我们设法没让慧星队在第九局的前半局占到优势。轮到我们上场击球时，两队平局。当马特经过我们队的替补队员席走向投球区的时候，他对拉里吼叫道:“你干吗不回去跟你的白雪公主呆在一起?”
I heard him and jumped up, ready to give Matt a punch, when Larry stepped between us. “Cut it out!” he yelled, pushing me away from Matt. “I can fight for myself.”
我听到他说这话，就跳了起来，准备给他一拳。这时，拉里走到我们中间。“别这样!”他嚷嚷说，把我从马特身边推开。“我能为我自己干架。”
Matt looked as if he was going to clobber Larry, but my friend held out his hand and said, “Let's play baseball, okay? I know you want your team to win and it must be tough to pitch to a shrimp like me.”
马特看上去像是要狠揍拉里一顿，可我的朋友伸出一只手说道：“咱们赛棒球，行吗?我知道你想要你们队赢，想必投球给我这样的一只小虾米够难的。”
“Chicken, you mean. You won't even swing at the ball!” Then he stamped off to the mound as Larry slowly dropped his outstretched hand.
“你的意思是说你是个孬种。你连挥棒击球的机会都没有!”马特说完就大步走向投球区，拉里慢慢放下了伸出的手。
We had two outs when it was Larry's turn at bat. The bases weren't loaded, but the coach told Larry to wait for a walk, as usual. Larry held his ground for three balls. One more and he would walk to first.
轮到拉里上场击球时，我们已经有两人出局。垒上没有人，教练告诉拉里像往常一样等着被保送上垒。拉里坚持等了三个坏球，对方再投出一个坏球他就能走上一垒了。
Then, for some reason — maybe because Matt had called him “chicken” — Larry reached out for the next pitch. It wasn't anywhere near his strike zone, but he swung the bat up and around. He connected. We heard a loud crack and saw the ball sail over the outfields. They had to chase after it, and Larry's legs started churning. Like locomotive wheels, they went faster and faster, rounding second and third and heading for home. The Comets finally retrieved the ball and passed it to the catcher. Larry slid safely under him as he caught it.
后来，出于某种原因——或许因为马特管他叫“孬种”——拉里举棒准备击打下一个投球。来球根本不在好球部位，可他却举棒击打。他的击球又准又狠。我们听到响亮的“啪”的一声，看见球从外场上方飞过。对方不得不去追球，而拉里的腿开始启动，就好似火车头轮子，越跑越快，踏了二垒和三垒，径直向本垒奔去。慧星队终于捡到球，把它扔给接球手。接球手接到球时，拉里已经在他身下安全滑垒了。 We had our winning run, the game was over, and we were the champ. After we were presented with our winner's trophy, we gave it to Larry and took turns putting him on our shoulders and marching around the field.
这局我们赢了，比赛就此结束，我们是冠军。被授予冠军奖杯后，我们把它给了拉里，并且轮流把他架在肩膀上绕场一周。
I was carrying him when we passed Matt. “Put me down for a minute,” Larry said. He walked over to Matt with his hand extended again for the handshake Matt had refused earlier.
经过马特时，我正架着他。他说：“把我放下一会儿。”他走向马特，再次伸出早些时候马特曾拒绝去握的手。
“It was a good game,” Larry said, “and you came closer to win it…”
“比赛很精彩，”拉里说道，“你们几乎胜出了……”
Matt looked at Larry for what seemed like a long time, but finally Matt took Larry's hand and shook it.
马特看着拉里，似乎看了很长一段时间，不过最后他还是握了拉里的手。
“You may be a shrimp, ” he said, “but you're no chicken. You deserved to win.”
“你可能是个小虾米，”马特说，“可你决不是孬种。你们该赢。”
Then Larry and I ran back to the rest of our team. We were all going to the pizza place for victory celebration. I sure was proud to have Larry as a friend. Like I said, he's really big at heart.
随后我和拉里跑回到队里。我们全队去了比萨饼店庆祝胜利。我的确为有拉里这样的朋友感到骄傲。正像我说的，他确实心胸开阔。