美国国家公共电台 NPR Crowds Gather Each Week In Wisconsin To Watch Their Teams Play Ball — In Snowshoes

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

A heat wave is sweeping¹ across a lot of the U.S. this week, from the central Plains to the East Coast. Swimsuits are more common than snowshoes in this weather, but you will find plenty of snowshoes in the Wisconsin town of Lake Tomahawk. Reporter Mackenzie Martin of member station WXPR explains why.

MACKENZIE MARTIN, BYLINE²: When you drive into this town of just more than a thousand residents, a sign reads, welcome to Lake Tomahawk, home of snowshoe baseball. Yes, I'm talking about a game of baseball played on snowshoes, though in reality it more closely resembles a bizarre game of softball.

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: Every Monday night in the summer, and on the Fourth of July, hundreds of tourists and residents gather to cheer on players who strap³ on snowshoes and hit a large softball around a field of woodchips. This has been going on since 1961 when then town chairman Ray Sloan came up with the idea. An earlier version of the game was played on frozen lakes, hence the snowshoes.

Admission is free, but slices of homemade pie cost $2. And pie is a big deal here. On any given night, you can find 40 different flavors.

SHEILA PUNCHES: They say they come for the pie and stay for the game.

MARTIN: Sheila Punches has been coming to games since the 1970s, and she says pie is one way she measures its popularity.

PUNCHES: There was a time when 30 pies was enough. And then it was 40, 50, 60, 70. A hundred pies is not too many pies to have. I think somebody said they had 160 pies last week for the Fourth of July.

MARTIN: The game starts with a rendition of the national anthem⁴ by the local barbershop chorus.

UNIDENTIFIED BARBERSHOP CHORUS: (Singing) Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we...

MARTIN: Then two local commentators⁶ lead the way. In a recent game, someone takes a swing and misses the ball, then switches bats.

JIMMY SOYCK: Felt a little wind up here, Gunner (ph).

(SOUNDBITE OF CLANG)

SOYCK: It's the bat. It's the bat.

ADAM LAU: Always the bat's fault.

MARTIN: Then, when he does hit the ball, he trips right after leaving home plate.

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: This hilarious⁷ scene is all too common, especially for newer players. Longtime commentator⁵ Jimmy Soyck says you can't run in snowshoes. It's all in the shuffle⁸.

SOYCK: You got to shuffle your feet. You can't pick them up. You pick them up, and you're going over - no ifs, ands or buts about it.

MARTIN: The game carries on this way until about the seventh inning, when one lucky batter⁹ gets a disguised cantaloupe thrown to him instead of a ball.

(CHEERING)

MARTIN: He makes contact and immediately scatters¹⁰ the baseball field with pieces of melon.

JEFF SMITH: When that thing hits, it splatters everywhere.

MARTIN: Jeff Smith coaches the home team, the Snow Hawks¹¹.

SMITH: And it's painted to look just like - pretty much like these balls there. And the batter's not supposed to know until he hits it, so (laughter).

MARTIN: It's easy to laugh at the idea of people playing softball in snowshoes in the middle of the summer, but it's part of this town's fabric¹². Residents like Macey Macintyre grew up watching this game.

MACEY MACINTYRE: You know it's the whole town because you see everybody week in and week out. It makes me just kind of love my town and the people in it a lot more.

MARTIN: So if you're in Wisconsin's Northwoods on a Monday night this summer, you can come watch snowshoe baseball in Lake Tomahawk. The season ends in late August.

For NPR News, I'm Mackenzie Martin.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 strap   

n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎

参考例句：

• She held onto a strap to steady herself.她抓住拉手吊带以便站稳。
• The nurse will strap up your wound.护士会绑扎你的伤口。

4 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

5 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

6 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

8 shuffle   

n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走

参考例句：

• I wish you'd remember to shuffle before you deal.我希望在你发牌前记得洗牌。
• Don't shuffle your feet along.别拖着脚步走。

9 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

10 scatters   

v.（使）散开， （使）分散，驱散( scatter的第三人称单数 )；撒

参考例句：

• He scatters money about as if he were rich. 他四处挥霍，好像很有钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Truth raises against itself the storm that scatters its seeds broadcast. 真理引起了反对它自己的狂风骤雨，那场风雨吹散了真理的广播的种子。 来自辞典例句

11 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

12 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。