrero挥了整整45%好球带外的球。
Think about that for a second. He basically swung at HALF the pitches that were
not strikes. Of course, other players swing at bad pitches — and there’s not
a thing fun about that when you’re talking about Jeff Francoeur. What’s fun
about Guerrero is that even from 2007 to 2011 — though Guerrero was aged and
beat up and no longer the hitting genius he had been as a young man — he STILL
hit .303 and slugged .490.
仔细想一下。他每挥棒两次就有一颗是打坏球。当然，其他打者也会对坏球出棒 ─ 而且
如果你指是Jeff Francoeur的话这一点都不有趣。让Guerrero与众不同的地方是，即使是
2007到2011，一个又老又伤，不再是少年英雄的他，依然缴出了.303的打击率和.490的长
打率。
Every at-bat of his was not just a battle with the pitcher but with geometry.
Five feet outside? He’d reach. In the dirt? He’d golf. Behind him? He’d
switch-hit. Close your eyes, you can just see the ridiculous movements Vlady
would make just to hit a baseball. Man did he love hitting baseballs. His eyes
just lit up when he was at the plate.
他每次站上打击区，面对的不只是投手，还是几何学。本垒板外五呎？我挥看看。掉到土
里？捞起来。球往我背后飞？我换手打。闭上你的眼睛，你就能看到Vlady各种想尽办法打
到球的动作。他真的很爱“打”球。他眼睛一看到球就烧起来了。
Of course, pitchers KNEW he would swing at just about anything. And yet, for 16
years, they never could find that place outside his hitting zone. They never
figured out how to take advantage of his non-selective ways. Guerrero led the
league in intentional walks five times, and I don’t think it was only because
of his great hitting. I think it was also because pitchers didn’t know how
else to walk him.
当然，投手也知道他球来就打。但是花了16年，他们还是投不出他的好球带。他们从来没
有因为他这样的通通挥占到便宜。Guerrero是五次的联盟故意保送王，而我想这不只是因为
他是个好打者，而是投手们找不到投坏球保送他的办法。
At 23, Guerrero played his first full season and hit .324 with 38 homers, 37
doubles, 9 triples. Everything he did was BIG. He made big plays. He made big
mistakes. He swung big. He missed big. Guerrero flashed one of the great arms
you’ve ever seen — Jonah Keri brings up the excellent point that Montreal,
for a team that only played 36 seasons, had some spectacular outfield arms in
its history. Guerrero’s arm was ridiculous. Larry Walker’s arm was fantastic.
Andre Dawson had a breathtaking arm. And, most of all, there was Ellis
Valentine. What an arm that guy had.
23岁时，Guerrero在他的第一个完整赛季缴出了.324的打击率，38支全垒打，37支二垒安
打，9支三垒打。他作什么事都特别突出。有超级美技，也有超夸张失误，他打击挥大棒，
挥空也大挥空。Guerrero的臂力大概是史上最强之一。Jonah Keri也说过，只有36年历史
的蒙特娄博览会，大概有历史上最强的外野肩力。Guerrero很扯，Larry Walker很猛，
Andre Dawson很强，更别说Ellis Valentine。哇操咧。
But while Guerrero’s arm was strong, he rarely had any idea where it was
going. The guy airmailed so many cutoff men that at some point you just wanted
him to get it over with and wear an American Postal Service uniform. He stole
bases — as many as 40 in a season — but he got thrown out a lot (the year he
stole 40 he led the league by being caught 20 times). He was fast and reckless
on the bases, often hurting his team as much as he helped them.
虽然Guerrero能传得很远，但他通常也不知道球会飞去哪里。他在咖斗时传过头的次数
，多到你会想把他拉出来然后给他一件邮差制服。他会盗垒，曾经一季盗40次，但他也常
常被刺杀(他盗40次那年，被抓了20次，全联盟最多)他跑垒时快又无畏的作风，对球队有
伤害和有帮助的比例大概差不多。
And at the plate … just, wow. He would swing at anything and he would swing
with crazy ferocity. And yet, against all logic, he didn’t strike out much. He
never struck out 100 times in a season and only came close once. Eleven times,
Vlady hit 25-plus homers while striking out fewer than 90 times. Since the
strike — when strikeouts began to skyrocket — only Albert Pujols has pulled
off that feat as often.
在打击区…我只能说，哇…。他看到球就挥，而且跟疯子一样大力挥。可是完全不合逻辑
的是：他很少被三振。他从来没有一季被三振超过100次，而且只有一次差点达阵。整整
11季，他打了超过25只全垒打，只被三振不到90次。从罢工那年开始算，也就是三振数开
始狂飙的时代，只有Pujols有达成这样的成就。
How did he do it? Well, for Vlady, it was simple math. He had three strikes to
hit the baseball. And so he simply crushed the first thing he saw. In his
career, he put about 20% of the first pitches he faced into play. He was the
quintessential first ball fastball hitter. If it looked kind of straight, and
looked within his reach (and weren’t they ALL within his reach), he swung at
that first pitch.
他怎么办到的？嗯，对Vlady来说，不过是简单的算数。每次打击，他有三好球的机会可以
把球打出去。所以他最好第一球就开始挥。在他的生涯中，有20%的打席是打第一球进场。
他是真正的第一球打者。只要投手第一球看起来不太歪，而且看起来挥得到(难道他有挥不
到的球？)他就会挥。
*Here’s a fun little statistic on Guerrero: On 3-1 counts, he hit .417. If he
had a pitcher down 3-1, forced to throw something resembling a strike,
Guerrero was extra-lethal. But, truth is, he hardly ever faced a 3-1 count.
He hit a 3-1 pitch in play less than 4% of the time. The at-bat was usually
long over before a 3-1 count was possible.
*一个有趣的统计数字：Guerrero在一好三坏的打击率是.417。如果他有办法逼投手到一
好三坏，逼得他们要投出看起来像好球的球，Guerrero是致命武器。但事实上，他几乎从
不会遇到一好三坏。只有4%的打席是他在一好三坏之后把球打进场。往往在那之前打席就
结束了。
Pitchers all knew this. They studied him. They game planned him. They were
told, again and again, “don’t give him anything good to hit on the first
pitch.” But that’s part of what made Guerrero so fun. His idea of “good”
was different from everyone else’s idea of good. On the first pitch, he hit
.363 and slugged.660. The guy would swing at anything. The guy would swing at
pitches in OTHER GAMES. And still pitchers could not throw a first pitch bad
enough to hold him off.
投手们当然也知道。他们会看他的资料。会订定一套计画对付他。他们会被一再提醒：“
第一球不要给他好球。”但这就是为什么Guerrero特别有魅力的地方。他的“好球”定义
跟其他人完全不同。他的第一球打击率是.363，长打率.660。他真的什么都挥。大概隔壁
球场的球他也想挥。但投手们依然投不出够烂的第一球去防他。
Guerrero hit .324 that first full year. Then .317. Then .345. Then .307. Then
.336. Then .330. Then .337. Batting average isn’t much of a statistic for
determining the overall offensive contribution of a player, but in Guerrero’s
case those batting averages are little markers of his artistry. Everything
about him was moving parts, legs flying all over the place, heavy slides,
overthrows, aggression, vicious swings, joyous intensity, but at the end of
the year it always ended same. He hit the ball harder than just about
anyone ever. And he always hit around .330.
Guerrero在第一个完整球季的打击率是.324。第二年.317，接下来是.345，.307，.336，
.330，.337。打击率不是衡量选手打击能力的唯一指标，但Guerrero的打击率透露出了他
拥有的卓越技巧。他弯著身体挥，跑来跑去，大滑垒，传过头，充满攻击性的挥棒，一种
愉悦的动感。但每年到了季末都一样。他比任何人挥得都还大力，然后永远是.330左右的
打击率。
He burned out pretty young, which figures when you look at the way he played
baseball. He got his last big league at-bat at 36 — by then he was just an
oversized version of the oversized player he had always been. He still hit
.290. But the power was gone. And he was walked unintentionally just 14 times
in 590 plate appearances. The superhuman reflexes necessary to do the
impossible things Vlady did had dulled just enough. He tried in various ways
to get back, but he could not.
他很早就开始衰退了，不过看他打球的方式大概也猜得出来。他最后一个打席是他36岁的
时候。那时的他只是一个以高个来说很胖的选手。他的打击率还是有.290。不过长打没了
。而且590打席中只被保送了14次。以往帮他作别人作不到的事的反射神经已经钝了。他还
想试着像以前一样打球，但就是没办法。
In the aftermath of his retirement, he has been coupled with his contemporary
Todd Helton, who also retired. It’s kind of weird. They were absolutely
nothing alike. But by the numbers, their careers mirrored almost exactly.
Helton hit .317. Guerrero hit .318. Helton had 2,505 hits. Guerrero had 2,590.
Helton had 2,791 runs-plus-RBIs. Guerrero had 2,824. Helton had 61.2 WAR.
Guerrero had 59.1 WAR. You could make a strong Hall of Fame case for both.
在他退休以后，他被拿来和同时代也退休的Todd Helton比较。这其实怪怪的。他们的风
格一点都不像。但他们的数据几乎是一模一样。Helton生涯打率.317，Guerrero.318。
Helton有2,505安，Guerrero有2,590。Helon有2,791分得分加打点，Guerrero有2,824。
Helton的生涯WAR是61.2，Guerrero是59.1。他们确实都有机会进名人堂。
But the Hall of Fame talk feels like something for another time. For now, I
want to remember Guerrero walking to the the plate, the pitcher sweating, the
crowd ready to see something awesome. He wore no batting gloves. Then Guerrero
would stand there, his body surprisingly upright, his bat high over his
shoulder and waving back and forth, and you could just tell he was itching to
swing at something, anything that came his way — moths, popcorn, air
molecules— and then the pitch would come, and if it was anywhere close,
anywhere in thestadium, he would lift that left leg, and turn his back toward
the pitcher, andhe would swing with purpose, and he would keep both hands on
the bat all theway through the swing and — as often as anyone of his
generation — he wouldcrush the ball. It was so much fun. Somewhere in all o
f it, I think, is why we keep watching.
不过现在先不谈名人堂了。我只想回忆一下，Guerrero走进打击区，投手不停冒汗，观
众迫不及待的样子。他不戴打击手套。然后他会站在那里，站得很直，棒子拿到肩膀上
一前一后的摆动，几乎能感觉到他等不急要巴下去，不管是什么往他飞来的东西 ─ 蛾
还是爆米花还是空气分子 ─ 然后球来了，只要是在差不多的地方，只要球还在球场内
，他会抬起左脚，转身，全力、完整的一挥，然后，结果十之八九都是：球被夯得又高
又远。真是太棒了。我想，这样的投打对决里的某些东西，就是吸引我们一直看球的原
因吧。(全文完)