来源：The Mercury News
网址：http://tinyurl.com/yd2cxe42
When life throws a curve: Giants’ Brandon Crawford tries to make sense of
his disheartening season
人生起起落落：巨人Brandon Crawford沮丧的一季
MIAMI – Exactly one year and one week ago, Brandon Crawford made history
here at Marlins Park. In a 14-inning victory, he went 7 for 8 to become the
fifth major league player in more than a century to collect seven hits in a
game.
就刚好是一年又一个礼拜之前，Brandon Crawford在马林鱼场馆创造了历史。在一场14局
的比赛，他8个打数打出7支安打，成为史上第五人（第四人是在100+年前）在单场比赛打
出7支安打的球员。
It seemed crazy then. Returning to this UFO-shaped incongruence plopped in
the middle of Little Havana, it seems crazier now.
那时看起来有点疯狂，但是比起重回到马林鱼球场看Crawford的近况，现在看起来更疯了
一些。
“Right now,” said Crawford, “I’d be happy with seven hits in a week.”
“现在的话，”Crawford说到，“我一个礼拜有七支安打就很开心了。”
For all the Giants’ thrown rods and shot springs this season, Crawford’s
season-long grind at the plate is among the toughest to explain. The former
Silver Slugger winner knows his .225 average is beyond rescue, and he even
misplaced his Golden Glove for an instant in the Marlins’ four-run first
inning Wednesday. Crawford clanked a slicing line drive as the Giants
finished their compressed road trip with an 8-1 loss in South Florida.
对于今年巨人队荒腔走板的表现，Crawford今年的走钟似乎是最难解之谜。曾经是MLB最佳
打击手的他今年打击率只有.225，他的防守金手套似乎是放在家里，从马林鱼第一局拿下4
分可以看出。巨人这次在南佛罗里达的长征以8-1输球收尾，Crawford只打了一支安打。
The Giants know what happened to Madison Bumgarner. He fell off a dirt bike.
They know what happened to Johnny Cueto. He dealt with blisters. Mark Melancon
’s elbow barked at him. Jarrett Parker flung himself into a wall. The entire
right side of the infield (Joe Panik, Brandon Belt) is concussed.
巨人球团知道疯邦发生了什么事：他从越野车上摔下来；球团知道Cueto发生了什么事：他
手指起水泡；Melancon的手肘出状况；Jarrett Parker接球撞墙断了锁骨；右边内野手（
Joe Panik, Brandon Belt）都有脑震荡。
But what the heck happened to Crawford?
但是他X的到底Crawford怎么了？
“I think the most frustrating part was that in Washington (over the
weekend), I felt like I was on every pitch I swung at, and I ended up with
one single in the whole series,” Crawford said. “I mean, it’s definitely
better to feel on time and feel like my swing is right. But it’s also
aggravating to feel good and not get hits, because you know you’ll go
through times when you’re not feeling right.”
“我认为最让人沮丧的部分是在国民那场子，我觉得我每一次挥击都有抓到，但是结果就
是那个系列赛只打了一支安打，”Crawford说到。“我是说，觉得有抓到击球时机跟击球
点很赞，但是让人抓狂的是感觉有到却打不出安打，更不要说若是感觉不到的时候了。”
Crawford has spent too much of this season not feeling right. He missed a
little more than two weeks because of a strained groin that sent him to the
disabled list at the end of April, but he returned May 11 and hit .340 in the
month. He said the injury hasn’t lingered or hindered him since then. He
still leads the team with 57 RBIs.
Crawford这季花了太长的时间感觉不好。他因为股沟拉伤休息了超过两个礼拜，在4月底的
时候进了伤兵名单，但是当他5/11回来的时候打击率有.340。他说那个伤并没有困扰他太
久。他的打点57分，还是全队最高。
But he acknowledged that feeling on time at the plate was a struggle through
most of the first half.
但是他也承认，上半球季大半时间他在打击时在垒包时抓不到感觉。
“I felt I wasn’t quite as quick with my lower half and my hands,” Crawford
said. “I don’t know why. But that causes you to try to cheat on pitches,
and then you start to swing at bad pitches.”
“我感觉我的下半身跟我的手速度不够快，”Crawford说到。“我不知道为什么。不过那
样的状况会让击球有困难，然后就开始打坏球了。”
These numbers bear it out: Crawford’s chase rate on pitches out of the zone
has increased slightly, from a career average of 31 percent to 35.4 percent
this season. That’s what happens when you start the bat early and have to
adjust to a breaking ball.
数字会说话：Crawford追打坏球的比率上升，从生涯的31％到本季的35.4％。那就是挥棒
过早，然后追打变化球所造成的结果。
These numbers scream it out: breaking balls have been Crawford’s kryptonite.
He is hitting .111 on at-bats that end with a slider, and .105 on at-bats
that end with a curve. Those trips comprise more than a quarter of his
at-bats (101 of 382) this season.
另外的数据更明显：变化球变成是Crawford的死穴。他在碰到滑球的打击率是.111，曲球
打击率是.105。这两种占了他今年打数的四分之一（101/382）。
Crawford has swung and missed 61 times at sliders and gotten just seven hits
on the pitch all season. He has four hits, all singles, against the curve. He
hasn’t hit a home run on a breaking ball all year – a surprising fact for a
hitter who had shown the ability to punish hanging pitches since that grand
slam in Milwaukee in his memorable big league debut.
Crawford打了61次滑球没打到，只打出了7支安打；打曲球只打了4支安打，而且都是一垒
安打。对于变化球，他一支全垒打都没。这对一个在Milwaukee第一次打大联盟就打了一支
清垒全垒打的的打者来说，实在太令人感到惊讶。
His batting average on balls in play also has taken a steep drop, from .322
last year to .259 this season. The league average usually hovers around .290
– perhaps a hint that Crawford has not benefited from as much good fortune.
他的球打进场打击率像自由落体：去年是.322，今年是.259。全联盟的平均是.290。
But there is another factor, too. According to Statcast, Crawford’s sprint
speed – his measured speed on his 10 fastest running events on the basepaths
— has dipped from 27.3 mph in the previous two years to 26.5 percent this
year. That might not sound like much. But it is the difference between being
a tick above average and a tick below – or the difference between beating
out one more single a week.
不过还有另外一个因素，根据Statcast，Crawford的跑步速度- 最快的10次跑垒均速-从前
两季的27.3mph到这季的26.5mph。这数字或许差距不大，但是这就是会让打击在平均之上
或是平均之下-或者就是一个被封杀或是一星期多一支安打的差别。
He led the major leagues with 11 triples last year. He has one this season.
去年他有11支三垒打领先；今年他只有一支。
Whether it’s his hands or his legs, it is measurable: Crawford has slowed
down this season. And although he plays a taxing position, he just turned 30
in January. He should have several prime years left.
或许是他的手或者脚有状况，这都显现出来：Crawford今年变慢了。虽然他打的是负担比
较重的内野手，但是他今年一月才满30，他的黄金岁月理论上应该还有好几年。
“I know I’ve felt better in the second half,” he said, “whether the
numbers have shown it or not.”
“我知道我下半季感觉更好了，”他说，“不管数字上会不会显现出来。”
Giants manager Bruce Bochy subbed for Crawford after the shortstop made the
last out in the fifth inning, but not because of any infirmity. With the
Giants already trailing 5-1, Bochy sought multiple innings out of Albert
Suarez in relief of spot starter Matt Cain. So he engineered a double-switch.
巨人总教练Bruce Bochy在五局游击手完成出局后把Crawford换下来，但不是因为他考虑体
力的问题。巨人那时已经5-1落后，Bochy还有好几局要打，要把先发Matt Cain换下，后援
Albert Suarez准备上，所以他决定要换两个球员。
But Bochy also acknowledged the benefit of giving Crawford a semi-break at
the end of a demanding trip, especially since the Giants don’t have a day
off before they open the next homestand and they remain thin in the middle
infield with Panik on the concussion DL. Second baseman Miguel Gomez cannot
be activated from the DL until Saturday.
但是Bochy也知道这可以让Crawford可以稍做喘息，尤其在远征赛之后回到主场还没有休息
日就要出赛，内野手Panik还因脑震荡在伤兵名单上，二垒手Miguel Gomez要到星期六才能
从伤兵名单移出。
The Giants are relying on Crawford, in the near term and far beyond that.
所以巨人现在需要Crawford，不管是近期或是远期。
As difficult as this season has been for the Giants, it’s been worse for
Crawford and his wife, Jalynne. She lost her eldest sister in mid-April
following an asthma attack that struck without warning. Jennifer Pippin left
behind a husband and two small children. Every family responds to tragedy in
its own way. It’s callous to speculate how it might affect one’s batting
average.
尽管今年对巨人球队来说很困难，但是对Crawford以及他的太太来说，可能更加难熬。他
太太的姐姐在四月中因气喘发作过世，留下她的丈夫跟两个小孩。每个家庭对悲剧发反应都
不一样，但是去揣测这样的事件对于打击表现的影响是有点不人道的。
Amid a forgettable year in every respect, Crawford said his goals haven’t
changed once he arrives at the ballpark.
今年对Crawford来说从哪方面都不是值得记忆的，但是Crawford说他到球场之后，他的目
标从未改变。
“I want to go up and have good at-bats,” he said. “It’s not like the
numbers are going to end up looking good either way. I’d love to say I’ll
hit .400 the rest of the year, but at this point in the season, it’s not
going to matter. I just want to feel like I have (in Washington) and play
good defense.”
“我想上场，然后打击有好表现，”他说。“这不是说数据就会往上，我当然想说今年到
结束前我打击率可以回到.400，但是球季走到现在，那已经不重要了。我只希望我可以有
在国民场子那样的打击感觉，然后守备可以表现好。”
The Marlins already led 2-0 in a first inning fraught with misfortune – Dee
Gordon reached on catcher’s interference, Giancarlo Stanton blooped a single
and J.T. Realmuto drove in a run when he beat out a near double-play grounder
– when Derek Dietrich’s line drive went off Crawford’s glove. Tomás
Tellis followed with a two-run double.
一局上马林鱼就2-0领先，Dee Gordon因为捕手干扰上垒，Stanton打了一支一垒打，
Realmuto差点打了个双杀滚地，不过还是打了一分打点- 然后Deltrich打了一支平飞球，
但是球从Crawford的手套掉出来。之后Tellis打了一支有两分打点的二垒打。
“You’d like to have a mulligan on that first inning,” Bochy said. “I
mean, Matt just had some horrible luck there.”
“若是第一局可以重来当来很好，”Bochy说。“我的意思是，Matt Cain真的运气很
差。”
What could be worse luck than a Gold Glove shortstop failing to catch a ball
right at him?
有什么会比一个金手套得主去接一个飞向他的球却还掉出来的运气更差呢？
Crawford said the ball sliced on him “obviously, more than I anticipated.”
Crawford说那球的路径有点弯，“但是很显然的，弯的比我预期的多。”
Barely more than a year ago, Crawford was posing for pictures with Rennie
Stennett, who waited 41 years to welcome another player to the seven-hit
club. Even as recently as this March, he built good memories here. He was
locked in at the plate for Team USA as it won its pool in a prelude to
capturing the World Baseball Classic for the first time.
就差不多一年多前，Crawford才跟上一个打出单场7支安打的Rennie Stennett拍照。在今
年三月，他在马林鱼场馆也有不错的回忆。他为美国队打经典赛，帮助美国队赢得分组
赛，替美国第一次拿下经典赛冠军拉开序幕。
“It just seems like a long time ago,” he said.
“只是那似乎是好久以前的事了，”他说。