How one teenager unearthed baseball's untold history - Cam Perron

翻译人员: Yuyang Zhao 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

I've always collected baseball cards.

我一直都在收集棒球卡

I first started playing baseball when I was eight years old,

8岁的时候，我第一次开始打棒球，

and when my hometown, Red Sox won the World Series in 2004,

在2004年，我的家乡波士顿红袜获得总冠军，

I began meeting many of the players

我开始跑红袜的签名会和活动

at autograph signings and events around Boston.

在波士顿见到很多球员

But I noticed a few things in common.

可是，我注意到很普遍的几件事

These players weren't very friendly, they were all quite overpaid

这些球员都不太友善，名不符实

and they acted more like celebrities.

可是都摆出名人的架式

In middle school, a friend introduced me to a new way to collect autographs:

中学时，我的朋友告诉我一些收集签名的新方式：

给球员写信。

writing the players through the mail.

写信的时候，我会附上回邮信封，

In doing so, I would write a letter, send a self-addressed stamped envelope,

再附上几张棒球卡

and send a few baseball cards.

Within a few weeks, I'd often get a response.

通常，几个礼拜就会收到回信

But it was never the modern players that would send back.

但是现役球员都不会回我信

It was always the players from the 50s and 60s,

一直是50、60年代老球员回信，

他们人比较好

who were much friendlier,

and much less recognized during their career.

但是他们的球员生涯往往很少受到关注。

So, I continued to write letters to these retired ball players,

于是，我持续给这些退役的棒球选手写信

and in 2007, Topps Baseball Cards came out with a set

在2007年，Topps公司推出一组棒球卡

where they included a few Negro league baseball player cards.

其中包含几位黑人联盟球员的卡片

Negro league was a period from 1920 to the 1960s

黑人联盟赛事从1920年代打到1960年代

where blacks who were segregated from playing in the Major Leagues

遭到大联盟排斥的黑人球员

played in their own baseball league,

就到黑人联盟打球

他们经常坐车到处跑，一天要打两三场球，

often busing around the country, playing two to three games a day,

under much less glamorous conditions.

一点也不光鲜亮丽

But over time,

可是，长久以来

due to the lack of glamorization and public interest,

因为没有球星魅力和公众关注，

everything just kind of faded away,

一切就随风而逝了

leaving the history of the Negro leagues behind.

黑人联盟被历史遗忘

So, I ended up writing to these players in this set

于是，我尝试着给这些球员写信

and within a few weeks, they signed my cards.

几周后他们在卡片上签了名

From here, I began writing to Negro leaguers

从那以后，我开始写信给黑人联盟球员

who didn't have baseball cards.

就是那些没有被印在球员卡上的

Guys that were, you know, even less recognized.

那些知名度更低的球员

And in my letters, I'd often include my phone number,

我常常在信中附上电话号码

and a few of them began reaching out to me.

其中几位球员就联系了我

When I started speaking with them,

与他们聊天时

I noticed they all had a few things in common.

我注意到他们有几个共同点

None of them had baseball cards, none of them had any documentation,

这些球员都没有专属球员卡，他们也没有任何证明文件，

no newspaper articles, no sorts of photos from their career,

没有上过报纸，球员生涯也没有留下照片

just nothing tying them to the game.

好像从来没当过棒球选手。

And lastly, they had just left all their teammates behind.

除此之外，他们落后所有的队友。

他们与过去队友没有任何联系。

They hadn't stayed in touch with any of their teammates.

So, I tried to change this,

于是，我想改变这种情形

and I started off by making baseball cards on my home computer.

于是，我开始在家用自己的计算机制作棒球卡。

Printing them out, designing them and sending them to ball players.

设计，打印，再寄去给球员

除此之外，我注册了几个报纸网站

And what I also did is I began signing up for newspaper archive websites

where I'd find old newspaper articles

找到过去的新闻报导

that would give these guys the recognition that, you know, tied them to the game.

一些球员被认出，你也知道，他们曾经参加比赛。

And lastly, I began becoming kind of like a private investigator,

后来，我有点像私家侦探，

tracking down their former teammates

我去找他们以前的队友

and trying to get these guys back in touch.

尝试让他们恢复联系

后来我更进一步，和这些球员直接对话

From here, I went on and I just spoke to these players.

It got to the point where I actually had players calling me up,

这个时候，实际上球员开始主动联系我，

asking me for information.

问我一些事情

And by the time I was a freshman in high school,

那时候我高一

it was no longer a hobby at all.

做这些事已经不只为了好玩

I had gone from an autograph collector to this Negro league research obsession.

从原本收藏球员签名，后来一头栽进黑人联盟世界

I even asked for Negro league autographs and stamps for Christmas.

我甚至还用黑人联盟球员的签名与邮票作为圣诞礼物

So, going on through high school,

这样，度过了整个高中，

I began to take this work in the Negro league much more seriously.

我开始更认真的投入黑人联盟的研究

I started working with adult Negro league researchers

我开始与与黑人联盟专家合作

where I began working on a few different programs.

并开始着手于几个不同的项目

The first being the Negro League Annual Reunion

第一个项目是黑人联盟年度大团圆

in Birmingham, Alabama.

在亚拉巴马州的伯明翰

At the reunion, we'd have about 50 to 60 Negro league ball players

这个活动上，邀请了 50 ，60 位黑人联盟球员

from around the country,

来自全国各地

and they'd all come together,

他们齐聚一堂

and these players would just, you know, sit in the hotel lobby for me

这些球员，你也知道，和我一起坐在饭店大厅

from 8am until the late hours of the night

从早上 8 点坐到很晚

just catching up, telling stories,

叙叙旧，讲讲故事

and here we just had a week of events

我们还举办了为期一周的系列活动

and these guys got some of this recognition and honor

参加的球员得到了肯定和赞赏

that they never really had before.

这是以前从来没有的事情。

The second program that I began working on was the Negro League Pension Program.

我投身的第二个项目，叫黑人联盟退休金计划

这个退休金计划由大联盟官方资助

And the Pension Program was a program that was offered by Major League Baseball,

and if you played four years in the Negro league,

凡是在黑人联盟满4年的球员，

and you can document it,

并有文字记录证明。

these players would be entitled to 10,000 dollars a year.

符合资格的球员，一年可以领 1 万美金。

This meant a lot for these players.

这对黑人联盟球员来说至关重要

Many of these guys never really did much after baseball,

许多球员退役后没有稳定工作，

they didn't make much money.

没赚什么钱。

于是，当我让这些球员能领退休金的时候，

So, when I was able to get these players pensions,

这是真的非同寻常。

it really made a difference.

When I started doing this, I encountered a lot of difficulty.

刚开始这个项目的时候，我碰到很多困难。

I had to go through hundreds and hundreds of newspaper articles

我不得不翻阅几百几千篇的新闻报纸

trying to find this documentation to prove they played,

努力找到文字记录，证明某些球员的资格

and in many cases I did.

Also I want to mention,

另外我也想说，

when I was speaking with these players on the phone,

想跟这些球员打电话，

tracking them down, it wasn't easy either.

或找到他们，也真的不容易

I would go through hundreds of articles

我得从几百篇文章里

trying to look for names, find information,

努力找到名字以及他们的信息，

and I encountered quite a lot of failure.

那时候我常常碰壁

I would call people up, it would be the wrong person.

有时候拨了电话，可是发现找错人了。

It would be really awkward.

真的很尴尬。

I'd also have a lot of times where I'd call players up,

也有许多时候，我打电话给某些球员，

and they didn't want to speak at all to me.

但他们根本不想理我。

直接挂我电话

They would hang up.

当我我说明来意是为了棒球，他们也拒绝谈话。

When I said the word baseball, they would just refuse to talk altogether.

那是因为，在打球的时候他们常常受到排斥。

This was because they faced a lot of segregation during their careers.

不能靠打球成名受欢迎，

Along with the lack of glamorization that they faced,

还要面对许多种族歧视和场内外的打压，

they also dealt with a lot of racism on and off the baseball field,

which just lasted with them throughout their whole lives.

这些在其一生之中都挥之不去。

These guys, you know,

这些球员，你也知道，

it was very emotional for them to talk about baseball,

一讲起棒球就很激动

and it was really hard to kind of get these guys back, you know,

你也知道，真正的困难是，要他们回想过去，

talking about this game that they had kind of left behind.

谈论他们不愿回想的棒球。

Lastly though, I encountered, you know, quite a lot of success as well.

最终，你也知道，我的努力获得了不少成功。

Some of these guys I'd call up, I'd talk to them for two to three hours,

有些我联络上的球员，和我聊了两三个小时，

and these guys would just go on and on about their stories,

他们一打开话匣子，就会一直讲下去，

telling me, like, exact baseball games and memories that they had.

告诉我一些比赛的事，还有他们记得的事。

Nowadays, I've attended four Negro League Reunions,

目前为止，我已经出席过 四次黑人联盟大团圆

three of which I've actually roomed with former Negro league ball player

其中三次，我还与黑人联盟球员住一个房间

Russell "Crazy Legs" Patterson of the Indianapolis Clowns.

印城小丑队的罗素‧帕特森，绰号"疯狂快腿"

He actually snores at night, in case you all were wondering.

他睡觉打呼声很大，如果你想知道的话。

我促成了十几笔球员退休金

I've worked on about a dozen pensions

and I've tracked down over a hundred Negro league ball players,

并且找到了超过 100 位黑人联盟球员，

还在不断找到新的球员，

constantly finding new ball players,

getting them in touch with their former teammates,

帮他们联络上老队友，

让棒球重新回到他们的生活中

bringing baseball back into these players' lives

也让他们回到棒球中。

and bringing these guys back into the game.

(Music)

(音乐)

Thank you!

谢谢大家

(Applause)

(掌声）