1. Which of the following players leads the PLO with 15 homers:
- A) Andres Gallaraga
- B) Bernie Williams
- C) Quilvio Veras
- D) Ray Durham
2. Which of the following owners paged me three times at 8:00 on a Saturday morning to make a trade to "make both our ballclubs better?"
3. The low light of the PLO Season to date has been:
- A) Steve Swinea
- B) Steve Swinea
- C) Steve Swinea
- D All of the above
- A) Tony Gwynn’s second homer of the game with 2 outs in the 9th, resulting in a PLO loss.
- B) Doug Quantril’s stellar stats (1-5, 6.02, 5 blown saves).
- C) Beating Keith in a series and having him out swear me! I have Irish witnesses.
- D) Getting beat by an unknown Dreamer with a 2 out 9th winning homer and not knowing it for 2 hours because I had to wait for the damn screen to change on that great Internet system of ours. (Hint: I’m still pissed off about that one)
4. The following starters have respective stats of: 5-7, 5.61 and 2-8, 6.93.
- A) Gary Gaeti and Larry Biittner
- B) Brian Moeller and Gil Heredia
- C) Denny Neagle and Francisco Cordova
- D) My first two picks of the draft, Pedro Martinez and Kenny Rogers.
5. The "Jay Bell Factor" is a phrase coined for the following:
- A) The final piece of the puzzle in the trade with Swinea.
- B) Errors, Errors, Errors.
- C) A new "Mendoza Line"
- D) 12 homers, timely hitting, and my biggest joy in Summer League to this point.
6. Other than the Jay Bell factor, the highlight of the season thus far has been:
- A) Having Joe talk trash to me during a "Schlitz".
- B) Conversing with Graham long-distance while getting losing 2.
- C) Stumbling away from the club after taking a serious beating.
- D) Almost having the window closed in the office due to loud swearing with club members present. (Chris, I’d like to apologize for that one again).
7. The following song best describes my team after 65 games:
- A) "Still the Same" - Bob Seger
- B) "One Step Up and Two Steps Back" - Bruce Springsteen
- C) "Jesse’s Girl" - Rick Springfield (NOTE: Insert "Keith Klein’s Team" for "Jesse’s Girl" when singing.
- D) "Blinded by the Light" - Manfred Mann
This completes the quiz.
The answers to all the above questions are "D", which by no coincidence is the grade that I have given myself in drafting and managing to this point. However all is not lost. In the midst of this sophomore slump, I still have to acknowledge that I am having a great time competing, and look forward to continuing. I simply refuse to support Chris’s argument that I was "unprepared and disinterested" in the league, and that this would come back to hurt me.
I am puzzled by the performance of my team. I prioritized pitching in my draft, and it is my hitting that is winning ball games for me. Case in point, My Ace, Pedro did win a game in which he pitched 8 2/3 and gave up 13 earned runs to notch the victory. An 11 run PLO inning afforded me the luxury of keeping him in the game. Guys like Paul O’Neill, Jay Bell and Jason Kendall have 11 to 12 homers. Ray Durham is on pace to hit 37 homers, and if all predictions of him not reaching this mark are true, hopefully my pitching starting pitching staff will make a recovery of sorts. If not, I should just draft Trachsel next year.
I didn’t make any trades for two reason. First, no one other than Steve approached me, and I didn’t think I was getting fair market value. Secondly, I still like my team. I can steal bases. I can hit for power. My pitching will come around. I also think that this has been a good learning experience. After all, I have only allowed one or two guys to steal home this year.
After 65 games I feel like my team is starting to come together.
I will catch Ken Klein, and then make a run at Greg. Long Live the PLO.