KISSIMMEE, Fla. — During the World Baseball Classic's colorful, noisy festival of patriotism, pride and cultural heritage, Mike Piazza has come to understand something quite valuable while bonding with his Italian teammates."We have a guy from Messina who cooks pasta for us in the clubhouse? al dente, of course," said Team Italy's marquee player. "I've learned that the pasta in the United States is cooked too soft. I don't even like them to put it in the water anymore. I just like steam going over it."
在世界棒球經典賽豐富多彩且喧鬧的節日慶典期間充滿著愛國主義、自豪和文化遺產。當Mike Piazza與他的義大利隊有緊密結合的同時，他開始了解到一些相當寶貴的事物。義大利隊的看板選手Mike Piazza說：”我們有一個從Messina來的傢伙，他在球隊裡幫我們煮義大利麵。當然，他煮得很有嚼勁。現在我已經知道，美國的義大利麵總是煮得太軟。我甚至不希望他們再把它放在水裡了，我喜歡水汽蒸過的義大利麵就好。”
Truth is, Major League Baseball made Piazza an offer he couldn't refuse: a chance to play for his ancestral homeland while trying to expand the game's scope and popularity in Italy, from where his grandparents emigrated.
大聯盟實際上是提供了一個Piazza無法拒絕的機會：他的祖父母是從義大利移居國外的，這正是一個為祖先故鄉出賽的機會，同時又可以擴展棒球在義大利的視野跟聲望。
Culinary considerations aside, Italians have contributed much to the civilization in art, literature and science. The exportation of baseball talent is not included. With the exception of descendants like the DiMaggios, Berras and Rizzutos, no Italian-born player of any significance has emerged in the majors.
我們先把廚藝放在一邊，義大利人對於文明的貢獻很大，無論是在藝術、文學及科學。但對於棒球人才的出產卻沒有包括在內。除了一些義大利後裔像是DiMaggios，Berras和Rizzutos，並沒有在義大利出生的球員在大聯盟有特殊重大的表現。
There was Tommy Lasorda bleeding green, white and red this week with his goombahs. You think a lot of things when you think Italy. Baseball isn't one. No, the Dodger godfather said, "You think pasta."
Tommy Lasorda跟他的同伴們留著綠、白和紅色的血液<註1>。當你提到義大利的時候，你會想到很多東西，但棒球不是其中之一。道奇隊的教父Tommy Lasorda說：「你反而是想到義大利麵。」
Italy got whacked Thursday when the Dominican Republic knocked it off 8-3, which along with Venezuela's win eliminated the Italians from the 16-nation field. Some folks still were scratching their noggins regarding their presence.
星期四義大利對遭受到重擊，他們不但以8比3輸給多明尼加同時因為委內瑞拉贏球，所以義大利被淘汰無法進入下一輪。但一些義大利鄉親或許還搔著頭對於他們的參賽感到疑惑。
"They told me ... well, I'm not exactly sure how it was chosen," said manager Matt Galante, a first-generation Sicilian.
Matt Galante，一位第一代的西西里島人說：「他們告訴我……『嗯，我並不很確定隊伍是怎麼被選出來的。』」
Perhaps MLB figured it could sell out Piazza jerseys from Pisa to Palermo.
也許大聯盟認為他們可以從比薩到馬勒莫將Piazza的運動衫銷售一空。
Maybe Bud Selig likes linguini di mara.
也許Bud Selig喜歡細扁長條的義大利麵。
One criterion was geography. Latin America is loaded with powerhouses. The European baseball theater isn't Fenway. Italy's general competence and longtime presence at the international level was another reason. The Italian team qualified for every Olympics, finishing as high as sixth in Atlanta and Sydney.
地理因素是一個關鍵。拉丁美洲總是充滿著動力，而歐洲棒球的場所卻不像Fenway Park（那麼熱鬧充滿活力）。義大利的整體競爭力與他們能長期出現在國際水準的競賽中有其他的原因（可以解釋）。雖然義大利總是可以闖進奧運，但最高也只在亞特蘭大與雪梨奧運拿到第六名的成績。
The Dominicans and Venezuelans transformed this site into a fiesta with thousands of raucous fans. The Italian fan contingent was more like a bunch of Joe Bagadonuts from Fort Lauderdale. A woman wearing a Mets jersey had an Italian flag-type sign that read, "I flew from New York to see Italy shock the world."
多明尼加以及委內瑞拉以數以千計喧鬧的球迷，將球場變的像慶典一般。義大利球迷代表團表現出來的，更像是一群從羅德岱堡來的美國人一般平淡無奇。<註2>一位身穿大都會運動衫的女士，手持著一個義大利國旗型式的標誌，上面寫著〝我從紐約飛來看義大利震撼世界。〞
For most Italians, digesting baseball is as delectable as eating borscht.
對大部分義大利人來說，品味棒球就像品嚐羅宋湯（甜菜湯）一樣美味。
Players are limited in their development. Teams play only three games a week. The top Italian league is roughly equivalent to Class A. Last fall, Alessandro Maestri became the first Italian league pitcher to sign with a major league team, agreeing to a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs.
但是球員的發展受到限制。球隊一個星期只進行三場比賽。義大利最高等的聯盟大約相當於1A的等級。去年秋天，Alessandro Maestri成為義大利聯盟第一位加盟大聯盟球隊的投手，他跟芝加哥白襪隊簽了一張小聯盟合約。
"They look up to us, almost in awe," said Frank Catalanotto of the Toronto Blue Jays.
多倫多藍鳥隊的Frank Catalanotto說：「他們抬頭看著我們，幾乎是以敬畏的態度。」
Baseball was introduced to Italy in 1919 by U.S. servicemen. It is slow to flourish because soccer is the No. 1 sporting passion of Italians. Lawrence Baldassaro, professor of Italian at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, works as a translator for Team Italy. He is researching the history of Italian-Americans in baseball and the parallels to Italian immigrants.
棒球是在1919年由美國軍人引進義大利。然而，棒球的發展很緩慢，因為足球才是義大利人最狂熱的運動。Lawrence Baldassaro是一位在威斯康辛州密爾瓦基市工作的義大利教授，現在為義大利隊作翻譯的工作。他正在研究義大利裔美國人在棒球的歷史與義大利移民間的相似之處。
"They mirror each other," he said. "The early immigration, the prejudice, the obstacles of media bias. It took a long time for Italians to get into the major leagues in any significant numbers. If you read the media treatment of Italian ballplayers until World War II, it's stuff you wouldn't read today."
他說：「他們互相反應彼此，早期移民、歧視、媒體偏見的阻礙。對義大利人來說，他們花了很長的時間才得以參予大聯盟許多重要的里程記錄。如果你閱覽過二次世界大戰前媒體對義大利球員評論，那些是你今天不會想要看到的內容」
Financial support for Italian baseball is limited because the game lags basketball, volleyball and water polo in popularity. An academy was established in 2004 in Tirrenia, but the elimination of Olympic baseball adversely affects the entire program.
義大利棒球的財政支持是有限的，因為棒球的歡迎度落後籃球、排球和水球。2004年在Tirrenia有一個協會成立，但棒球退出奧運對整個計劃產生了不利的影響。
"Baseball in Italy is at a turning point," said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the Italian baseball federation. "It can either take a big step forward and become really professional, or it can take two steps back."
義大利棒球總會的會長Riccardo Fraccari說：「在義大利，棒球處在一個轉折點，它可以向前邁出一大步，變得很職業化；或是反而向後退兩步。」
Because Italian citizenship rules are weak, Italy could field a team with a dozen players born in Italy. Eligible Americans went through a rigorous vetting process. Their Italian lineage had to be documented through census records, birth certificates, naturalization papers.
因為義大利的公民條例並不充分，義大利可以組成一隊有十多位球員出生在義大利的隊伍。不過，符合資格的美國人都經過嚴格的審核過程，他們的義大利血統必須要以文件證明如普查記錄、出生證明和歸化文件等
"A lot of people thought, 'Ahhh, you're Italian. You had a slice of pizza last night so you're allowed to play,' " Galante said. "We lost players because we couldn't produce enough documentation. Tony Graffanino wanted to play; we couldn't certify him. I just want people to know it wasn't like your name ends in an 'O' so you can play."
Galante說：「很多人認為，嗯，你是義大利人，因為你昨天吃了一片披薩所以就被允許參賽。其實我們因為沒辦法提供足夠的文件證明，而失去了許多球員。像是Tony Graffanino就想參賽，但我們就沒辦法證明（他是義大利人）。我希望人們可以了解，並不是因為你的名字是以”O”結尾就可以參賽。」
Thanks, Skip. I already knew that
教練，謝謝。這我已經知道。
註釋：
1. Tommy Lasorda的名言：「I bleed Dodger blue.」我流著道奇藍的血液。這裡是將這句話作改寫，用義大利國旗的三個顏色，綠、白、紅來取代。
2. Joe Bagadonuts是average Joe的代稱，泛指普通(美國)人。感謝Homura (喵姆拉★葬夢)幫忙翻譯此處。
資料來源：
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/saraceno/2006-03-10-saraceno-wbc-italy_x.htm
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