The semester is upon us — time for a little quiz

In the long years since one of us last won an EFL championship, Ryan and I have consoled ourselves with membership in Learned League, a spiffy trivia contest which runs 5-week seasons about 5 times a year.  At first I scored better than Ryan, but he’s clearly — and I mean CLEARLY — reversed that pattern in the last couple of years.  I’ve been doing about the same, but he’s gotten better — he’s now competing in Rundle C, which is higher than my Rundle D. It only goes down to Rundle E, to give you a feeling for where we stand among these largely hard-core trivia lovers. 

Jamie has asked me to guest-author today’s EFL update so you don’t have to wait until late this afternoon to see it, since today is the first day on contract for many GF employees.  I am not a GF employee these days — just a part-time independent contractor — so I don’t have to go to the community meeting that kicks off the year. This leaves me free to do homage to hard-working GF employees like Phil, Jamie, and Rob, (and my long-suffering wife Melanie, without whose longsufferingness this league would not exist) and to presumably less-hard-working ex-GF employees like Dave, Tom, and (new this year) Mark W and John.  AND to Learned League, by making this update into a trivia quiz.

I suspect part of Jamie’s motive for asking me to guest-host was to escape having to try to follow the latest Cheese Lament — if you haven’t read it yet, get on the stick!   I will try to deal with that by doing the first EFL Update Quiz.  Probably you’d have to be a college professor to imagine this might work. 

Let’s do a practice question, just to warm you up:

1. Yesterday I learned that Buster Posey’s given name is the same as which of my relatives?
   1. My grandfather Sheldon.
   2. My other grandfather Everett.
   3. My uncle Herbert.
   4. My other uncle Gerald.
   5. My other uncle Victor.

Ok, just one more practice question: 

1.  Ryan is _________ that we didn’t give him one of these family names.
   1. mystified
   2. ecstatic
   3. resentful
   4. incredulous
   5. unaware

Ok, I think we’re ready, as long as we are resigned to almost every question being #1, thanks to the wonders of Word Press. Answers will be found at the very end of this post, after the extended standings. 

1. What was MLB’s Seattle website explanation for why Gilbert struggled?
   1. It was his birthday. 
   2. He had trouble getting the feel for his off-speed pitches.
   3. He was distracted by the Canadians cheering for the Blue Jays in the Mariners’ home park.
   4. He was jealous of Tyler Gilbert’s no-hitter.
   5. He’s another Mariner prospect washout. 

1. Which  EFL team lost the most ground in the standings to the Wolverines? __________________
2. How do the Wolverines feel about this?
   
   1. mystified
   2. ecstatic
   3. resentful
   4. incredulous
   5. unaware

1. Who had the best game score, according to Baseball Reference?  
   1. Triston McKenzie for his one-hitter on Sunday.
   2. Tyler Gilbert for his no-hitter on Saturday. 

1.  As you might expect, Juan Soto is leading the Pears in fWAR at 3.9 so far this season.  Who is in second place on the team?
   1. Ozzie Albies
   2. Mitch Haniger
   3. Trevor Rogers
   4. Freddy Peralta
   5. Mike Zunino

1. According to the latest Cheese Lament, how is Cottage happy to be like Kaline?  ___________________

1. Which Dragon got his first and last names when his parents spilled the Scrabble tiles onto the floor?

1. Which of the following was either left out of the lament, or rebutted its assertions, during yesterday’s game? Mark all that apply, if any.
   1. Trea Turner, rebuking his complete omission by going .750, .833, .800 with a stolen base.
   2. Jeff McNeil, by walking once in 5 trips to the plate.
   3. Brandon Nimmo, by walking twice and singling. 
   4. Alec Bohm, by getting an even higher OPS than Trea Turner 
   5. Adolis Garcia, by hitting the team’s only home run.
   6. Steven Matz: 5 innings without an earned run.

1. How many EFL championships have the Allegheny’s won, out of the league’s 18 seasons?  _____

1. Which Kangaroo reliever pitched that one precious-but-insufficient inning? 
2. 1.  Emmanuel Clase
   2. James Karinchak
   3. Any other reliever
   4. Come on, do they even have any other relievers? 

1.  Which of these nations has not been represented in MLB by a player’s last name? (Hint: there is only one right answer, according to Baseball Reference)
   1. Brazil
   2. Canada
   3. England
   4. France
   5. Holland
   6. India
   7. Israel
   8. Ireland
   9. Jordan
   10. Poland
   11. Portugal

1. The Commissioner likes to moan about ex-Wolverines blossoming on the Rosebud roster.  But, really, how many ex-Wolverines are actually on the Rosebud roster? 
   1. 2 — the Commissioner likes to make mountains out of molehills.
   2. 4 — the Commissioner likes to make mountains out of somewhat larger molehills.
   3. 6 — the Commissioner likes to make mountains out of his trading mistakes.
   4. 8 — the Commissioner tends to nurse some of his grievances and remorses.
   5. 10 — the Commissioner is a man of remarkable restraint (and a total dupe when it comes to trading with the wily Rosebuds).