Author: AJ

The Second Coming of Billy Hamilton

By Blaidd Drwg

Alexander Hamilton, not to be confused with either of the Billy Hamiltons, Vince Coleman or Rickey Henderson, getting ready to demonstrate his stolen base technique.

In case you don’t know who Billy Hamilton was, he was a speedy outfielder who played from 1888-1901, and depending on whose numbers you go by, stole somewhere between 750 and 900 bases in his career and happens to be a Hall of Famer. Billy Hamilton is also a 21 year old speedy infielder, currently in the Reds minor league system at class A Bakersfield.

Why do I mention this? Well, the current incarnation has plenty in common with his predecessor. (And no, I can’t find any evidence they are related). Last year at Class A Dayton, Billy Hamilton Mark 2 stole 103 bases in 123 attempts in 135 games. This season, Hamilton has stolen 101 bases in 122 attempts in just 80 games. Considering his pace, he can pass the “modern” minor league stolen base mark (since 1962) of 145 set by Vince Coleman (more on him in a minute) back in 1983. Hamilton probably has a great chance of doing this since he is sporting a 413 OBP and a 322 BA and playing in the California League where high altitudes and hot, dry nights cause a little additional offense.

I don’t know if Billy Hamilton will ever have much of a career in the majors, since he doesn’t hit for any power (career 389 SLG in the minors) and is really not a good fielding SS (career 937 fielding percentage) but he might stick around for a few season as a reserve OF/pinch runner type guy (see Otis Nixon) based on his 80% success rate in stealing bases.

Back to Vince Coleman for a minute – I had actually stumbled upon his 145 SB stat a few weeks ago when I was reading the back of his baseball card. Did you know he was only one of three players to have 3 – 100 SB seasons (and the only one to do it 3 consecutive years)? The other ones – Rickey Henderson and none other than the original Billy Hamilton. How’s that for bring this back around full circle?

Leftover Calzone Ingredients? More Pizza!

by A.J. Coltrane

I just liked the way this one looked… It reminded me of the pizza that I loved when I was small.

Baked on a screen.

It’s the leftover calzone ingredients from the other night:  sausage, bacon, sauteed onion, sauteed red pepper, “pizza sauce” with additional oregano and roasted tomato flakes, and mozz.

Up close and personal.

And a bonus picture of the princess.

Calzones On The Grill

by A.J. Coltrane

It’s too hot to turn on the oven, so… Calzones On The Grill!

The dough recipe:  1-1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp instant yeast, and 1-1/2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil. (Essentially the Smitten Kitchen pizza dough recipe, goosing the yeast slightly.) An Allrecipes.com recipe calls for brushing the calzones with melted butter before baking, and that 350F is a good target for the grill temperature.

That all sounds reasonable. And reasonably easy. So here’s my first attempt at grilled calzones, or any calzones, really — I think it’s remarkable that it’s taken me this long to fold pizza in half before baking.

The dough was given a bulk rise for almost two hours, then divided in half. Each half was rolled into balls and allowed to rest for about 20 minutes. During that time I browned off some mild italian sausage, then cooked the rawness out of a diced red pepper and some yellow onion in the sausage fat.

The dough balls were rolled out and topped with a streak of red sauce and some grated mozz. The sausage, red pepper, onion, and some crumbled leftover pepper bacon were added, then topped with more sauce and mozz.

The packages were folded over and crimped, brushed with melted butter, and slit with a knife.

I turned on the left of the three grill burners and carefully placed the calzones over direct heat for a few minutes, then moved the packages to the far right of the grill — far away from the direct heat.

All that was left at that point was to cook the calzones for about 30-35 minutes. Naturally this involved drinking a beverage while periodically checking to make sure the thermometer said something like 350F.

The interior. (The last two photos were taken in direct sunlight. I rolled out a bit of a roll of paper towels and filtered the sunlight through the white towels. A paper towel improvised light diffuser! *I* thought it was pretty clever.)

In retrospect, I might have added a little sugar or honey to the dough to promote more browning. I didn’t do that because I was concerned about the end result being too brown. It worked out ok though — I may have to figure out more stuff to grill.

——–

Late edit:  CSE’s 500th published post! Woof!

A Simple Spice Rub

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I like spice rubs, but I tend not to buy ones in the store since they are mostly salt and very expensive and you can actually make the same thing at home for a fraction of the price. I have a default spice rub that I use for chicken, fish or pork when I am not really sure what I am in the mood for. It is quick and easy to make a spice rub with the spices you have on hand and they will keep in an airtight container for 6 months (which is as long as you should be keeping spices around anyway), but I usually just make them on the fly since they take less than a minute to put together. For this recipe, I will give the ratios in parts and you can use whatever measuring device you want.

The Software
2 parts smoked paprika
2 parts powdered garlic
2 parts cumin
2 parts dried oregano
1 part ground adobe
1 part ground black pepper
1 part salt

The Recipe
Take all of the ingredients and add them to a container with a lid. Close the lid tight and shake until well combined. Spread on your protein or veggies of choice. Cook and you are done.

Notes
If the rub is not salty enough for you, add more salt. It is easier to add more than it is to remove it after you have put everything together. The ratios are really just suggestions, add and subtract whatever you would like and feel free to substitute sweet paprika for smoked and to take anything out. This recipe was developed with what I had on hand, you can pretty much make your own by combining spices and herbs and trying them out.

Ray Allen Joins The Heat

by A.J. Coltrane

On Friday Ray Allen signed a 3 year, $9 million dollar contract with the Heat, turning down the Celtics’ offer of two years and $12 million.

It’s a perfect fit for Allen, and it’s exactly what the Heat need to repeat as champions. Allen will likely play 25-30 minutes a game, hang out in the corner, and bomb 3’s. The linked article also indicates that the Heat are pursuing Rashard Lewis, who would function as “Mike Miller is hurt” insurance.. and I’d expect Lewis’ play will improve when he’s healthy and motivated.

That would make for some interesting lineups for the Heat when they “play small” — LeBron, Wade, Allen, Bosh, and Battier/Lewis/Chalmers depending upon the matchups. In the modern NBA the center position isn’t as important as it once was, and the Heat are partly responsible for continuing the marginalization of the lumbering guys.

It’s good for Ray, good for the Heat, and bad for competitive balance in the NBA.

All of which I’m fine with.

Is the End Near for Methusela?

By Blaidd Drwg

The ‘real’ Methuselah rookie card. I am not sure he was old enough to drive when that picture was taken. Heck, I am not sure they had cars when that picture was taken.

I think it is time for Jamie Moyer to hang it up. He has had an interesting career and a strange ride this season:

  • Signed minor league contract with the Rockies in the off-season with an invite to spring training.
  • Makes the Rockies opening day roster.
  • Pitches poorly (like anyone is surprised that this happened) with the Rockies and is released.
  • Signed by the Orioles and assigned to AAA.
  • Pitches pretty well but the Orioles are not planning on calling him up, so he is released.
  • Signed by the Blue Jays and assigned to AAA.
  • Pitches poorly in AAA and is released by the Jays.

The Rockies have been so bad that their starters have an ERA somewhere around 7 this season, so that gives you an idea how bad Moyer was in Colorado. That is not really a surprise – a guy who tends to give up a ton of fly balls pitching in the best hitters park in the league, well, you get the idea.

I will admit, the Orioles release was a bit of a surprise – Moyer pitched well at AAA Norfolk, but the Orioles wanted to go in a different direction, so they released him. The funny thing is, the Orioles have actually demoted 3 of their starting pitchers since Moyer was released.

The Blue Jays experiment was also no surprise – Moyer pitching in the PCL, at altitude, in a small ballpark; that is Colorado part 2.

I haven’t seen any indication that Moyer is ready to give it up. I bet he is just waiting for someone to need an arm and give him a call. I honestly think he is done, but teams might get desperate

What I really would like to see when Moyer is ready to hang it up, is to sign with the Mariners. Not just a symbolic deal – I want to see him sign a deal where he starts one final game at Safeco Field, has an agreement with the opposing team to throw one pitch for a strike where the batter won’t swing and then pull him out of the game and have him walk off the mound to a standing ovation from a sold out crowd.

I think that would be a fitting career end for a pitcher that had one of the most improbable careers I have ever seen.

Extreme Lengths for Extreme Beer

What the bottle actually look like…You can keep your Pliny the Younger (and Elder), and a Dogfish Head (120 Minute IPA)’s absurd, me I want to go down in a BrewDog drunken stupor…oh hell, you try coming up with something that even remotely works in the place of “Silver Thunderbird”.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Soon I will be preparing to Sink the Bismarck with a Tactical Nuclear Penguin (that sounds like a great T-shirt). I present to you, the world’s most expensive 6 pack – 4 bottles of Tactical Nuclear Penguin, 2 bottles of Sink the Bismarck, shipped from BrewDog in Scotland. These are generally not available in North America due to the way they are produced, but I guess that you can ship them – just be warned, shipping on this package was about $65 US, which is roughly what this beer cost a bottle. Soon there will be a tasting and if you are very lucky, I might invite you to partake. <Insert evil laugh here>

BTW – you are reading correctly. Those beers are 32 and 41 % ABV respectively.

The bounty, wrapped in classy brown paper and with the lovely art depicting which ones are the Tactical Nuclear Penguin. I wish they had done some art on the Bismarck also.

Welcome Back, Carlos Peguero

By Blaidd Drwg

The Mariners are starting to play musical chairs with their roster. The inconsistent Hector Noesi has bought himself a Sounder ticket to Tacoma and is being replaced in the rotation by Hisashi Iwakuma. I don’t particularly like Iwakuma, but with the All Star break looming, you don’t need to worry about your #5 starter for a couple of weeks.

Carlos Peguero is being recalled to replace Noesi. While I thought they needed to call up another OF when Guti went on the DL, they called up a pitcher, then Saunders came down with the flu, meaning we got to see Chone Figgins start for 5 games. Peguero has all of the makings of a 4A player – he has been killing the ball in the minors (this season to the tune of 18 HR is 49 games with a 1002 OPS) but he has huge holes in his swing and doesn’t have any plate discipline. This year he has 18 unintentional walks in 212 plate appearances, which would be pretty average in the majors (about 50 walks in 600 PA) but considering that number would deflate about 25% in the majors, you are talking about a guy who would probably draw about 35 walks over the course of the season. Look, strikeouts are not inherently bad – Adam Dun has struck out in nearly 50% of his AB this season and is batting 220, but he also is second in the AL in HR and has an OBP of 370, which is pretty darn good.

Peguero looked lost in his callup to the Mariners last season and I don’t see any reason to think he will have all of a sudden figured out how to hit MLB pitching in the meantime.

While you hope that his callup would inject some pop into the Mariners lineup, where exactly is he going to play? Peguero is a LF/DH type and a left handed bat. The Mariners roster seems to be riddled with those right now. Here are a few ways I see this playing out, in the order I see as most likely (I also make the assumption that Guti is on the DL for longer than expected – until at least after the AS break):

  • Peguero is mostly used as a PH and gets the occasional start and is back in Tacoma by July 20th.
  • Peguero takes most of the AB that are going to Montero at DH and Montero finds himself in Tacoma (this is what Geoff Baker thinks will happen) or on the DL.
  • Peguero is in a platoon with Casper Wells in left. I would assume that you would want Wells, one of 2 guys who have an OBP above 325 on the roster, in the lineup regularly, so he becomes your full time DH.

I also wonder if sending Montero down will mean that we could be seeing Danny Hultzen making his MLB debut sometime this month.

Modern Warfare 3, The Stealth Builds And Prestige Guide

by A.J. Coltrane

The tables below show the builds I’m using for Modern Warfare 3, Domination Mode. I did this post when I was new to the game. Now I’m on my 7th Prestige. The new information is really different from the old stuff.

The idea is (still) to skulk around corners and shadows, and to ambush as many unsuspecting players as possible. This isn’t about having “fair fights”. It’s about shooting them when they’re not looking, if possible. The builds feature Blind Eye and Assassin, to be invisible to enemy air support and invisible on the mini map. I always use a Silencer when available for maximum sneakiness. (Plus, when I whiff it takes them longer to figure out where I’m shooting from.)

For assault rifles I would suggest the SCAR at level 6, then the G36C and the ACR at higher levels. The G36C has a little more punch, the ACR has more accuracy.

The MP-7 is the best submachine gun in my opinion, though it’s not available until level 74. Otherwise I would use the P90 or PP90 (grease gun). I generally prefer accuracy, so I use the P90 at lower levels.

Level Perk 1 Perk 2 Perk 3
4 to 9 Sleight of Hand Blast Shield Stalker
10 to 19 Blind Eye Blast Shield Stalker
20 to 26 Blind Eye Hardline Stalker
27+ first capture Blind Eye Hardline Stalker
27+ remainder Blind Eye Assassin Stalker

I use the Grenadier class until level 4, when the custom builds become available. I settled on Stalker because it allows me to scope and strafe around corners at nearly full speed. The player that is crouched and scoped when the shooting starts has a big advantage.

Level Strike Perk 1 Strike Perk 2 Strike Perk 3
4 to 19 (Support) UAV Counter UAV (none)
       
20 to 26 (Specialist) Quickdraw Sleight of Hand Blast Shield
27-38 first capture Assassin Quickdraw Sleight of Hand
27-38 remainder Quickdraw Sleight of Hand Blast Shield
39+ first capture Assassin Scavenger Quickdraw
39+ remainder Scavenger Quickdraw Sleight of Hand

During the first flag capture I use Hardline to get to Assassin, that way the Assassin kicks in after that first capture, and I basically get double the capture xp too. *After* that first capture Assassin is used to stay off of the minimap.

I use Bouncing Betty and Portable Radar for the Lethal and Tactical Slots. If you can tolerate the SCAR, I would take the Radar with the first Prestige, the Betty with the second Prestige, the ACR with the 3rd, then take the bonus custom build slots for the next five Prestiges. Personally though, I would take the ACR first, then Radar, then Betty. I hate getting outgunned.