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A Birdland salute to Wei-Yin Chen

這篇文章寫得蠻動人的，沒想到四年一下就走過了，翻譯分享給大家。

http://goo.gl/cwc1ze
作者：Mark Brown

When the Orioles signed Taiwanese pitcher Wei-Yin Chen about this time four
years ago, no one had any idea that the franchise was about to emerge from
the dark years. Chen was not even the most heralded signing out of Asia that
same offseason, with the signing of Tsuyoshi Wada and the botched mess with
amateur Seong-Min Kim from Korea getting much more attention. Yet it was Chen
who was the one who pitched his way into our hearts, and the Orioles out of
the darkness and into the win column.


Chen came to us from the Chunichi Dragons, by way of Taiwan, and while no one
was ever mistaking him for a Cy Young candidate in his debut season, he
performed far better than anyone would have ever guessed. Though Chen seemed
to tire down the stretch in September and ended up with a pedestrian 4.02 ERA
in that first MLB season, he was a key part of the Orioles rotation that
snagged a wild card spot by virtue of being the only starter who lasted the
entire season in that rotation.


Those were the days when Jake Arrieta, Zach Britton, Brian Matusz, and Tommy
Hunter were all still thought to be starting pitchers. At the beginning of
the 2012 season, Chen didn't see his first action until the O's fifth game. A
#5 starter behind some of those others, it seemed. By the season's end - by
the time the Orioles were in the ALDS - Chen earned himself the right to
pitch in the second game of that series, and it was Chen who was the winning
pitcher in that game, the first O's home playoff win in 15 years. He earned
that win.


Some moments from the highlight reel of that game:
一些來自那場比賽的精采部分：
http://goo.gl/PGHrus

For me, it doesn't get much better than when he nails Derek Jeter for the
looking strikeout. You can see the hallmarks of Jeterian chicanery in the few
seconds he features in this video; the thrust-out posterior to "get out of
the way" for a pitch that's out over the plate, the immediate incredulous
turn to whine to the umpire, the announcer succinctly stating, "Jeter doesn't
think so," but, Derek, as the great sage Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said, it
doesn't matter what you think!


You would even find Chen on a couple of Rookie of the Year ballots that year,
literally just a couple, but enough that he finished in fourth place in the
year that Mike Trout introduced himself to the baseball world. No shame in
that.
你甚至可以發現陳在當年新人王有得到幾張選票，雖然就是那麼幾張，但仍足以讓他在當
年Mike Trout將自己的名字推向棒球的世界時佔有第四名的位置，這一點都不遺憾。

Chen's success in Baltimore only grew as he gained more major league
experience. He took a big leap forward, and not coincidentally, so did the
Orioles, in the 2014 season. Chen shaved over half a run from his ERA the
previous season, and sure, some of his improved 16-6 win-loss record was from
the incredible offense that team had, but a lot was also Chen figuring out
how to deploy his arsenal in this league. He was even better still in 2015,
posting a 3.34 ERA. Too bad the rest of his rotation-mates could not continue
that success.


Never the flashiest of Orioles on a team full of big personalities, Chen
might have often gone overlooked by many. His place in Orioles history may
not be as large as some others, but he undeniably has that place. MASN's Gary
Thorne never quite managed to get Chen to give an interview in English on
camera, leaving us to enjoy sporadic funny moments like the Jumbotron "Guess
The Song" segment from this past season, when, presented with the disco
classic Stayin' Alive - which many of his teammates failed to recognize, Chen
simply stated, "Bee Gees."
從未因為顯著的個人特質而成為金鶯隊上的鎂光燈焦點，有時還可能被不少人忽略，他在
金鶯的隊史定位不比某些球員來得高，但無法否認的是他佔有一席之地，MASN的Gary
Thorne從未試圖讓陳接受全程英文的賽後訪問，讓我們偶爾沉浸於滑稽評論（球評或球迷
的想像）的樂趣中，像是最近這一季的猜歌遊戲，當撥放著名為Stayin' Alive的經典
disco音樂，在許多隊友無法辨別歌曲原唱時，陳可能會冷不防地在後面說道：「Bee
Gees（比吉斯是一隊來自澳洲的三人兄弟樂隊組合）」

About that franchise leaderboard, his place is higher than you might think.
Leaving after his four good seasons, Chen sits in eighth in the whole history
of the franchise for career O's winning percentage among starting pitchers.
That .590 winning percentage - a 46-32 record - puts him ahead of franchise
greats like Scott McGregor and Mike Flanagan. You'll find him near the top
for lowest walk rate (sixth) and best strikeout rate (second - ahead of even
future Hall of Famer Mike Mussina). That's some good company.
在金鶯隊史的領先數據中，他的位置可能比你想像中的還要高，結束了出色的四個球季，
陳以46勝32敗、59%勝率在金鶯隊史先發投手勝率榜上名列第八，使他超越一些像是
Scott McGregor及Mike Flanagan的隊史名人，你也會發現他的低保送率（第六）及最佳
三振率（第二，甚至贏過準名人堂球員Mike Mussina），那是相當優質的總和。

It seems safe to say we'll never see another player quite like Chen again. We
were lucky to get to watch him for as long as we did. Those of us who
happened to be there the night they gave away Chen t-shirts (you might also
remember it as Manny Machado's major league debut) will have to content
ourselves with hanging on to that collector's item. He will be missed.


He'll even give a last gift to the franchise after he's done playing here,
from a certain point of view. Thanks to the qualifying offer that his
performance earned, the Orioles will get a draft pick for losing Chen. Maybe
the Orioles will even be able to turn that pick from the loss of one good
Oriole into a future good Oriole. Stranger things have happened.


Chen was signed. He played. He is Birdland.
陳被其他球隊簽下，他曾為球隊奮戰，他是金鶯的一份子。

With Chen's official departure, there are now just 13 O's remaining on the
40-man roster who played for the 2012 team. Of the 2014 division champions,
18 Orioles remain.
當陳正式的聲明離開後，2012年球季的40人名單只有13名球員仍在陣上，2014年球季分區
冠軍的球員也只有18名續留。

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