SAT Verbal

by royalsreview on May 14, 2008 2:54 AM EDT Comment 27 comments

Section One: Analogies

Royals:Tigers::

A. Orioles:Royals

B. Balls:Strikes

C. War of 1812:Hundred Years War

D. Buster Olney: Bill James

Section Two: Antonyms

Zack Greinke:

A. Neutral

B. Below Replacement-Level

C. The Worst Starter in the A.L.

D. A Pitcher

Section Three: Sentence Completion

Forget 2010, if not for a ------ lineup, Dayton Moore's Royals could be contending for a playoff spot now.

A. Hacktastic

B. Overburdened

C. Inconsistent

D.Rambunctious

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Is this a timed test?

1) A
2) B
3) A

Can I get into Duke?

by stuckinstl12 on May 14, 2008 3:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

i thought

1) A
2) C – (depends on your opinion of Cliff Lee)
3) A

On the subject of hacktasticity—the Royals are fielding easily the worst hitting team in the majors. Last in walks, last in runs scored, last in homeruns. 3rd to last in OBP, and 4th to last in SLG?

Do we blame aggressive hitting? Do we blame lack of talent? Is there too much emphasis on hitting GB? Too much small ball?

I don’t know how little or how much we can blame Hillman for these things. As manager, you can’t tell Tony Pena to hit more homeruns, and he’ll be able to somehow magically do it. You can’t tell Butler to run faster, and he’ll turn into Carl Lewis.

But you can tell DeJesus to stay closer to first base. You can tell John Buck to not try to steal. As a team, we’ve already been caught stealing 14 times out of 33 attempts. If you take Gathright out of the equation, and we’ve been successful only 9 out of 21 attempts, or 42% of the time—no player on the team, other than Gathright, has a success rate over 50%.

We’ve got so many problems, this maybe should be the last thing we look at. But it seems to be, other than preaching patience at the plate, the one area that Trey can have a direct effect on the team. There have been so far at least two games we probably could have won had we not had some guy thrown out leaning or trying to steal. That doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but with those wins, we would only be a game out of first place right now.

And it’s precisely because the rest of our offense is so inept that we can’t afford to give up any baserunners. If we were a team like the Red Sox with a high OBP, we’d have the luxury to try to steal more often, because if Player X gets thrown out, odds are Player Y will get on. Here, if Mark Teahen is gunned down trying to steal, it effectively ends the inning, even if there’s still two outs left.

This space intentionally left blank.

by marbotty on May 14, 2008 4:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

so many problems, so few solutions

the good news is Jose is starting to hit

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on May 14, 2008 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ahhh,

Yes, he gave the gift of Mendoza to his mama for Mothers Day.

Let's Go Blues!

by powderbluesfor08 on May 14, 2008 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

SAT Verbal

When I saw this post title in my RSS feed, I immediately thought to myself, “Well, they must have had a big old grammar-Nazi discussion about RR’s improper use of ‘mute’ instead of ‘moot’ yesterday.”

But I guess not.

Oh well, going on my way…

by wentToARoyalsGameBeforeRR on May 14, 2008 10:23 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A, C, A

Though by the way, old man, analogies were removed from SATs a while back. :P

A mind without purpose will walk in dark places.

by NHZ on May 14, 2008 11:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't know either

I never took the SAT. ACT all the way, baby!

Boyfriend of the Year 2008: It's gonna be big!

by loyal2theroyals on May 14, 2008 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

SAT???? Saturday...

I wouldn’t know about the SAT’s because I took the ACT’s so long ago we were using stone tablets.

But… I will go C,A,C. These are nonbiased, nonstatistical evaluations of a grandfather sitting on his deck in the wonderful sunshine eating a banana.

Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call. "

by grudz96 on May 14, 2008 12:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We Could Use

Some of that sunshine up here; we’re dealing with the remains of a “super-typhoon” right now. I never had no fancy book-larnin’; up here ACT is the”Alliance Of Concerned Taxpayers”.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on May 14, 2008 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

A, C, A

Although if we’re going by VORP, the question for (2) should be Cliff Lee, as Marbotty noted. If we look more closely at certain peripherals and empahsize this season, one Shaun Marcum comes to mind, as his VORP is only .1 lower than Spaceman Zack. His K rate is almost as good (and has been throughout the minors), and his HR rate is significantly lower. Greinke has a better ERA and ERA+, but we all know what a great metric ERA is. Having said all that as a tweak (and it would be curious to see what the Jays have paid out to Marcum—not much, and he was a late draft pick, that’s the way it goes with player development, though), ya gotta give Greinke his due.

As for the offense, it is hacktastic, but rose, punchless. And at this point, that mostly isn’t going to change. Gordon’s Ks are frustrating, but he’s still developing, and his contact and walk rates show a decent approach at the plate. Butler’s for contact and BB% are close to that of .300 hitter, but has no power. One can only hope this is due to his young age, and that the hitting coaches aren’t telling him that ground balls are OK.

As for he other players, well, Guillen is who we thought he was - a streaky guy who doesn’t like standing around at the plate “waiting for his pitch” and silly crap like that. He’s warming up, and he’ll have hot streaks where the offense looks a lot better, then he’ll slump and stuff. He’ll end up with decent numbers, probably. Not $12 million worth, but whatever. So that makes it worse. DeJesus is fairly hot at the moment, but he’s a .360 OBP guy who doesn’t do much else other than OPS .780.800. Hey, not bad for a CF, but can’t carry an offense. Teahen hits like DeJesus, with a lower average and a few more walks. Again, even when he’s “hot” that can’t carry an offense.

Everyone else is a variation on “below average,” except for TPJ. But that’s enough about that. And that’s how an offense sucks—young potential stars struggling, streaky, hacktastic veteran sluggers, and a bunch of middle of the pack guys.

Hope is not a strategy. And neither is playing Tony Pena every day. (Rany Jazayerli)

by devil_fingers on May 14, 2008 12:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't lump Grudz into

the “hacktastic veterans” catagory.

I don’t feel like he has ever gotten enough appreciation. This guy shows up to play every night, and hits consistently for a good average, and is excellent defensively. No one expected him to play this well still at his age.

Let's Go Blues!

by powderbluesfor08 on May 14, 2008 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not saying he sucks

or that he isn’t adequate on defense and an average-hitting second baseman who brings a heapin’ helpin’ of veteran grittiness to the table. But when he’s one of the better hitters for a strech, then your offense is rightly called “hacktastic.”

Hope is not a strategy. And neither is playing Tony Pena every day. (Rany Jazayerli)

by devil_fingers on May 14, 2008 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think Greinke has faced tougher competition than Lee

by royalsreview on May 14, 2008 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can't believe I'm saying this

but what about Marcum? And, no, I’m not just trying to drive up his value because he’s on my fantasy team. I just find it curious that this doesn’t come up much. Many people are rightly noting that the Jays may be the best starting rotation in the AL, but somehow Marcum gets overlooked despite the fact that he’s pitching better than any of them at the moment. And his K rate is not a fluke. Yeah, he’s gotten lucky with his BABIP, but any starter pitching on this level is (Lee for sure, even Zack).

I’m not really making the case that I’d rather have Marcum than Greinke. He’s older, for one thing. He also doesn’t throw as hard. But if we’re going to give Zack credit for this hot streak that shows his potential (and this is a Royals blog, of course), I just think more people should notice Marcum, who’s hard 11 more Ks than Zack in only .7 more innings. Zack had an 8 and 9 K game. Around the same time, Marcum had two 9 K games in a row, and has also had two other 8 K games. That’s impressive. Although, having spent all this time typing this out, I’m not sure why anyone should care. Sorry.

Hope is not a strategy. And neither is playing Tony Pena every day. (Rany Jazayerli)

by devil_fingers on May 14, 2008 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Personally, I think Grienke is better than Cliff and Excelsior Springs' own Marcum.

But I’m biased. Surely the SAT graders wouldn’t consider an arguable claim the most accurrate?

by stuckinstl12 on May 14, 2008 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So do I, really

Especially Lee. Just going off this years stats and metrics. I do think Marcum could be good for a while, although he doesn’ throw that hard. I saw a game where he struck out 9 in less than 7 innings… and didn’t throw over 88-89 the whole time,according to the guns.

Here’s an analogy:

Greinke:Social Anxiety Disorder::Marcum:wears a freaking retainer during games

Hope is not a strategy. And neither is playing Tony Pena every day. (Rany Jazayerli)

by devil_fingers on May 14, 2008 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

A retainer?

My girlfriend wore a retainer…in middle school!

/terrible joke

by stuckinstl12 on May 14, 2008 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Luckily, I test well

1. A
2. C
3. A

Greinke just needs to overtake Cliff Lee to start the ASG in Yankees stadium! Lets start the campaign now!

by raefzilla on May 14, 2008 12:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

1600 here I come!

A
C
A

I’m ready for the Math portion

I really don't know what to say... Did the post above this signature make sense? Probably not.

by RoyalsFanInMarinerTown on May 14, 2008 1:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

How many licks does it take,

to get to the center of a tootsie-roll pop?

Please solve, using the quadratic equation.

Let's Go Blues!

by powderbluesfor08 on May 14, 2008 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

where is the reading comp section?

I wanna know what love is, I want you to show me

by LeoBloom on May 14, 2008 1:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Here:

You are driving a bus. 10 people get on at the first stop. 2 people get off at the next. 6 people get on, 3 people get off. 2 more people get off at the next stop, but 2 dozen get on. Half a score get on at the next stop, but a dwarf gets off. 3 people get on downtown, but 9 get off. Seventeen get on at the school, but 8 get off. One person who looks like Gary Busey gets on, but three Mel Gibson clones leave (yelling about religious groups on the way). Denis Leary gets on, but Bill Murray leaves. Three space aliens get on, one space alien disintegrates.

Q: What color are the bus driver’s eyes?

A mind without purpose will walk in dark places.

by NHZ on May 14, 2008 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs