美国国家公共电台 NPR Babies And Baseball: A Dad Plants The Seeds For A Shared Love Of The Game

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

OK, all this week, we're exploring fandom, what makes people fall in love, become fans of a show or a comic book series or a sports team like the Houston Astros, whose super fans include Pete Van Vleet. He's a father who wonders how to share his passion with his kids. He and his family discussed this at a baseball game in Virginia.

PETE VAN VLEET: We're here at The Diamond, home for the Richmond Flying Squirrels¹. Who are you waving to, Madeline?

MADELINE: The mascots².

VAN VLEET: What are they?

MADELINE: Flying squirrels with clothes on.

VAN VLEET: Madeline is our first child. She is 6, and she right now is my - and has been my baseball buddy³.

MADELINE: I like just being with Daddy sometimes.

VAN VLEET: All right, now that little ball in the dirt.

MADELINE: Why does he throw it in the dirt?

VAN VLEET: I think he's just trying to get him to swing at a bad pitch.

MADELINE: Yeah.

The Tigers are my favorite team because they are my favorite animal.

VAN VLEET: A team a person roots for says a lot about that person themself. When I was growing up, there was no team around us, so it was up to me to pick my own team, and the Astros had the coolest uniforms. They played in the Astrodome, which was just fantastic. And they suffered, and I will tell this quick story. I used to play baseball by myself in the backyard. I would pretend I was the Astros, and the team would lose. Even in my own imagination, the team would lose.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: The score is two to nothing, Houston.

VAN VLEET: This is something I will literally⁴ call up whenever I just need a pick-me-up. Some people go to certain songs. Some people go to cat videos. I go to clips⁵ of my Astros, and this is the first one I go to of those.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Now the hitter is Will Clark.

VAN VLEET: Mike Scott's on the mound⁶, and he no-hits the San Francisco Giants, and that's how we reach the playoffs for the first time in five or six years.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: What a way to do it.

VAN VLEET: That was Neil Armstrong on the moon for me. That was everything.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: National League champions of the West.

VAN VLEET: We are blessed with two children. Jack⁷ is our youngest. Soon after Jack was born, I decided⁸ to write a letter to every team to ask them, why should my son choose you to be a fan? Eighteen major league teams sent us back letters or emails or packages. I'm holding in my hand now the letter we got in response from the Pittsburgh Pirates¹⁰. (Reading) Dear Jack, the pirate⁹ ship has plenty of room on it for a young man from Ashland, Va. We would be honored if you would join our family and help us...

I have read this letter dozens of time, and I still get chills¹¹ reading it. I just want him to pick the team that in his heart is going to - is going to grab¹² his heart, going to capture his imagination and just going to steal him away for life.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) And the home of the brave.

(APPLAUSE)

VAN VLEET: I took Madeline to Baltimore to see the Tigers play, and we went to two games.

MADELINE: I like watching the Tigers play because of Miguel Cabrera. He usually hits home runs. He usually never misses.

VAN VLEET: And the first game was a night game, and around the fifth inning, she just kind of crawled in my lap. And I just kind of - I had to tell myself just remember this now. Remember this feeling and this moment now because five years from now, maybe less, she's not going to do this. And I know that's part of growing up, but at least we'll have that together now.

(APPLAUSE)

VAN VLEET: What I think drives people to fandom, I think there's some escapism to it. Whatever is going on in my life now or Madeline's life, that all kind of lifts off from your shoulder when you enter this cathedral of a ballpark. And for maybe a couple hours on a summer night, your problems aren't as big, your worries aren't as burdensome. You can enjoy life for that little bit.

(SOUNDBITE OF JULIAN LAGE AND CHRIS ELDRIDGE'S "BONE COLLECTOR")

INSKEEP: Houston Astros fan Pete Van Vleet and family.

(SOUNDBITE OF JULIAN LAGE AND CHRIS ELDRIDGE'S "BONE COLLECTOR")

1 squirrels   

n.松鼠( squirrel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Squirrels are arboreal creatures. 松鼠是栖于树上的动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Red squirrels are now very rare in Britain. 红色松鼠在英国已十分罕见了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 mascots   

n.吉祥物( mascot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the mascots was the platypus. 吉祥物一是鸭嘴兽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Information on all things Olympic, including logos, mascots, venues,and bid candidates. 所有事情奥林匹克，包括的标识语，吉祥物，地点，和出价候选人的信息。 来自互联网

3 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

4 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。

5 clips   

n.剪（ clip的名词复数 ）；剪短；剪报；（塑料或金属的） 夹子v.用别针别在某物上，用夹子夹在某物上（ clip的第三人称单数 ）；剪掉；缩短；给…剪毛（或发）

参考例句：

• toe clips on a bicycle 自行车上的踏脚夹套
• Use the crocodile clips to attach the cables to the battery. 用鳄鱼嘴夹把电缆接到蓄电池上。

6 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

7 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

8 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。

9 pirate   

n.海盗，每盗船

参考例句：

• The pirate chief commanded that the prisoners should be shot.海盗头子下令枪毙俘虏。
• The shore batteries fired at the pirate boat.海岸炮兵向海盗船开火。

10 pirates   

n.海盗( pirate的名词复数 )；剽窃者；侵犯版权者；非法播音的人（或组织）

参考例句：

• Children dressed (themselves) up as pirates. 孩子们假扮成海盗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The pirates treated their captives with barbarity. 海盗们残暴地对待他们的俘虏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 chills   

寒冷( chill的名词复数 )； 冷漠； 扫兴； [冶金学]激冷

参考例句：

• These evening damps and chills play Old Harry with one's bronchial tubes. 夜晚的湿气与寒冷对支气管有害。
• The bitter wind chills one to the bone. 寒风彻骨。

12 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。