VERO BEACH, Fla. — No. 62 leaned forward on the makeshift aluminum bench,
hands folded on his knees, and gazed east toward center field. If only his
eyes were better, he could see over the trees, beyond the Atlantic Ocean and
all the way to his homeland, France.
維洛海灘，佛羅里達 - 背號62號的選手斜靠在鋁製的板凳上，雙手交叉放在膝蓋之間，
面向中外野凝視著東方。只要他的視力夠好，他就能越過樹木，與大西洋看到他的家鄉，
法國。
The player, Joris Bert, is one of more than 100 men in the Dodgers’ minor
league system, but the only one who started playing baseball only because he
missed a soccer game in Louviers. A dozen years later, Bert has found himself
in the United States happily nicknamed Frenchie, with his eyes fixed on the
more immediate horizon of the major leagues.
雖然Joris Bert只是道奇小聯盟系統中超過一百名球員的其中之一，但是他卻是唯一一位
由於錯過了一場在Louviers舉行的足球賽而開始打棒球的人。數年之後，被稱作法國佬的
Bert很開心的專注於他在大聯盟的未來。
“I’m not very good, but I know I have good potential,” said Bert, a center
fielder who last June became the first Frenchman selected in the major league
draft. “I don’t have enough experience in baseball to be good.”
Bert去年六月成為第一位在大聯盟選秀會上被選中的法國人，這位中外野手說:"我表現的
不是很好，但是我知道我有絕佳的潛能，我只是缺乏經驗而已。"
The Dodgers want to give it to him, and also disagree with that “not very
good” assessment. They consider Bert potentially a Brett Butler-type of
leadoff man, a slap hitter who forces action with his speed. Although draft
picks are occasionally fanciful — spent on Heisman Trophy winners and once a
general manager’s daughter — the Dodgers chose Bert in the quite legitimate
19th round.
道奇隊希望能給他多點上場機會，而且不同意表現不是很好的說法。道奇隊認為Bert將來
應該會成為像Brett Butler這類型有速度且善於擊出安打的第一棒打者。道奇隊在第19輪
這個相當合理的位置挑選了Bert。
“This guy has tools — he was not a token selection,” said De Jon Watson,
the Dodgers’ assistant general manager in charge of player development. “He
has a chance to do some quality things for us.”
負責培育選手的道奇隊助理總經理Jon Watson說到:"這個小夥子是有實力的，我們挑選他
不是象徵性的，他有機會向我們證明他的能力。"
Bert, 20, is the crown jewel of the European academy run by Major League
Baseball in Italy. Growing up in Louviers, about 90 minutes outside Paris,
Bert said he had never heard of baseball when, at age 10, he showed up late
to a soccer game and saw other children playing on the next field. He gave
the game a try, immediately enjoyed it and later played on a local club team
in a makeshift league.
20歲的Bert是大聯盟在義大利成立的棒球學校中的瑰寶。他成長於離巴黎大約90分鐘車程
的Louviers。Bert表示他十歲時，在一場足球賽遲到，並且看到隔壁的場地有一群孩子正
在打棒球，在這之前他從未聽過棒球這項運動。當時Bert試著玩了一下，很快的就愛上了
棒球，之後更加入了一個業餘聯盟的地方球隊。
“We only had 9 or 10, not many people,” Bert said. “It was just for fun.”
Bert說:"整支球隊大概只有9或10個人，人數不多，打球只是娛樂而已。"
As a teenager, Bert tried out for the major leagues’ academy and was
accepted. He spent the Augusts of 2004 and 2005 in Tirrenia, Italy, with
about 60 players from Denmark to Kenya learning baseball’s finer skills from
instructors like Rod Carew and Barry Larkin. He improved so much that the
coach of the French national team arranged for him to attend Frank Phillips
College in perhaps the least French part of the United States — tiny Borger,
Tex., wedged between Oklahoma and New Mexico.
當Bert十幾歲時，他申請進入大聯盟的棒球學校，並且被錄取了。2004年與2005年的八月
，他都待在義大利的Tierrenia向教練，如Rod Carew與Barry Larkin學習更細膩的棒球技
巧，在那裡還有其他60位來自丹麥，甚至肯亞的選手。他進步神速，使得法國國家隊的教
練安排他前往也許是美國最後一個法屬地，位於奧克拉荷馬州與新墨西哥州之間的德州伯
格市的Frank Phillips College就讀。
In between a full slate of English language classes, Bert led the Plainsmen
last spring with a .395 batting average and 42 stolen bases. The Dodgers
focused on him for the June draft. Although about two dozen European academy
graduates have signed pro contracts, Bert, a solid 5 feet 10 inches and 170
pounds, was the first to be considered worthy of a draft pick.
雖然得上很多英文課，去年春季Bert仍然打出了領先原野人隊的.395打擊率與42次盜壘成
功。道奇隊在6月的選秀會上注意到他。雖然有大約兩打從歐洲棒球學校畢業的選手簽下
了職業合約，但是5呎10吋，170棒，擁有結實體格的Bert被認為是選秀會上第一位值得的
投資。
Visa issues cost him almost all of last year’s Gulf Coast League season, but
Bert, who speaks fluent Spanish, mixed well with his international teammates.
Asked if anything about Bert’s game might be distinctively European, Parker
Dalton, an infielder and quick friend of Bert’s, said: “He plays like a
kid. He plays and hustles and smiles. You never see him frustrated about a
slump — he just plays. It’s not a job to him yet.”
簽證的問題幾乎使他浪費了去年灣岸聯盟的整個球季，但是說著流利西班牙話的Bert很順
利的融入來自世界各地的隊友。被問到Bert打球時有什麼特殊的地方，同樣來自歐洲，並
且很快就和Bert成為朋友的Parker Dalton說:"他很有拼勁，並且總是帶著微笑。你不會
見到他因為低潮而感到挫折，他就是繼續打球，棒球對他而言不是一份工作。"
Eight major leaguers have been born in France, but most, like Bruce Bochy,
the Giants’ manager, belonged to military families stationed there. Only two
have names that would suggest French roots: Ed Gagnier, an infielder in the
old Federal League from 1914 to 1915, and Claude Gouzzie, who had one at-bat
for the 1903 St. Louis Browns.
有八位大聯盟球員出生在法國，但是大多數都像巨人隊的總教練 Bruce Bochy一樣，屬於
駐紮在當地的軍人家庭。只有兩位的名字可以算是法國人，1914年至1915年的舊聯邦聯盟
內野手Ed Gagnier與1903年曾經在聖路易布朗隊留下一個打數紀錄的Claude Gouzzie。
Although Bert has become well known in French sports circles, he said that
baseball would not become popular there overnight. The only way he could
follow the major leagues, for example, was by watching Yankees games on the
Internet.
雖然Bert已經成為法國體壇的名人了，但是他表示棒球在法國不會一夕之間就變得熱門。
他唯一能接觸大聯盟的方法就是在網路上看洋基隊的比賽。
“French people, they don’t like it — they think it’s boring,” Bert said.
“I think baseball is fun — you come to eat, talk, and I think French people
don’t like that. They want a lot of action.”
"法國人不喜歡棒球，因為他們覺得棒球很無趣"，Bert說:"我認為棒球運動是很有趣的，
你可以到球場吃吃喝喝，聊天，但是我想法國人不喜歡這樣子，他們偏好較多的活動。"
The Dodgers are expecting action from Bert. Besides his outstanding raw speed
from the left side of the plate, they see him learning the finer points of
hitting every week in camp, and gaining insight into proper routes to fly
balls. Reading pitchers is becoming easier. Hitting breaking balls less so.
在訓練營的每個星期，道奇隊見到Bert抓到更好的擊球點，增加對飛球的判斷能力。更容
易解讀投手，以及對變化球的揮擊能力...等等。
“I’m not smart enough playing the game,” Bert said. “I make mistakes —
little things I should do I don’t do.”
Bert說:"我在比賽中犯錯，有些小地方，我沒有做好，這使我在比賽時感覺起來不夠聰明
。"
Bert is focused on making the major leagues in three or four years, but he
still misses France. He does not have a driver’s license, so he tends to
spend most of his time in hotel rooms. His parents have never come to see him
play in the United States. “They don’t understand,” he said.
Bert被認為大約三至四年能上到大聯盟，但是他仍然很想念法國。由於他沒有駕照，所以
大部分的時間他都得待在旅館的房間裡。他的父母未曾來美國看他比賽。Bert說:"他們是
不會了解的。"
But as he looked out on Field 6 at Dodgertown recently, Bert’s thin smile
returned, and his Dodger blue eyes began to fix back on center field.
當Bert從位於道奇鎮的Field 6向外看去，他的藍眼睛注視著中外野，淺淺的微笑又重新
出現在他臉上。
“Different culture, different language, different people,” he said. “But
same game.”
他說:"不同的文化，不同的語言，不同的人，但是比賽是一樣的。"
http://0rz.tw/d540X