棒球击手Barry Bonds对其未来有所保留

Baseball Slugger Barry Bonds' Future on Hold

棒球击手Barry Bonds对其未来有所保留

 He is 53 home runs shy of breaking Hank Aaron's all-time Major League Baseball home run record.  He trails New York Yankees' legend Babe Ruth by only 11 home runs on the all-time list.  But baseball slugger Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants might not pass either Ruth or Aaron this year, or ever.  A despondent¹ Bonds said this week that knee problems might keep him off the field until next season. 

 

With his son Nikolai at his side, Barry Bonds leaned on crutches² and lashed³ out at the media Tuesday for hounding him about possible steroid use in the past few years.

 

Barry Bonds: I am very tired. I don't really have much to say anymore.  My son and I are just going to enjoy our lives.  My family is tired, just tired. I'm tired. You guys wanted to hurt me bad enough, you finally got there.

 

The San Francisco slugger then said that he might not play until the middle of the season or even next year.  That means that this year will be the first time the 40-year-old star will miss an opening day game in 19 seasons. And there is speculation⁴, in light of the recent congressional hearings on illegal steroid use by baseball players Barry Bonds might not return to the game at all.

 

A cloud has surrounded Barry Bonds since a doping case involving a San Francisco area laboratory and his personal trainer broke last year.  The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper leaked Bonds' testimony⁵ to a grand jury that he used substances that his trainer gave him, but he did not know they contained steroids.  That version of events was challenged when, according to news reports, a former girlfriend testified that Bonds told her he used steroids. 

 

Bonds has also recently undergone a second operation to repair damaged cartilage in his right knee.  The seven-time National League most valuable player said this week that he wants to focus on rehabilitating⁶ his knee and getting healthy.

 

Barry Bonds: Right now I am just going to try to rehab myself back to - I don't know maybe next season, maybe the middle of this season. I don't know.

 

But can Barry Bonds escape the trouble surrounding him? He was not called to Washington to testify at last week's congressional hearing, where the House Government Reform Committee took another former slugger Mark McGwire to task.  Bonds broke McGwire's single-season home run record in 2001.  ESPN television analyst⁷ Harold Reynolds, a former player, says he thinks that Bonds will return, despite the difficulties.

 

Harold Reynolds: I think he is tired of the storm that is going on around him. But the bottom line here is, I think it's a guy who is hurt.  He is at the lowest of lows right now, but I think he is going to come back and play.  When you are going through an injury like that, sometimes you have that down feeling and I think that's where Barry is at right now.

 

Former Philadelphia Phillies' player John Kruk, who is also a baseball analyst for ESPN, says he believes the controversy⁸ of possibly shattering hallowed home run records under a cloud of using illegal performance-enhancing substances will keep Barry Bonds from returning.

 

John Kruk: The guy is just tired of the media, and I think, honestly my opinion, watching him today [Tuesday], I think he is not going to play baseball anymore.  I think he is done.  I think he has had it.  He wants to try to walk away and just disappear.

 

Should Bonds miss this season, coming back in 2006 would be that much more difficult because he would be 41 and even more prone⁹ to injury than he is now.  And more than likely, Major League Baseball would not want the slugger to retire. The drama of having Barry Bonds chase Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron's records, coupled with the controversy surrounding him, makes for great television ratings and increased fan attendance.  But whether Barry Bonds is willing to undergo the scrutiny¹⁰ and the controversy is not known.  As of Tuesday, he did not look like he was.

 

I’m David Byrd, VOA Sports.

 

注释：

slugger [5slQ^E] n. 打击力强的选手

despondent [dis5pCndEnt] adj. 沮丧的

steroid [5stiErCid] n. [生化]类固醇

congressional [kEn5^reFEnEl] adj. 会议的，大会的，国会的

doping [5dEupiN] (半导体)掺杂(质)，加添加剂[填料]

cartilage [5kB:tilidV] n. [解剖]软骨

rehabilitate¹¹ [7ri:(h)E5biliteit] v. 使(身体)康复，使复职，使恢复名誉，使复原

rehab [5ri:hAb] (=rehabilitation) n. 修复，恢复名誉，复职

prone to 倾于……

chase [tFeis] vt. 追赶，追逐

scrutiny [5skru:tini] n. 详细审查

1 despondent   

adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的

参考例句：

• He was up for a time and then，without warning,despondent again.他一度兴高采烈，但忽然又情绪低落下来。
• I feel despondent when my work is rejected.作品被拒后我感到很沮丧。

2 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

3 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

6 rehabilitating   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的现在分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓，而不大关心改造罪犯。

7 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

10 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

11 rehabilitate   

vt.改造(罪犯)，修复；vi.复兴，(罪犯)经受改造

参考例句：

• There was no money to rehabilitate the tower.没有资金修复那座塔。
• He used exercise programmes to rehabilitate the patients.他采用体育锻炼疗法使患者恢复健康。