[閒聊] mlb官網專文介紹村上宗隆

https://www.mlb.com/news/munetaka-murakami-nearing-home-run-record-in-japan

It's not just Judge: Slugger chasing HR record an ocean away
不只有法官：在大洋的另一側追逐全壘打紀錄的大砲

Jon Paul Morosi is a reporter for MLB.com and MLB Network.
不知道何時MLB記者會幫中職強打者寫報導

The home run chase has become the subject of national fascination, bordering on obsession. The daily count demands front-page coverage. Adoring ovations are the soundtrack of the season as autumn nears.

Munetaka Murakami is a phenomenon, indeed.
村上宗隆是現象級的存在，真der

Wait ... you were expecting someone else?

Oh, right. Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols. Both are on the verge of history, and the joyful tension surrounding them has inverted the natural order of September. When pennant races are at their apex, we tend to check the standings first. Now we ask, “Hey, did Judge or Albert homer yet tonight?”

Thanks to Murakami, our friends and fellow baseball fans in Japan can relate.由於村上宗隆，日本球迷能對法官、撲吼獅的全壘打追逐產生共感

Murakami, a 22-year-old third baseman, has hit 54 home runs this season for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. With 17 games to play, he’s one homer away from tying the legendary Sadaharu Oh for the most in a season by a Japanese-born player in Nippon Professional Baseball.
還剩17場比賽，村上已幹了54發

“He’s a special human being and everything you want in a superstar,” said Swallows outfielder Patrick Kivlehan, formerly of the Padres, Reds and D-backs. “He’s humble and respectful. He’s still so young, and he’s taken the whole country by storm. There are Murakami jerseys everywhere. People are waiting at hotels just to get a glimpse of him. It’s like playing with a rock star.”
前大聯盟球員的燕子隊洋將表示
村上是個超級巨星
到處都可看到人們穿他的Jersey
他就像個搖滾巨星

Thanks to Murakami, this year’s home run chase is an around-the-clock phenomenon. When Pujols and the Cardinals visit the Padres and Dodgers next week, their games will conclude only a few hours before the Swallows’ typical 5 a.m. ET start time.

Mune, as he’s known in the Swallows clubhouse, is the mirror image of Judge: Murakami bats left-handed. Judge bats right-handed. Murakami plays in Tokyo. Judge plays in New York.
東京、左打的村上，映照紐約、右打的法官

And while one sleeps, the other slugs.

“He’s definitely been hitting Judge-esque tanks,” Swallows starter Cy Sneed, formerly of the Astros, said with admiration. “Neither of them are hitting wall-scrapers.”
燕子隊洋投賽史尼表示
村上就像燕子隊的法官

And for both Murakami and Judge, the most immediate milestone before them is not the NPB or AL/NL single-season record.

While Judge is within range of Roger Maris’ Yankees and American League record of 61, the overall Major League standard of 73 belongs (controversially) to Barry Bonds. Oh’s 55 home runs in 1964 remain the most of any Japanese-born NPB player, but Wladimir Balentien of Curaçao hit 60 for the Swallows in 2013.
對比法官正在追逐的61轟及73轟紀錄
在日本則是王貞治的本土55轟及巴冷天的60轟紀錄

Oh is a mythical figure in Japanese baseball, comparable to Michael Jordan in the pantheon of American icons. For years, many in Japan believed Oh’s mark would not be surpassed. According to multiple accounts, pitchers were encouraged to pitch around opposing hitters as they approached the record.
王貞治在日本棒球界的喬丹
過去很長一段時間
日本人會儘量閃躲紀錄挑戰者讓王的紀錄不要被超越

Two foreign players -- Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Alex Cabrera in 2002 -- tied Oh but were denied opportunities to pass him. It took another decade for Balentien to do so, during an aberrational year in which NPB used a more hitter-friendly baseball for a portion of the season.
狼王羅茲、白卡布曾追平王的紀錄
但最終被日本投手閃躲而沒機會破紀錄
巴冷天則得力於日職異常的彈球年

Now Murakami can author the best power-hitting season of any slugger developed in Japan -- greater than Oh or Hideki Matsui, the longtime Yankee to whom Murakami is often compared. (Murakami wears the same jersey number, 55, that Matsui made famous with the crosstown Yomiuri Giants.)
村上可以被拿來跟王貞治、松井秀喜比較
村上也選55號背號（松井在巨人隊的背號）

In his second season playing alongside Murakami, Sneed is increasingly comfortable communicating in Japanese and can recognize some characters in the written language. When he walks by newsstands on Tokyo’s bustling streets, very little interpretation is needed as he scans the front pages of Japan’s six national daily sports newspapers.

“More or less, it’s his picture,” Sneed said. “It’s always a picture of him blasting one into the seats with the number showing where he’s at -- 51, 52 or 53. There are comparisons about where he stands in the record books and who he’s about to pass. Every day, the stories are about the path that he’s on -- and it’s going to continue being that way.”
燕子隊洋投說日本新聞到處都可看到村上的報導及照片

One measure of the frenzy is seen in the manner in which Murakami’s name is presented in kanji characters. Typically, Murakami is divided into two characters -- one representing “mura” (村) and the other for “kami” (上), the latter of which translates to “upper” or “above” in Japanese.

However, “kami” can also mean “god” in Japanese. The symbol for “god” (神) is different than the customary presentation of “upper” or “above.” Increasingly, newspaper editors have opted to express Murakami’s name with kanji characters that suggest his name is “Mura-god.”
因為上的日文發音跟神一樣
日本記者常用「村神」的諧音來稱呼村上

When Sneed arrived in Japan prior to last season, right-hander Scott McGough, a fellow American with Major League experience, told him to keep his eye on Murakami.

“He’s going to be a big leaguer,” McGough told Sneed.
前大聯盟右投麥狗跟史尼說村上將會是個大聯盟打者

Murakami affirmed McGough’s scouting report with a sensational season that included Central League MVP honors, a Japan Series title for the Swallows and a gold medal with Team Japan at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
村上去年拿了MVP及參加奧運奪金的日本武士隊
證實了麥狗的球探報告

“Last year, I thought he was great,” Sneed said of a year in which Murakami posted a .974 OPS and hit 39 home runs. “You saw his eye getting better. He was laying off pitches off the plate. You could see the wheels starting to turn. You had to remind yourself that he was only 21 years old.
史尼說去年我就覺得村上很強
幹了39發及打出ops .974的成績
你必須特別注意他才21歲

“This year, it’s been on a different level. You never see him unbalanced. You never see him out front. He’s always on everything. As a pitcher, if I was facing him, it would be difficult to come up with a plan to get him out.”
今年村上完全處於不同等級
你不會看到他失去平衡
身為投手很難制定投球策略把他解決掉

The Giants, with their 22 Japan Series titles, are the capital city’s more traditionally renowned ballclub, but they no longer dominate coverage in Tokyo. Instead, there are two major storylines to follow: Murakami’s home run chase amid the Swallows’ title defense and Shohei Ohtani’s bid for a second straight AL MVP Award an ocean away.
傳統上東京的棒球頭條都由讀賣巨人佔據
但今年不是這樣的情形
今年的兩大主要頭條為村上的全壘打追逐及大谷挑戰連續兩年美聯MVP

“I don’t think it’s affected him at all -- if anything, maybe it’s pushed him to focus more,” Sneed said of Murakami’s reaction to the media pressure. “That’s going to be the next stage in his evolution of being a baseball player: being able to deal with that level of attention, day in and day out. He’s such a special player. He’ll have a lot of hype over the next couple years, prior to him being able to go over to the states. Once that happens, he’ll do just fine handling the attention.”
我不覺得媒體壓力對村上造成影響
也許是這促進了他更專注在棒球
史尼說到

Japanese baseball observers don’t expect the Swallows to make Murakami available to MLB teams through the posting process anytime soon. Therefore, MLB fans are most likely to get their first extended look at Murakami during the upcoming World Baseball Classic. He could play first base or third base for Samurai Japan, which hopes to have Ohtani as a pitcher and designated hitter.
日本棒球觀察家們並不期待燕子會在短期間讓村上入札挑戰美國大聯盟
因此MLB迷可以期待明年WBC村上的表現
並希望大谷可以同時以二刀流身分參賽

In the meantime, MLB executives and fans can dream on the comparisons Murakami has earned -- to Japanese greats like Matsui and recent MVPs in the Majors. Kivlehan said Murakami’s work ethic resembles that of potential Hall of Famer Joey Votto, his former teammate in Cincinnati.

Kivlehan說村上的工作紀律讓他想起前隊友Joey Votto

Kivlehan also sees a Votto-like offensive profile in Murakami because of the way he blends hitting for average and power.

“He’s hitting .340,” Kivlehan said. “He’s really got it all. I played with [Paul] Goldschmidt for a month, too, and the sound off the bat with Murakami is similar to Goldy. He’s on time for every pitch.”
他打擊率高達3成4
我跟Goldy Goldsmidt一起打了一個月的球
村上的擊球聲音與Goldy很相似

The home run chase has arrived right on time, too. As large crowds return to NPB stadiums after two seasons heavily impacted by the pandemic, they’ve been treated to a story that connects them to the revered Oh. The business of passing a legend isn’t easy, but the response in the grandstand suggests the public is eager to witness history.

“Everyone here is so positive about [Murakami] getting close to the record,” Kivlehan said. “Even if he has a bad at-bat, the fans still give him a standing ovation. They’re really behind him. They want him to break this record. It’s fun to see.”

大家對村上挑戰王貞治紀錄持正面態度
即使他打擊沒表現
球迷依然給他standing ovation
他們真的很期待村上能破紀錄
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Sent from JPTT on my iPhone

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