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

那些年，一位少年找回的棒球史──坎姆‧培倫

譯者: Justin Lin 審譯者: Dong Mao

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歲那年

我開始打棒球

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

我的家鄉球隊波士頓紅襪

2004年奪下總冠軍之後

I began meeting many of the players

我開始跑紅襪的簽名會和活動

at autograph signings and events around Boston.

在波士頓見到很多球員

But I noticed a few things in common.

那時候我注意到幾件事

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

這些球員都不太友善

實力都不符身價

and they acted more like celebrities.

都擺出名人的架式

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

念中學時

我朋友告訴我

一個收集簽名的新方式

就是寫信給球員

writing the players through the mail.

我會寫好信

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

附上回郵信封

and send a few baseball cards.

再附上幾張棒球卡

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

過幾個禮拜就會收到回信

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

但是現役球員

都不會回我信

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

只有老球員會回信

也就是1950 1960年代的球員

他們人比較好

who were much friendlier,

但是球員生涯

and much less recognized during their career.

往往比較不受注目

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

我持續寫信

給這些退役的棒球選手

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

2007年Topps公司

推出一組棒球卡

where they included a few Negro league baseball player cards.

其中包含

幾位黑人聯盟球員的卡片

Negro league was a period from 1920 to the 1960s

黑人聯盟賽事

從1920年代打到1960年代

where blacks who were segregated from playing in the Major Leagues

黑人球員如果遭到排斥

上不了大聯盟

played in their own baseball league,

就到黑人聯盟打球

他們坐車到處跑

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

一天要打兩三場球

under much less glamorous conditions.

一點也不光鮮亮麗

But over time,

長久以來

due to the lack of glamorization and public interest,

因為沒有球星魅力

也沒人關心他們

everything just kind of faded away,

一切就隨風而逝了

leaving the history of the Negro leagues behind.

黑人聯盟被歷史遺忘

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

我後來就寫信 給這組球員卡裡的球員

and within a few weeks, they signed my cards.

幾週後他們回信 也在卡片上簽了名

From here, I began writing to Negro leaguers

接著，我開始寫信給黑人聯盟球員

who didn't have baseball cards.

就是那些沒有印在球員卡上的

Guys that were, you know, even less recognized.

那些球員

知名度更低

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

我常常在信中附上電話號碼

and a few of them began reaching out to me.

其中幾位球員就聯繫了我

When I started speaking with them,

與他們聊天時

I noticed they all had a few things in common.

我注意到他們有幾個共同點

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

這些球員都沒有專屬球員卡

沒有以他們為主角的電影

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

沒有上過報紙版面

球員生涯沒有留下照片

just nothing tying them to the game.

好像從來沒當過棒球選手

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

除此之外

他們與過去隊友形同陌路

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

根本沒有聯絡

都已經斷絕來往了

So, I tried to change this,

我想改變這種情形

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

於是 我開始行動

我用自己的電腦製作棒球卡

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

列印出來

弄漂亮一點，再寄去給球員

除此之外

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

我還註冊了幾個線上報紙資料庫

where I'd find old newspaper articles

可以調閱過去的新聞報導

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

有些新聞裡

也許找得到這些球員

有他們曾是球員的證明

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

後來我做的事

有點像私家偵探

tracking down their former teammates

我去找他們以前的隊友

and trying to get these guys back in touch.

嘗試讓他們恢復聯繫

後來我更進一步

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

和這些球員直接對話

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

事情有了進展

球員會主動找我

asking me for information.

問我一些事情

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

那時候我高一

it was no longer a hobby at all.

做這些事已經不只為了好玩

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

我原本收藏球員簽名

後來一頭栽進黑人聯盟的世界

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

我還用黑人聯盟 球員的簽名與郵票

當作聖誕禮物

So, going on through high school,

讀高中的時候

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

我用更認真的態度

投入黑人聯盟的研究

I started working with adult Negro league researchers

我開始與人聯手

與黑人聯盟專家合作

where I began working on a few different programs.

並開始進行幾個計畫

The first being the Negro League Annual Reunion

第一個計畫是 黑人聯盟年度大團圓

in Birmingham, Alabama.

在阿拉巴馬州的伯明罕舉行

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

這個活動

邀請了 50 到 60 位黑人聯盟球員

from around the country,

從美國各州而來

and they'd all come together,

他們會齊聚一堂

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

這些球員

會在飯店大廳

from 8am until the late hours of the night

從早上 8 點坐到很晚

just catching up, telling stories,

敘敘舊，講講故事

and here we just had a week of events

我們還要舉辦為期一週的系列活動

and these guys got some of this recognition and honor

讓參加的球員

有得到肯定讚賞的機會

that they never really had before.

享受過去無福消受的榮耀

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

我投身的第二個計畫

叫做黑人聯盟退休金計畫

這個退休金計畫

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

由大聯盟官方資助

and if you played four years in the Negro league,

凡是在黑人聯盟打球

and you can document it,

滿4年的球員

並有文字記錄證明

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

符合資格的球員

一年可以領 1 萬美金

This meant a lot for these players.

這對黑人聯盟球員來說至關重要

Many of these guys never really did much after baseball,

這些球員退役後

很多人沒有穩定工作

they didn't make much money.

沒賺什麼錢

我的計畫讓這些球員能領退休金

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

這個計畫意義重大

it really made a difference.

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

進行這個計畫的時候

我碰到很多難題

I had to go through hundreds and hundreds of newspaper articles

我得翻遍報紙

從幾百幾千篇新聞裡

trying to find this documentation to prove they played,

找到文字記錄

證明某些球員的資格 我通常都找得到

and in many cases I did.

Also I want to mention,

另外我想強調

when I was speaking with these players on the phone,

想跟這些球員講電話

tracking them down, it wasn't easy either.

或找到他們，真的不容易

I would go through hundreds of articles

我得從幾百篇文章裡

trying to look for names, find information,

找到名字

還要再找他們的資訊

and I encountered quite a lot of failure.

那時候我常常碰壁

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

有時候撥了電話

It would be really awkward.

才發現找錯人了

超尷尬的

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

有的時候

我打電話給某些球員

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

但他們根本不想理我

直接掛我電話

They would hang up.

我說明來意是為了棒球

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

他們也不一定願意講

那是因為

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

他們打球的時候

常常受到排斥

不能靠打球成名受歡迎

Along with the lack of glamorization that they faced,

還要抵抗種族主義

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

在場內外的打壓

which just lasted with them throughout their whole lives.

這種壓力會一直跟著他們

終其一生

These guys, you know,

這些球員

it was very emotional for them to talk about baseball,

一講起棒球就很激動

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

更困難的是

要他們現身說法

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

聊聊球賽

談論他們不願回想的棒球

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

終於

我的努力

獲得了不少成果

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

有些我聯絡上的球員

和我聊了兩三個小時

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

他們一打開話匣子

就會一直講下去

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

告訴我一些比賽的事

還有他們記得的事

Nowadays, I've attended four Negro League Reunions,

目前為止，我已經出席過 四次黑人聯盟大團圓

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

其中三次

我還與黑人聯盟球員

睡同一間房間

Russell "Crazy Legs" Patterson of the Indianapolis Clowns.

像羅素‧派特森，綽號"瘋狂快腿"

他是印城小丑隊的球員

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

順便偷偷告訴你們──

──他睡覺打呼聲很大

我促成了十幾筆 球員退休金的發放

I've worked on about a dozen pensions

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

我找到了超過 100 位

黑人聯盟球員

人數還持續增加

constantly finding new ball players,

getting them in touch with their former teammates,

我幫他們聯絡上老隊友

讓棒球重新回到他們的生命裡

bringing baseball back into these players' lives

也讓他們回到棒球的歷史裡

and bringing these guys back into the game.

(Music)

(音樂)

Thank you!

謝謝大家

(Applause)