(初次翻译，请不吝指正)
原文出处:
The Hardball Times
http://ppt.cc/oOX8
Let Athletes Be Athletes: Fast Hitters Don’t Have to Be Lefties
JUNE 10, 2014 BY DAN FARNSWORTH
腿哥一定要是左打吗？？
(打者从左打区出发真的会比较快？)
When it comes to projecting and developing amateur and minor-league players,
speed is completely overrated. I get why it is though; if the “hit-o-meter”
—a hypothetical tool that puts a two-digit, written-in-stone number on a
player’s hitting ability—had come out before the radar gun and stopwatch, I
probably would be lamenting the lack of hard-throwing pitchers and speedy
defensive outfielders in baseball. It is easy to measure speed, and it doesn’
t take a genius to figure out which players are good at using their speed to
impact a baseball game.
当我们要预测或养成一位业余或是小联盟的球员，速度这技能是被过份高估的。我知道
为何会如此：假设在雷达测速枪或码秒出现之前，有一个所谓"打击能力计"这种仪器，
直接测出一组两位数字来表示打者的能力，我现在可能会因为联盟缺乏刚速投手与具速
度的防守型外野手而难过呢！速度是如此容易测量，也不需要多聪明就可以知道球员如
何运用速度去影响球赛。
The part I have an issue with is when a fast hitter is virtually instructed
to abandon his hit tool early in his baseball development to focus solely on
his speed. Players like Carlos Gomez have been encouraged to hit the ball on
the ground rather than try to drive the ball, only to change gears before
enjoying career-defining success. But don’t believe me; let’s let Gomez
tell us himself:
这部份我想讨论的问题是：一个具有腿的打者在养成过程中，往往很早就被教导只专注
在他的速度而抛弃其他打击能力的培养。如Carlos Gomez曾经被鼓励把球往地上打，而
非把球带远，在享受职业生涯成功之前唯有转换技能(按：这句不太理解)。不用相信我
说的，让我们听听Gomez自己怎么说：
"For five or six years, I tried to hit the ball on the ground and bunt and hit
it the other way,” Gomez says. “I know people wanted to help me to do my
best, but it wasn’t working. I finally said, ‘I’m tired.’ If I was going
to be out of baseball, I wanted to at least try it my way.”
“大概有五六年，我试着把球往地上打、或是触击、或是用其他方式打击，”Gomez说：
“我知道大家都想帮助我让我表现好，但这些都没用。最后我说；‘我真的累了！’也
许终究我无法打棒球，但至少我想用我的方式试试看！”
Other hitters, usually natural right-handers, are taught to hit from the left
side in order to take advantage of being closer to first base. This
presumably allows them to get to first quicker and beat out more infield
singles. Billy Hamilton is a notable recent example, having begun to switch
hit in 2010. Shane Victorino also picked it up in the minor leagues at the
Double-A level in the Dodgers organization. Maybe that is the only way some
players get a shot at playing higher-level baseball, but these
career-altering decisions are made much too quickly when a player has plus
speed.
其他腿哥，通常天生是右打，却被教导转成左打只因为离一垒垒包比较近，这大概可以
让他们更快到一垒，跑出更多内野安打。Billy Hamilton应该是最近值得注意的例子，
他自2010年开始左右开攻。夏威夷人Shane Victorino当年也在道奇AA开始练左右开弓。
也许对某些球员来说这是可以让他们升到更高阶的唯一方法，但是对拥有杰出速度的球
员，这种关系职涯的转换决定往往下得太快！
I wrote an entire article about why even fast hitters shouldn’t hit ground
balls. Here I would like to question the second tactic fast hitters are
taught: are batters truly faster to first base from the left side of the
plate?
我曾经写过一篇文章探讨腿哥为何不应该打滚地球(参照http://ppt.cc/Uc9x)，这里我
要对腿哥常常被教导的策略提出第二个质疑：从左打起跑真的会比较快到达一垒吗？
It is obvious why they could be. The middle of the left-handed batter’s box
is at least a stride length closer to first base than for right-handers. In a
game where 0.4 seconds is the difference between average runners and the
fastest in the game, a few feet shorter distance certainly means a great
deal. However, think about the position in which a left-handed batter
finishes his swing.
这个结果似乎是显而易见，左打区的中心距一垒垒包至少比右打区少一个大跨步的距离
。在一场比赛中，如果一般速度跑者和最快跑者的差距是0.4秒，仅仅数呎的距离当然
有着很大的决定性。然而，我们要考量当左打者完成挥击时他的姿势是如何！
(图)http://i.imgur.com/BJTYHbc.png
(V-Mart左打)
(图)http://i.imgur.com/HKKW2Mb.png
(V-Mart右打)
Now compare that to the position he is in at the end of his right-handed
swing.
Which position looks more ready to accelerate to first base? As a left-handed
batter, Victor Martinez here has to turn his shoulders and feet toward the
right side of the diamond before he can really be expected to reach full
speed. As a righty, his body is already facing first base, and he only needs
to start pumping his legs to get under way.
比较右打完成挥击时的姿势，哪一种姿势看起来像是准备好加速冲向一垒了？站左打时，
V-Mart必须要将他的肩膀与脚转向右边线(一垒的方向)，他才能加速至最高速；反而站右
打时，他的身体已经是面对一垒垒包，他只需要提腿加速即可。
I am sure one or two of you are already logging into the comments section to
yell at me, “WHAT ABOUT ICHIRO, IDIOT?” Fair question, but the name-calling
isn’t necessary. Ichiro Suzuki used the best of both worlds by starting
closer to the bag on the left side while also beginning to run as he hit.
Though it is impossible to argue this strategy limited his hit tool (career
.319 batting average/.361 on-base percentage), there always have been
rumblings that he intentionally sapped his impressive power through this
approach.
看到这里，我想有些乡民已经在下面开嘘了"怎么不说说朗神呢？"没错，Ichiro将两边的
优点都撷取了：站左打比较靠近一垒垒包，同时在击球时就已经准备起跑了！虽然不可能
去说这个策略限制了他的打击能力(拜托，生涯AVG.319与OBP.361)，还是有许多声音表示
这样的方式削弱了他的power。
Since not everyone can be Ichiro, let’s look at some numbers. For starters,
I selected the 25 switch hitters with the most plate appearances thus far in
2014 and looked at their infield hit rates from each side of the plate. To
grab a bigger sample of numbers, I included the totals since the start of the
2013 season.
既然朗神不是人人能当，来看一些数据吧！首先，我选了25名在2014年有最多PA的左右开
弓打者，去比较他们站左打或右打时的内野安打比例，为了让数据量大一些，我把2013球
季的数据也加进来。
Here is the full list, complete with infield hit percentages (infield hits
per ground ball) as well as the total number of ground balls for each side.
The last column is simply the difference between the infield hit percentages
for each side.
如下表，里面有站各边的内野安打率(滚地球形成内野安打的比例)。最后一栏则为两边比
率的差距。
2014球季左右开弓打者内野安打率(含2013球季)