Dominant rookies reminiscent of Pujols, Ichiro
by Anthony Castrovince Nov 11th 2017
原文網址：https://goo.gl/MGxVPF
We are awaiting the Rookie of the Year Award announcements but not really
the results. It is all but a foregone conclusion that on Monday night
(6 ET, MLB Network), Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge will be named the 2017
American League Rookie of the Year Award winner by the Baseball Writers'
Association of America, and Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger will win
the National League honor.
What's striking, though, about the certainty of these selections is how
uncertain they would have seemed back on Opening Day. Judge had a terrible
big league break-in toward the end of 2016, batting .179 with 42 strikeouts
in 84 at-bats. And it would have been hard to guess Bellinger would be in
the Majors and impacting the Dodgers by the end of April ("Honestly, I thought
I was going to be a September callup," he said last month). These were
well-regarded prospects, but not upper-echelon ones in the realm of Angels
outfielder Mike Trout and Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, who rocked
our rookie world together, as anticipated, in '12.
雖然今年的新人王尚未公布，但毫無疑問「法官」Aaron Judge和道奇一壘手Cody
Bellinger會分別是今年的美聯和國聯的新人王。不過有趣的是，回到開季時大多數的
人都不會選擇這兩位為今年的新人王，法官在2016年有個非常糟糕的大聯盟初體驗，
只有.179的打擊率，在84個打數就被三振了42次，更別說沒人想到Bellinger會從四月
底以來就帶給道奇這麼大的影響，連Bellinger也說「說實在的，我以為我九月擴編時
才會上大聯盟」，雖然他們都是備受期待的頂級新秀，但還不到Bryce Harper跟Mike
Trout在2012登上大聯盟時那麼讓人期待。
This combination of unexpected excellence leading to expected accolades
harkens back to 2001, when Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki emerged on the
big league scene. Like Bellinger and Judge, the duo unpredictably pushed
their teams to the postseason, with Ichiro joining Fred Lynn as the only
rookies to win the ROY and Most Valuable Player awards. (Judge, an AL MVP
Award finalist, could become the third.)
而上一次有這樣出乎意料的新人王組合要回到2001年，當「生化人」Albert Pujols
跟「朗神」Ichiro Suzuki第一次踏上大聯盟的舞台時。就像Judge和Bellinger，
這兩位準名人堂球員也分別帶領自己的球隊闖進了季後賽，一朗甚至加入Fred Lynn，
成為史上第二位同時拿下新人王跟MVP殊榮的超級新人。（Judge也名列MVP最終名單，
有機會成為第三人）
"People were skeptical of Ichiro coming to play over here," said then-Mariners
general manager Pat Gillick, who signed Ichiro. "And the fact that Pujols
has gone on for so many years? If anybody can forecast that, they're better
than I am."
We couldn't forecast it, but we can look back on it. Here are the stories of
2001's rousing rookies.
「人們總是質疑一朗是否能在大聯盟生存」簽下一朗的水手隊前總管Pat Gillick說到，
「但事實上，Pujols過去也沒有令人印象深刻的實績，如果有水晶球能預測的話，他們
自然能做得比我更好」
我們自然是無法預測，但我們可以回顧歷史，回顧2001年這兩位不世出得超級新人
Albert's arrival
The Cardinals selected Pujols with the 402nd pick of the 1999 Draft, and
that's still an amazing sentence to type. Two hundred and ninety of the
players who went before him never played a game in the Majors. Every team
passed multiple times on the power-hitting shortstop from Maple Woods Community
College (Mo.), the kid who hadn't been drafted after high school.
St. Louis finally picked Pujols and gave him a $30,000 signing bonus,
with another $30,000 promised for his college tuition, should baseball not
work out.
紅雀隊在1999年的選秀會上以總順位第402位選到Albert Pujols，這個砂礫中挖
到珍珠的故事，時至今日依然被人們傳頌著，在Pujols前面有290位球員從未登上大聯盟
過，每一支球隊都錯過Pujols很多次，這位來自Maple Woods社區大學的游擊手。
紅雀隊最後選到了Pujols並給他30,000的簽約金，並額外給他30,000作為大學學費，
作為棒球無法成為他的職業的保險。
Spoiler alert: It worked out. But even when Pujols was on the verge of his
2001 breakout, the Cardinals had no idea the full extent of what they had.
Coming off a 95-win season in which they fell just short of the World Series,
the Cards certainly didn't have Pujols penciled into their roster plans.
Pujols was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training in 2001, wearing jersey
No. 68 and having played only three games above Class A. He was on-hand,
but off the radar … until he started hitting. He homered and tripled in the
Cards' first intrasquad game, and perhaps that should have been the first clue.
很明顯的不需要多餘的保證，他就是職業級的選手。然而，在新人年Pujols繳出
爆炸成績之前，前一年拿下95勝的紅雀隊，認為距離世界大賽只有一步之遙，開季的名
單中自然完全看不到Pujols這個13輪選秀的新人。所幸，Pujols還是受邀參加2001年的
春訓，穿著68號的球衣且在高階一A只打了三場比賽，所以就算有在春訓名單中，也完
全不在大家關注的名單中，直到他在紅雀隊內的練習賽上場打擊，分別敲出全壘打和三
壘安打後，大家才開始發現這位21歲的小夥子，而這或許是他即將爆發的起點而已。
"I was just excited to be around the big league club," Pujols said, 16 years
later. "I wasn't really expecting to make the team, but I also prepared
myself that offseason and got to Spring Training and pretty much took
advantage of every opportunity they gave me."
Then-Cardinals manager Tony La Russa would update the media on his thoughts
about Pujols, which quickly evolved from certainty that he'd head back to the
Minors to open-mindedness to the idea of him sticking with the big league
ballclub. La Russa has since dismissed as "myth" the idea that it was Bobby
Bonilla's pulled hamstring that allowed Pujols a spot on the roster, but it's
possible that's a bit of revisionist history.
Whatever the particulars, the 21-year-old Pujols batted sixth and played left
field when Opening Day arrived on April 2, 2001, in Colorado.
「我非常興奮可以來到大聯盟看看」16年前的Pujols說，「我並不認我可以留在
開季名單中，我只是盡力在休賽季做好準備，並把握每一個在春訓的表現機會」，紅
雀前總教練Tony La Russa告知媒體關於Pujols的想法，而這想法也迅速地付諸實行，
Pujols不用再回到小聯盟，會留在開季名單中，也曾有謠傳Tony La Russa刻意拉下受傷
的Bobby Bonilla，讓Pujols有更多上場的機會。無論如何，21歲的Pujols就是在2001年
開幕戰擔任第六棒守左外野。
Pujols didn't know if he'd remain with the club past that first series against
the Rockies