Left Out by Andrew McCutchen 2015/02/13 A bunch of 12-year-old kids had their hearts broken this week. Jackie Robinson West, a team from Chicago’s South Side, won the U.S. title at the 2014 Little League World Series. They achieved their dream in dramatic fashion. I remember watching their pitcher give up the go-ahead homer against Nevada in the title game and he was so crushed that he physically doubled-over on the mound. His team fought back and won in an amazing game, and the joy on that kid’s face after the final out was something that made even me jealous. 这个礼拜，有一群12岁的小朋友心碎了。Jackie Robinson West，一只来自芝加哥南区 的队伍赢了2014年美国Little League的冠军。他们戏剧性的达成了梦想。我还记得在 冠军赛中他们的投手被Nevada打了一只超前全垒打，他大受打击的在投手丘上弯下身子。 後来他们的队伍开始反击并赢得了比赛，那些孩子脸上显露出的喜悦甚至让我有些忌妒。 During the celebration, the cameras cut to a gym on Chicago’s South Side where people were gathered to watch, and they were going crazy supporting these kids and their community. It felt so good to see that the game I love still matters in the inner-city. 在庆祝的过程中，摄影机转向芝加哥南区人们聚集看比赛的体育馆中，拍到他们几近疯狂 的支持着这些孩子们。很开心我喜爱的这比赛仍在这城市有一定的份量。 Then on Wednesday, Jackie Robinson West was stripped of its title for using players who lived “outside the geographical area.” There’s been a lot of the debate about what happened here, but one thing is clear to me. The incident shined a light on a very complicated issue. Baseball used to be the sport where all you needed was a stick and a ball. It used to be a way out for poor kids. Now it’s a sport that increasingly freezes out kids whose parents don’t have the income to finance the travel baseball circuit. 然後在星期三，Jackie Robinson West因为让"住在球队所属区域外"的球员上场而被取消 了冠军头衔，这引起了非常大的争议，但我只注意到一件事。就是这个事件凸显出了一个 非常复杂的议题。棒球在过去是一种只要给你球棒跟球，你就可以玩的运动。棒球过去也 是贫穷小孩的出路。而现在它渐渐的对那些双亲收入不足支付比赛旅费的孩子关上大门。 I grew up in Fort Meade, Florida. Our town had literally one stoplight. It didn’t even have a McDonald’s until a few years ago. But we did have a baseball field and a football field. I spent most of my days in the dirt, having fun. From the time I first stepped up in front of a tee-ball stand, I was trying to waggle my bat just like Ken Griffey Jr. Honestly, I was kind of a natural. My grandad used to come out to the field with a big camcorder and tape my tee-ball games. I used to think him and my dad were lying about how good I was back then, but I stumbled upon the tapes a few years ago and I was crushing balls off the walls and running around the bases like crazy. I was good. 我在佛州的Fort Meade长大。我们小镇只有一个红绿灯，甚至到了近几来才开了第一家 麦当劳。但我们的确是有一个棒球场及足球场。我把大部分时间都花在球场上玩乐。从 我第一次站到打击Tee座前，我就开始模仿Ken Griffey Jr.一样的摇摆着球棒。老实说 ，我有点算是天生神力。我爷爷以前常常带个摄录机到球场来拍我的tee-ball games(#1) 。我过去都认为爷爷跟老爸说我很棒是在骗我，直到几年前我偶然看到那些影带，我把球 打出墙，狂喜的绕着垒包，才发现我以前真的蛮不错的。 #1 Tee-ball game:给4-8岁小孩打的比赛，把球直接放在Tee座上打击的简易式棒球。 But the thing is, nobody outside of Fort Meade knew who I was, even when I was 12 years old, the same age as those kids playing in the Little League World Series. When you’re a kid from a low-income family who has talent, how do you get recognized? Now, you have to pay thousands of dollars for the chance to be noticed in showcase tournaments in big cities. My parents loved me, but they had to work hard to put food on the table, and there wasn’t much left over. They didn’t have the option of skipping a shift to take me to a tournament over the weekend. The hard choices started when I was very young. “Do you want that video game system for Christmas, or do you want a new baseball bat?” 但事实是，即便当时我已经12岁，就像那些Little League冠军赛的小朋友一样，在 Fort Meade以外根本没有人知道我是谁。一个天分洋溢却来自低收家庭的小孩，要如何找 到自己的伯乐？现在你可能要为了一个被发掘的机会，先花上几千块钱去大城市参加展示 赛。父母很爱我，但他们必须非常努力工作才能餬口，收入所剩无几。他们根本不可能在 周末请假带我去参加展示赛。这个难题从我很小的时候就开始了，「圣诞礼物，你想要一 台电视游乐器，还是一只新的球棒？」 A lot of talented kids my age probably picked the Playstation, and that was it. It was over for them. I always chose the new bat or glove. But all the scraping and saving in the world wasn’t going to be enough for my family to send me an hour north to Lakeland every weekend to play against the best competition. That’s the challenge for families today. It’s not about the $100 bat. It’s about the $100-a-night motel room and the $30 gas money and the $300 tournament fee. There’s a huge financing gap to get a child to that next level where they might be seen. 很多跟我同年纪的小孩或许会选择PlayStation，抉择就这麽样的结束了。而我总是选择 新的球棒或手套。但即使这样的省吃俭用，也不足以让家人每周把我送到一小时车程外的 Lakeland去打强度最高的比赛。这对现今许多家庭也是一项挑战，这不是一只百元球棒的 问题，这是每晚一百元的住宿加上三十元的车钱再加上三百元参赛费的问题。经济因素让 很多小朋友无法到更高层级的比赛去被发掘。 Thankfully, an AAU coach by the name of Jimmy Rutland noticed me during an All-Star game when I was 13-years-old and asked my father if I’d ever been on a travel team. At that point, I had barely left the county. My dad told him that it was just too expensive, and coach Rutland basically took me in as if I was another one of his sons. He helped pay for my jerseys and living expenses. My parents took care of what they could, which was basically just money for food. 谢天谢地，有一位名叫Jimmy Rutland的教练在明星赛注意到13岁的我，他也向我的父亲 询问我是否愿意让我加入他们的球队。当时我几乎没离开过我的家乡，我父亲告诉他，开 销太大了，我们无法支付，但Rutland教练却把我带进去球队里，待我彷佛像是他的另个儿 子一般。他帮我付了球衣跟住宿的费用。我的父母则继续尽其所能，养家餬口。 But this wasn’t a Disney movie ending. It wasn’t like Jimmy noticed me and I went straight to the top. That was just the first step. There were so many things that had to happen for me to get to where I got. If you’re a poor kid with raw ability, it’s not enough. You need to be blessed with many mentors to step in and help you. Kim Cherry, Michael Scott — I could list so many names of people who took me in and treated me as if I was their own son. When people talk about the Jackie Robinson West team and blame the adults who took in kids from outside the boundaries that the Little League organization set, remember that those adults may be saviors to those kids. They’re the ones buying them shoes when they need it or an extra protein drink after the game. 但这不是迪士尼电影般的美好结局，不是Jimmy注意到我，我就一步登天。这只是第一步 ，还要靠许多机缘把我带到了现在的位置。对贫穷小孩来说，天分洋溢是不够的，你必须 要有许多贵人庇佑你，帮助你往前走。Kim Cherry, Michael Scott─我可以列出许多带领 着我，并将我视如己出的人。当人们谈到Jackie Robinson West时，总是责备那些让不符 大会资格小朋友参赛的大人，但要记得那些大人可能是这些小朋友们的贵人，他们是帮那 些小朋友买鞋子、买赛後营养饮品的贵人。 Sometimes I wasn’t even sure how the scouts or AAU coaches found me. It seemed like a miracle. I kept clawing my way up the ladder to better and better teams, kind of like a mercenary. I remember I was playing for the Lakeland Road Runners and we got whooped by the Orlando Red Raiders. They were like professionals to us. After the game, their coach came up to me and asked if I’d want to play on his team. The Red Raiders were big, man. It felt like I had just made the New York Yankees. I remember looking at my buddies on the Road Runners and shrugging, like, “Well, see ya!” 有时候我甚至不确定球探或AAU的教练们怎麽发现我的，就像一场奇蹟。我像个佣兵一样 ，不停的往更高层级的队伍挺进。我记得我在Lakeland Road Runners的时候，Orlando Red Raiders朝我们叫嚣，对我们来说他们简直是职业等级。比赛後他们的教练走向我， 问我是否愿意加入他的球队。Red Raider非常强盛啊，让我感觉好像遇到了恩歪歪一样， 我记得我看向我的队友们然後耸耸肩，就像是在说「Well, see ya!」 And you know what’s crazy? Even despite all the breaks I got with baseball, I probably wouldn’t be a Major League player right now if I didn’t tear my ACL when I was 15. I thought I was going to play college football. Why? Economics. If I could’ve been a wide receiver for a D-I school, I would have chosen that path because of the promise of a full scholarship. The University of Florida offered me a baseball scholarship, but it only covered 70 percent of the tuition. My family simply couldn’t afford the other 30 percent. The fact is, no matter how good you are, you’re not getting a full ride in baseball. 你知道最疯狂的是什麽吗？即是棒球之路上困难重重，如果我没有撕裂了我的韧带，我 或许就不会成为MLB球员了。我以为我会去打大学足球，为什麽？因为经济因素啊。如果 我能够成为D-I school的WR(#2)，我可能就会因为全额奖学金走上美足这条路。佛罗里达 大学给了我棒球奖学金，但只包含了70%的学费支付，我的家庭就是无法负担剩下的30%。 事实就是，无论你有多好，都无法在棒球路上一帆风顺。 #2 WR:wide reciver，美足中的外接员(接球员) Many low-income kids don’t have the option of going to college to develop their game and get an education. They have to roll the dice by entering the MLB draft. I had the good fortune to be drafted by the Pirates in the first round, but I spent four years in the glamorous towns of Williamsport, Hickory, Altoona and Indianapolis. A lot of talented kids look at that lifestyle and compare it to the bright lights of Florida State or Ohio State, and they think, “Okay, I could get a free college education and be on ESPN, or I could spend five years eating cereal for dinner and trying to hit a 90-mile-per-hour fastball in Altoona.” 很多低收入户的小孩都无法选择上大学打比赛、受教育。他们必须凭着运气参加选秀会。 我很幸运的在第一轮被海盗队选走，但我花了四年在小联盟的各个层级打滚。很多孩子 看到了小联盟艰苦的生活，跟佛州或俄亥俄州的生活比起来，他们心中会想着「好吧， 我可以选择四年的大学教育然後去ESPN上电视，或是我可以去Altoona吃五年的燕麦片， 然後尝试跟90MPH的快速球周旋。」 People talk about the big, guaranteed money in baseball, and I certainly feel blessed that I am where I am now. But people don’t look at it through the eyes of a 17-year-old kid. You’re looking at maybe five years of minor league ball, and then you could be tendered, non-tendered, they can re-sign you for a year. You might be making anywhere from 10 to 50 grand in the minors. If you’re lucky enough to get a bonus, you can live well off that money if you spread it out. But just remember, there’s up to 40 rounds in the draft. Most guys are struggling. 人们总喜欢谈论棒球里那笔巨大且稳定的收入，而我走到今天这一步，的确让我感到 受庇护。但大人无法从17岁小朋友的观点来看事情。你可能打了五年的小联盟，然後球 队可能跟你换约、或不换约，他们可以跟你重签一年的约。你在小联盟可能只赚1万到 5万元不等。如果你够幸运拿到Bonus，你就可以过一些好日子。但记得，一场选秀有高达 40轮，而大部分的人都很努力。 After three years in the majors, you finally get to arbitration. Basically, by the sixth year in the big leagues, you get your first big contract — if you make it that far. Imagine explaining this confusing process to a 17-year-old kid whose family is just trying to put food on the table. “So you wanna play baseball now?” 在大联盟待了三年，你终於等到了仲裁的日子。基本上，在大联盟的第六年之前， 你就可以拿到第一份大约，前提是你要撑得够久。想像跟一个家徒四壁的17岁少年，解释 这些复杂的流程，再问他「所以，你还想打棒球吗？」 There is only one other African American player, Josh Harrison, on the Pittsburgh Pirates with me. People have asked me why I think the numbers are declining overall. There’s a lot of talk about kids thinking that baseball is slow and boring, or that they’d rather sit at home and play video games. Maybe there’s some truth to that, but to me, there is a deeper problem going on that is affecting low-income kids of all races. 我跟J-Hay是海盗队里唯二的非裔美籍球员，人们总问我，为什麽你们的人数在递减中。 有很多的说法，一来是小朋友认为棒球步调太慢、非常无聊，二来是他们宁愿在家里坐着 打电动，这样的说法也没错，但对我来说，有一个更深层的问题在影响着所有低收入户的 小孩。 Fixing that problem is complicated, but when I was a kid, I looked at baseball players growing up in Latin America with a lot of envy. If you’re a talented kid in the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, a team can come along and say, “We’re going to sign you for $50,000 and take you into our organization and develop you, feed you, take care of your travel.” To me, as a 14-year-old kid whose family was struggling, that would have meant everything to me. I would have taken that deal in a second. 解决这个问题是复杂不易的。当我还小的时候，我很羡慕那些拉丁美洲的棒球员。如果 你是个多明尼加或是波多黎各出生的小孩，会有球队告诉你「我们要用五万元签下你， 让你加入我们的球队，并训练你，照顾你的食衣住行。」对我这样一个艰困家庭的小孩 来说，这是任何事物都无法比拟的。我会不假思索的签下合约。 That kind of system would make the game a lot more attractive to kids from low-income families. For all the backlash around the Jackie Robinson West team “cheating,” most people are ignoring the truth of how these 12-year-old kids make it out of their towns and onto a national stage. Individuals step in and fill that financial gap. Hopefully those people are trustworthy and have their hearts in the right place. I was fortunate in that respect. Other kids might not be. When you talk to players around Major League Baseball, almost every single one of them has a story about a person who stepped in and took care of their expenses. You hear it all the time: “ If it wasn’t for this guy, I wouldn’t be in the league.” 这样的机制会让棒球吸引更多贫困家庭的小孩。对於Jackie Robinson West"作弊风波" 所引起的反弹声浪，大多数人忽略了这些小孩们如何披荆斩棘，登上国家级的赛场。 有人走进了他们的人生，并帮他们解决经济问题。幸好这些人都是值得信赖、立意良好。 我很幸运如此，但其他小孩或许没办法跟我一样，当你跟MLB的球员聊天，几乎每个球员 生命中都有一个人，走进他们的人生并替他们处理开销问题。你总是能听到这说法「如果 不是那个人，我可能就不会在这里了。」 The kids from Jackie Robinson West had a really bad day yesterday. But you know what? Somebody probably watched their Little League World Series run and saw one of them make a smart play in the field or hit a perfect line drive up the gap. That kid might not have been the best player on the team. But somebody saw something in him, and they’re going to reach out and say, “ Hey, I want you on my team.” They’re going to become like a second father or mother to that kid. Hopefully that kid has the courage to travel away from his family and the patience to become a great baseball player. 昨天这些Jackie Robinson West的小球员可能心情糟透了。但你知道吗？某人可能看着 他们的比赛，注意到他们有人机智的处理了一个play，或是打出了一记完美的平飞球。 这些孩子或许不是队上最棒的球员，但总是有人会在他们身上看出些什麽，然後向他们说 「嘿，我想要你加入我们队伍。」有人会在他们生命中扮演着第二个父亲或母亲的脚色。 希望这些小孩有勇气离乡背井，付出耐心成为一个伟大的球员。 But all over the country, there are thousands of kids who are playing in a cornfield in Nebraska or a swampy field in Central Florida and they feel like nobody is watching. We need to find a better (and most definitely cheaper) way to give those kids a chance at a way out. 但在这个国家，还有成千上万的小朋友，在Nebraska的玉米田里打球，或在Central Florida的沼泽区域打球，并且觉得没人看见他们。我们需要找到一个更好(当然要更 便宜)的方法，让这些小孩有机会出头天。 http://www.theplayerstribune.com/left-out/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cutch老大的文，算是小自传，也帮贫困的孩子发声。 简单的解释了，在棒球路上，贫穷家庭小孩遇到的许多残酷问题。 有翻得不好、翻错请帮我指正 <(_ _)> --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc), 来自: 123.205.40.18 ※ 文章网址: https://webptt.com/cn.aspx?n=bbs/Pirates/M.1423937763.A.124.html ※ 编辑: EEERRIICC (123.205.40.144), 09/20/2015 15:59:57