Billy: Hey.

 

Peter: Hello.

 

Billy: Who are you?

 

Peter: I'm Peter Brand.

 

Billy: What do you do?

 

Peter: I'm special assistant to Mark Shapiro.

 

Billy: So, what do you do?

 

Peter: Mostly player analysis right now.

 

Billy: Been on the job long? First job in baseball?

 

Peter: It's my first job anywhere.

 

Billy: Wow, congrats.

 

Peter: Thank you.

 

Billy: First job. Whose nephew are you? Why does Mark listen to you?

 

Peter: I don't think, uh... I don't think he does very often.

 

Billy: He just did.

 

Peter: Well, in that circumstance, I think he was more listening to Bruce than myself.

 

Billy: Mm-hm. Who are you?

 

Peter: I'm Peter Brand.

 

Billy: I don't give a rat's ass¹ what your name is. What happened in there? What happened in that room?

 

Peter: I'm not quite sure what you're asking me, Mr. Beane.

 

Billy: What did you tell Bruce?

 

Peter: I just told Bruce I like Garcia.

 

Billy: You like Garcia. Why? Why?

 

Peter: I don't know. Ahem. There is an epidemic² failure within the game to understand what is really happening. And this leads people who run Major League Baseball teams to misjudge their players and mismanage their teams. I apologize.

 

Billy: Go on.

 

Peter: Okay. People who run ball clubs, they think in terms of buying players. Your goal shouldn't be to buy players. Your goal should be to buy wins. And in order to buy wins, you need to buy runs. You're trying to replace Johnny Damon. The Red Sox see Johnny Damon and they see a star who's worth $7.5 million a year. When I see Johnny Damon, what I see is...an imperfect understanding of where runs come from. The guy's got a great glove. He's a decent³ leadoff hitter. He can steal bases. But is he worth the $7.5 million a year that the Boston Red Sox are paying him? No. No. Baseball thinking is medieval⁴. They are asking all the wrong questions. And if I say it to anybody, I'm ostracized⁶. I'm a leper. So that's why I'm cagey about this with you. That's why-- I respect you, Mr. Beane, and if you want full disclosure, I think it's a good thing that you got Damon off your payroll⁷. I think it opens up all kinds of interesting possibilities.

 

Billy: Where you from, Pete?

 

Peter: Maryland.

 

Billy: Where'd you go to school?

 

Peter: Yale. I went to Yale.

 

Billy: What'd you study?

 

Peter: Economics⁸. I studied economics.

 

Billy: Yale, economics and baseball. You're funny, Pete.

 

**************************

 

Billy’s father: Tell me, why Billy? What is it that makes him special?

 

Scout⁹ A: Very rare do you come upon a young man like Billy who can run, who can field, who can throw, who can hit, and who can hit with power. Those five tools, you don't see that very often.

 

Scout B: Most of the youngsters¹⁰ that we have an interest in have one or two tools, and we're hoping to develop an extra one. Your son has five. I mean, we're looking at a guy that's a potential superstar for us in New York. The time is right now to get him started.

 

Scout A: We're prepared to make a sizable financial commitment. The Mets are gonna stand behind Billy because we expect him to be our big-league center fielder. This check here represents the offer that the New York Mets would be making to Billy.

 

Billy’s mother: You do know that he's been accepted to Stanford on a full scholarship?

 

Scout A: I do.

 

Billy’s mother: So he can do both?

 

Scout A: Unfortunately, he can't do Stanford and professional baseball. He would have to pick one or the other. If he wants to be center fielder for the Mets, he wants to be a baseball player, he really needs to accept this as life's first occupation, first career. We're all told at some point we can no longer play the children's game. We just don't know when that's gonna be. Some of us are told at 18, some of us are told at 40, but we're all told. But this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We want you badly, and we think that this amount of money expresses that desire.

 

Billy’s father: Billy, this is your decision, and whatever that decision is, you know it's fine with your mother and I.

 

****************************

 

Peter: Hello?

 

Billy: Hey, it's Billy Beane.

 

Peter: Hey, what time is it?

 

Billy: I don't know. Listen, would you have drafted me in the first round?

 

Peter: What?

 

Billy: After I left, you looked me up on your computer. Would you have drafted me in the first round?

 

Peter: I did, yeah. You were a good player.

 

Billy: Cut the crap, man. Would you have drafted me in the first round?

 

Peter: I'd have taken you in the ninth round. No signing bonus. I imagine you would've passed and taken that scholarship.

 

Billy: Yeah. Pack your bags, Pete. I just bought you from the Cleveland Indians.

 

 

1. epidemic: 流行的，传染的。请看例句：Buying goods on the installment¹¹ plan has become epidemic in recent years.（近几年来，用分期付款的办法购物十分流行。）

 

2. leadoff hitter: 第一棒打击手。

 

3. medieval: 老式的，守旧的。看一下例子：rather medieval methods of contraception（相当落后的避孕方法）。

 

4. ostracize⁵: 放逐；排斥。例如：Their children were ostracized by teachers and pupils alike.（老师和学生都对他们的子弟采取冷淡疏远的态度。）

 

5. leper: （由于社会道德等原因）大家不敢接近的人，受排斥的人。

 

6. cagey: 小心翼翼的，吞吞吐吐的。请看例句：He gave a cagey, vague answer to my question.（他小心翼翼、含糊其词地回答了我的问题。）

 

7. payroll: 发薪名单，薪水册。

 

8. field: 接（球）；截（球）；守（球）。

 

9. sizable: 相当大的。

 

10. Cut the crap: 别废话。

 

11. signing bonus: 签约奖金。

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