美国国家公共电台 NPR--Veteran baseball broadcaster Jaime Jarrin says goodbye

Veteran baseball broadcaster Jaime Jarrin says goodbye

Transcript¹

For more than 60 years, Jaime Jarrin has been the Spanish-language voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers³. He was instrumental in bringing more Latino fans to the game. Now he's saying goodbye.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

One of the most veteran broadcasters in sports is saying goodbye. Jaime Jarrin is retiring as the Spanish-language voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's held the job since 1959.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JAIME JARRIN: (Speaking Spanish).

MARTINEZ: The ball is going, it's going - kiss it goodbye. Sounds a lot prettier, though, when he says it. After 64 seasons, Jaime Jarrin has connected generations of Dodger² fans. His name is synonymous with baseball. But it didn't start out that way.

JARRIN: I never saw baseball in my life, a bat, nothing like that until I came to this country.

MARTINEZ: You see, Jarrin was born and raised in Ecuador, where soccer dominates. There, kids grew up wanting to play in the World Cup. The World Series? Not so much. His first love was radio. He was introduced to it by his cousin, Alfredo, who was an up-and-coming radio announcer in the city of Quito. Alfredo used to take Jarrin to live broadcasts around town.

JARRIN: And I fell in love with radio when I was 10 years old. Then, a couple of years later, he said, Jaime, I think you have a microphone voice.

MARTINEZ: Alfredo took that nascent⁴, adolescent voice and helped Jaime develop it.

JARRIN: He put me in a corner of a room to read every day about 30 minutes in the newspaper in commercial Quito - said, I am putting you in a corner because you will hear yourself the way that we hear you. That was my first lessons.

MARTINEZ: And that reading paid off because within just a few years, Jarrin began a career of his own. And this is where his story will become something a lot more recognizable to many Americans.

JARRIN: In '55, I decided⁵ to come to this country as an immigrant.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WE BELONG TOGETHER")

RITCHIE VALENS: (Singing) You're mine.

JARRIN: Then I start reading about Southern California. And I start reading about Los Angeles and, like, how many Spanish-speaking people were here. So I said, that's the place where I have to go.

MARTINEZ: Jarrin says there was so much opportunity in LA back then, just not in Spanish broadcasting.

JARRIN: I took a job at a factory making metal fences.

MARTINEZ: He says, at the time, the city's lone⁶ Spanish radio station did not have any open positions. But more than that, the people at the radio station didn't like the way Jarrin spoke⁷ Spanish. They felt that his Ecuadorian accent would sound strange to Southern California's Mexican population. Now, you might think, it was the 1950s. It was a different time. Forty years later, when I was starting my career in LA doing traffic report in Spanish, I too was told my Ecuadorian Spanish would not cut it in LA. And just as I did, Jarrin realized that he needed to neutralize⁸ his accent.

JARRIN: So I went to study Spanish at a school in Los Angeles, 7 o'clock until 11 o'clock in the morning. I kept going until, finally, they gave me a job on weekends.

MARTINEZ: Jarrin wound up becoming the news and sports director for KWKW just as baseball was about to be turned on its head. In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers left New York and moved to Los Angeles. And Jarrin, fluent in English and Spanish but only barely conversational⁹ in baseball, became part of the first crew to call Dodger games in Spanish. He still remembers the big meeting with the station's general manager.

JARRIN: Mr. William Beaton called all the announcers to his office. And he looked at me, said, I want you to be one of the announcers.

MARTINEZ: And so Jarrin sent himself to baseball boot camp. He attended minor¹⁰ league games around the city and read all the sports columns he could get his hands on.

JARRIN: I'd listen every single broadcast on radio. So like, in '59, I said, OK, I'm ready. And I started doing one inning first, then two innings, then three innings.

MARTINEZ: Within a few years, Jarrin became a respected voice, had built an audience. And it wasn't long before other teams took notice.

JARRIN: When they saw the success of the Dodgers regarding the Latinos, they started wondering. What you have to do is hire a couple of announcers, hire a salesman to sell Spanish broadcasts. And it's a great, great way of making money.

MARTINEZ: And that was where things were headed when a new mania¹¹ took over baseball, Fernandomania.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VIN SCULLY: It is incredible. It is fantastic. It is Fernando Valenzuela.

UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS BROADCASTER: Valenzuela set a National League rookie record, pitching eight shutouts this year.

MARTINEZ: Late in the 1980 season, the Mexican ballplayer Fernando Valenzuela was brought on to pitch for the Dodgers. Within a year, he was named Rookie of the Year and helped the Dodgers win the World Series. But more than that, he brought more Spanish speakers to the game.

JARRIN: He created so many new baseball fans. It was unbelievable. People didn't know baseball at all, so we had to teach them.

MARTINEZ: And Jarrin went along for the ride because in addition to calling the games, Jarrin became Valenzuela's interpreter.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Jaime Jarrin, ask him if he felt that the first three innings tonight, when the Mets got the eight base runners on against him, was the toughest stretch he's had so far since coming to the National League.

JARRIN: (Speaking Spanish).

Up to that day, I was very well-known only in Southern California. But then when I had to travel with Fernando and be with him in front of the media, they knew about who Jaime Jarrin was in Chicago and St. Louis and other cities.

MARTINEZ: Since Jarrin's early days with the league, Latinos have become a real force in baseball. In 1955, just around 5% of all Major League players were Latino, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. Today, more than a quarter of the players are Latinos. And you can see it in the stands, too. I was only 11 years old when Fernando Valenzuela broke through. But I remember noticing a lot more Spanish speakers at Dodger games. They had their transistor¹² radios in their hand and to their ear to listen to Jarrin's broadcast. Alex Padilla was among them. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley and now serves as California's first Latino U.S. senator. Padilla grew up bilingual, but his parents only spoke Spanish. So in order to enjoy Dodger games as a family, they would all listen to Jarrin's voice narrate¹³ the action.

ALEX PADILLA: It was smooth. It was so descriptive. Literally¹⁴, you can close your eyes and just listen to him and know exactly what was happening on the field. But as a Latino, as a bilingual Latino, it was great to sort of be seen by his voice.

MARTINEZ: In many respects, Jarrin's resume speaks for itself. He's in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He's got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And he's even received an honorary doctorate¹⁵ from Cal State University, Los Angeles.

JARRIN: I have received many accolades¹⁶. But what really fills my heart - people approach me. They stop me, say, Mr. Jarrin, thanks to you, I spent more time with my grandfather. Thanks to you, my father used to spend more time with me. And we just wanted to thank you for that.

MARTINEZ: When I sat down to interview Jarrin for this story, I had one final question for him. Is it really coming to an end?

JARRIN: When I do my last broadcast, it will be my last, last, last intervention¹⁷ on the microphone.

MARTINEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

JARRIN: (Speaking Spanish).

MARTINEZ: A journey that started with reading the newspaper for 30 minutes a day in Quito, Ecuador, will come to an end three-quarters of a century later in Los Angeles, when Jaime Jarrin retires as one of the greatest broadcasters of all time.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 dodger   

n.躲避者；躲闪者；广告单

参考例句：

• They are tax dodgers who hide their interest earnings.他们是隐瞒利息收入的逃税者。
• Make sure she pays her share she's a bit of a dodger.她自己的一份一定要她付清--她可是有点能赖就赖。

3 dodgers   

n.躲闪者，欺瞒者( dodger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a crackdown on fare dodgers on trains 对火车逃票者的严厉打击
• But Twain, Howells, and James were jeeringly described by Mencken as "draft-dodgers". 不过吐温、豪威尔斯和詹姆斯都是被门肯讥诮地叫做“逃避兵役的人。” 来自辞典例句

4 nascent   

adj.初生的，发生中的

参考例句：

• That slim book showed the Chinese intelligentsia and the nascent working class.那本小册子讲述了中国的知识界和新兴的工人阶级。
• Despite a nascent democracy movement,there's little traction for direct suffrage.尽管有过一次新生的民主运动，但几乎不会带来直接选举。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 neutralize   

v.使失效、抵消，使中和

参考例句：

• Nothing could neutralize its good effects.没有什么能抵消它所产生的好影响。
• Acids neutralize alkalis and vice versa.酸能使碱中和碱，亦能使酸中和。

9 conversational   

adj.对话的，会话的

参考例句：

• The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
• She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。

10 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

11 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

12 transistor   

n.晶体管，晶体管收音机

参考例句：

• This make of transistor radio is small and beautifully designed.这半导体收音机小巧玲珑。
• Every transistor has at least three electrodes.每个晶体管至少有三个电极。

13 narrate   

v.讲，叙述

参考例句：

• They each narrate their own tale but are all inextricably linked together.她们各自讲述自己的故事，却又不可避免地联系在一起。
• He once holds the tear to narrate a such story to mine.他曾经含着泪给我讲述了这样的一个故事。

14 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

15 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

16 accolades   

n.（连结几行谱表的）连谱号( accolade的名词复数 )；嘉奖；（窗、门上方的）桃尖拱形线脚；册封爵士的仪式（用剑面在肩上轻拍一下）

参考例句：

• Unlike other accolades for literature which tend to value style or experimentation. 有别于其他偏重风格活实验性的文学奖项。 来自互联网
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

17 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。