このページはフレーム対応ブラウザ用に作成されています。下のリンクは非フレーム使用ページですのでそちらをご覧ください。
この記事をプリントする
NY式の伊良部の歓迎
伊良部秀輝投手がニューヨーク・ヤンキースに入団して3ヵ月。試合での成功と失敗、マイナーリーグ落ち、そしてまた復帰と、めまぐるしく変わる状況に、ニューヨークのマスコミやヤンキースファンたちの反応もさまざまです。
A NY Welcome for Irabu-san
By BOB YAMPOLSKY
New Yorkers like to have firm opinions about things: This is good, that is bad; I am right, you are wrong. But the spectacle of Hideki Irabu ― the anticipation, the promising debut, the swift fall, and the as yet inconclusive "comeback" ― has left New Yorkers baffled. Do we cheer or do we boo? In our confusion, the best we can do is crack jokes.
We started hearing about Irabu last fall, when he refused to play for the team that had the rights to him, the San Diego Padres. He would play only for the Yankees. Even at this early stage, when no one knew anything about Irabu, opinion about him was divided. Cynical observers believed his motives to be simple: He knew the Yankees would pay him much more money. Sentimental Yankee fans felt differently: Irabu was one of them, a true Yankee fan, and playing in New York was his dream.
In any event, the owner of the Yankees, George "the Boss" Steinbrenner, made it clear that he wanted Irabu, badly. This made negotiating easy for San Diego, which kept to its demands until Steinbrenner gave in. (For the rights to negotiate with Irabu, San Diego got the Yankees' top prospect and several million dollars.) Then an odd thing happened: Irabu suddenly wasn't sure that he wanted to become a Yankee; perhaps Chiba, after all, was where his heart really belonged. So Steinbrenner coughed up $12.8 million (¥1.48 billion, for a pitcher that no one in the Yankee organization had ever seen pitch), making Irabu the highest paid rookie in baseball history.
The date for his debut was carefully chosen, months in advance: July 9 at Yankee Stadium. The opponent was the weak-hitting Detroit Tigers, and it was a mid-week afternoon game, which usually means a small crowd. As we all know, with the eyes of the world on him, Irabu had a splendid debut before a sold-out Yankee Stadium ― it was a success all around. "BANZAI!" said the banner headline in the Post the next day, and even The New York Times ran the story on Page One.
How happy all Yankee fans would have been had the story continued in this vein. But he was hit hard in his next game, even though he won. And in his third start, in Milwaukee, he was hammered, and during that short performance Irabu very charmingly spit. One comedian described it this way: "Yankee pitcher Hideki Irabu spit at the fans in Milwaukee. To be fair, he spit through an interpreter." (Irabu said later that this wasn't true; he was spitting at the other team. This explanation did not win him much sympathy.) He got a lecture from the Yankee manager about manners and politeness, and the headline in the Post was, "SPIT HAPPENS."
Then came his fourth start, which was back in Yankee Stadium, against Seattle, the best-hitting team in the Majors. He made many bad pitches (now called Ira-booboos) and was hammered again, and the same fans that had stood and applauded him now stood and booed (that is, Ira-booed). And the next day, less than four weeks after his heroic debut, he was sent down to the minors (or, as the Post put it, IRA-BOOTED).
As I write this article, Irabu is back with the Yankees, at least for the time being. People here still believe that Irabu is a talented pitcher; the question now is whether he has what sports people call "the mental toughness" to cope with all the pressure that comes with playing for the Yankees. As one Yankee coach put it, Irabu has no problems "from the neck down."
Yankee fans all want Irabu to succeed ― there is no question about that. They like nothing better than standing and cheering their players. But if he does fail ― well, that will not be a total disappointment, either; at least the fans will have the satisfaction of booing him out of town.
In the meantime, though, New Yorkers will just have to sit and wait and make jokes about the whole situation. There have been a number of jokes, but I am happy to report that as far as I have heard, there has been none that is insulting in an ethnic or racial way. Perhaps the closest thing came in the form of a cartoon in a recent issue of The New Yorker magazine. An agent is trying to impress Steinbrenner with a player that he represents. "Let's show Mr. Steinbrenner what you can do with the bat," the agent is saying as the player advances to the plate. The player is Godzilla.
New Yorkers like to have firm opinions about things: This is good, that is bad; I am right, you are wrong. But the spectacle of Hideki Irabu ― the anticipation, the promising debut, the swift fall, and the as yet inconclusive "comeback" ― has left New Yorkers baffled. Do we cheer or do we boo? In our confusion, the best we can do is crack jokes.
We started hearing about Irabu last fall, when he refused to play for the team that had the rights to him, the San Diego Padres. He would play only for the Yankees. Even at this early stage, when no one knew anything about Irabu, opinion about him was divided. Cynical observers believed his motives to be simple: He knew the Yankees would pay him much more money. Sentimental Yankee fans felt differently: Irabu was one of them, a true Yankee fan, and playing in New York was his dream.
In any event, the owner of the Yankees, George "the Boss" Steinbrenner, made it clear that he wanted Irabu, badly. This made negotiating easy for San Diego, which kept to its demands until Steinbrenner gave in. (For the rights to negotiate with Irabu, San Diego got the Yankees' top prospect and several million dollars.) Then an odd thing happened: Irabu suddenly wasn't sure that he wanted to become a Yankee; perhaps Chiba, after all, was where his heart really belonged. So Steinbrenner coughed up $12.8 million (¥1.48 billion, for a pitcher that no one in the Yankee organization had ever seen pitch), making Irabu the highest paid rookie in baseball history.
The date for his debut was carefully chosen, months in advance: July 9 at Yankee Stadium. The opponent was the weak-hitting Detroit Tigers, and it was a mid-week afternoon game, which usually means a small crowd. As we all know, with the eyes of the world on him, Irabu had a splendid debut before a sold-out Yankee Stadium ― it was a success all around. "BANZAI!" said the banner headline in the Post the next day, and even The New York Times ran the story on Page One.
How happy all Yankee fans would have been had the story continued in this vein. But he was hit hard in his next game, even though he won. And in his third start, in Milwaukee, he was hammered, and during that short performance Irabu very charmingly spit. One comedian described it this way: "Yankee pitcher Hideki Irabu spit at the fans in Milwaukee. To be fair, he spit through an interpreter." (Irabu said later that this wasn't true; he was spitting at the other team. This explanation did not win him much sympathy.) He got a lecture from the Yankee manager about manners and politeness, and the headline in the Post was, "SPIT HAPPENS."
Then came his fourth start, which was back in Yankee Stadium, against Seattle, the best-hitting team in the Majors. He made many bad pitches (now called Ira-booboos) and was hammered again, and the same fans that had stood and applauded him now stood and booed (that is, Ira-booed). And the next day, less than four weeks after his heroic debut, he was sent down to the minors (or, as the Post put it, IRA-BOOTED).
As I write this article, Irabu is back with the Yankees, at least for the time being. People here still believe that Irabu is a talented pitcher; the question now is whether he has what sports people call "the mental toughness" to cope with all the pressure that comes with playing for the Yankees. As one Yankee coach put it, Irabu has no problems "from the neck down."
Yankee fans all want Irabu to succeed ― there is no question about that. They like nothing better than standing and cheering their players. But if he does fail ― well, that will not be a total disappointment, either; at least the fans will have the satisfaction of booing him out of town.
In the meantime, though, New Yorkers will just have to sit and wait and make jokes about the whole situation. There have been a number of jokes, but I am happy to report that as far as I have heard, there has been none that is insulting in an ethnic or racial way. Perhaps the closest thing came in the form of a cartoon in a recent issue of The New Yorker magazine. An agent is trying to impress Steinbrenner with a player that he represents. "Let's show Mr. Steinbrenner what you can do with the bat," the agent is saying as the player advances to the plate. The player is Godzilla.
Shukan ST: Aug. 29, 1997
(C) All rights reserved
- firm opinions
- はっきりした考え
- spectacle of 〜
- 〜 のからむ光景
- anticipation
- 期待
- promising debut
- 見込まれたデビュー
- swift fall
- たちまちの転落
- as yet inconclusive
- まだ結果の出ていない
- has left 〜 baffled
- 〜 を困惑させている
- cheer
- 応援する
- boo
- やじる
- crack jokes
- 冗談を飛ばす
- 〜 that had the rights to him
- 彼との交渉権を持っていた 〜
- Cynical observers
- 冷笑的な人
- motives
- 動機
- Sentimental
- 感傷的な
- In any event
- とにかく
- kept to its demands
- 要求を変えずにいた
- until 〜 gave in
- 〜 が折れるまで
- top prospect
- 有望な選手
- Yankee
- ヤンキースの選手
- coughed up
- ねん出した
- Yankee organization
- ヤンキース経営陣
- rookie
- 新人選手
- months in advance
- 何ヵ月も前から
- opponent
- 対戦相手
- weak-hitting
- 打力の弱い
- mid-week
- 週の真ん中の
- means a small crowd
- すなわち観客数が少ないということだ
- with the eyes of the world on him
- 世界中の注目を浴びて
- splendid
- すばらしい
- sold-out
- (チケットが)完売の
- all around
- 全面的に
- banner headline
- トップ全段抜きの見出し
- in this vein
- この調子で
- was hit hard
- ひどく打ち込まれた
- was hammered
- さんざんに負かされた
- very charmingly spit
- とても魅力的に(反語)唾を吐いた
- To be fair
- 正しくは
- through an interpreter
- 通訳をとおして
- did not win him much sympathy
- 同情してもらえなかった
- got a lecture from 〜
- 〜 にお説教された
- manager
- 監督
- "SPIT HAPPENS."
- Shit happens.(そういう羽目になるんだ)のもじり
- Majors
- 大リーグ
- applauded
- 称賛した
- was sent down to the minors
- マイナーリーグ落ちした
- as 〜 put it
- 〜 が書いたように
- BOOTED
- 追い出された
- article
- 記事
- at least for the time being
- 少なくとも当座は
- talented
- 有能な
- cope with 〜
- 〜 にうまく対処する
- has no problems"from neck down"
- 技量的には問題ないが、精神的プレッシャーに弱い
- total disappointment
- 完全な失望
- will have the satisfaction of booing him out of town
- 彼をやじってニューヨークから追い出すという満足が味わえるだろう
- there has been none that is insulting in an ethnic or racial way
- 民族・人種差別を含む侮辱的なものはない
- Perhaps the closest thing came in the form of 〜
- それに最も近いものはおそらく 〜 だろう
- cartoon
- 漫画
- recent issue
- 最近の号
- impress
- 感心させる
- represents
- 担当する
- advances to the plate
- バッターボックスに入る
- Godzilla
- ゴジラ。ゴジラは日本の怪獣なので、怪獣のように扱いにくい日本人選手をよく知らないまま、スタインブレナー氏が雇ったことなどを皮肉っている