英文短篇故事（纽约）245 The Knuckleball Pitcher

 　　Sandy wanted to pitch in the major leagues. His college coach said, "You need a new pitch. You need to keep batters² guessing. Learn how to throw a knuckleball." Sandy learned how to throw a killer³ knuckleball. In his senior year, he had 9 wins and 2 losses. The Yankees signed him. Sandy's knuckleball was a thing of beauty. It zigged. It zagged. It went up. It went down. It went right. It went left. It slowed down. It sped up. Batters either swung at it or looked at it. They never hit it. His knuckleball made many batters look silly. One batter¹ swung at a pitch that went behind him. Another batter swung three times at one pitch. The umpire called him out! Sandy retired⁴ after 15 years. In his last game, batters hit his knuckleball eight times. Sandy said, "My knuckleball doesn't dance anymore. I'm not pitching anymore."

1 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。

2 batters   

n.面糊（煎料）( batter的名词复数 )；面糊（用于做糕饼）；（ 棒球） 正在击球的球员；击球员v.连续猛击( batter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pitcher has beaned as many as three batters in this game. 在这？热？投手投球竟打中了三个击手的头。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A storm batters the ship. 一场风暴袭击了这条船。 来自辞典例句

3 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。