Lodge Cast Iron

I know this might not be everyone's interest,but it's a slow day before I prepare for a road trip,so today's post is going to a light and short one.

I like cooking in cast iron and I think the cast iron pan is the most versatile one that I know of.
You can fry,deep fry (in a large dutch oven),grill (with a cast iron pan with raised ridges for the grill marks),bake etc.
I cannot think of a kitchen task that heats food in some way that cast iron cookware cannot perform and perform well.
Stick on it on a stove top,set on a grill or in the oven and cast iron takes care of business.
Cast iron retains heat so much better than standard cookware and things just plain taste better too!
Our chili never tastes as good as it does when we whip it up on our dutch oven!
I also am a huge fan of sausages and hot dogs in cast iron,it adds such crispness to the casings and the snap that you expect from a good hot dog and don't get me started on bacon and eggs!

You can also find about  any type of cookware shape and size too.
From skillets to hibachi grills to baking pans,cast iron just adds that zip to whatever is cooked in it!
And the additional value to cast iron?
It is almost indestructible!
As long as you care for it and don't allow it to get rusty,it's the type of cookware that you can easily pass down to your children and grandchildren!
Plus,even if it does get rusty,a few easy maneuvers and you can bring what seems to be a dead pan back to life for future uses!

Lodge is the name brand in the field and with the exception of the first pan that I ever bought,I wouldn't go elsewhere.
I couldn't bear to toss the first pan that we bought,but the Lodge items are so superior that I rarely use it.
Cherie will be getting another piece sometime for her Lodge collection (SHH,don't tell her) and I have a few ideas.
She liked the original so much that when Corey and I were in Tennessee,I saw the Lodge factory outlet and I had to buy her a set of pans!
In hindsight,had I known more then,I could have spent even more on Lodge pans.
If I am ever able to return to Tennessee for another Smokies game,I can almost promise that I'll be there buying more Lodge!
I even bought Ryan a set of Lodge pans for Christmas one year and although I don't know how much he uses them now,they will be ready when he needs them and I plan on buying Rachel a set sometime for her eventual departure (sniffle).

Lodge cookware not only does a great job in its job,it also adds a little nostalgia to time in the kitchen.
My grandparents used cast iron a lot and I'm sure it traces far further than that,but I can still smell and hear the aromas and the pop sailing through the air during times there.
I highly recommend giving cast iron cooking a try,I think you'll not only like the food cooked in it,but I bet you spend more than a few seconds imagining cooking from times gone by.....

Cleaning out the inbox

We start the cleaning of the inbox with an article on Andrew Wiggins on the reality of being in the pro game from Fox Sports.
I've been desperately hoping against hope that that the Cavaliers will be able to hold onto Wiggins in the prospective Kevin Love trade because I love his game.
I still believe that the Cavaliers would have been better served waiting a little while to gain Kevin Love and I also still believe that the asking price would have dropped over time.
I understand the lust for a title for Cleveland fans-I have it just as bad,I think that holding onto Andrew Wiggins would have made things more sustainable long-term....

The Oklahoma City Thunder are trying an unusual end around the NBA rules with an attempt to "draft and stash" Stanford forward Josh Husetis in the D-League.
The catch is that Huestis has to refuse his NBA mandated rookie slot contract of over a million dollars to take far less to play in the D-League.
As in 25,000 dollars to play the season there.
The Thunder gambles that Huestis doesn't sign it and takes him at his word that he doesn't,Huestis gambles that he can develop his game there and make up those earnings later with a more improved game.
It'll be interesting to see how this works out...

I rarely link to Herald-Mail articles,but this one that discusses why the Hagerstown Suns are drawing so poorly is worth a look.
The article talks to fans,although the author didn't do a good job of talking to fans that are regulars,about their thoughts on why the Suns attendance is lousy.
There are plenty of excuses by various people quoted in the article,but two things that are only lightly touched and yet loom as the two largest reasons for this problem-the decrepit state of the stadium and that fact that the Suns have been so transparent about heading out of town.
Pretty tough to hook fans when you have stated you don't really want to be around....

Grantland writes about the seemingly revived Tim Lincecum and makes a case that the Giant pitcher has had various issues that accumulated into the decline and perhaps the return.
Very interesting if you like more than the everyday statistics and even more so if you like Lincecum and the Giants....

Hardball Times reviews a new book about the AA Southern League that covers the time period of 1965 to the present and looks like a good read.\
It appears to be a book long on characters known and less known and I'm considering getting it sometime in the future.
Former Indian rookie of the year Joe Charboneau is pictured on the cover from his year with the Chattanooga Lookouts in a tuxedo while sipping champagne at a table placed on the field.

We wrap up with a link to the Moon.
More specifically what the landing spots of the Apollo missions look like today from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
What they look like is just about like things looked when the Apollo astronauts left after their mission.
As the article states,erosion is an extremely gradual process on the moon and those footprints would still be visible if you arrived there today...

Consider things cleaned out for a while-Back for more next time!

Indians ship Asdrubal Cabrera to Washington

With 20 minutes to go before the trade deadline,the Cleveland Indians have moved shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to the Washington Nationals in return for infielder Zach Walters.

The Indians had been trying to trade Cabrera,who is a free agent at the end of the season and the team was not going to attempt to re-sign Cabrera with Francisco Lindor being a year or less away from being the long term shortstop and apparently the Washington offer of Zach Walters was the one that they liked the most.
The Indians will also pay the remainder of Cabrera's money for the 2014 season.

The 28 year old Cabrera was obtained from Seattle in 2006 for Eduardo Perez,so the Indians got plenty of mileage out of a similar deal.
Cabrera peaked as a 25 year old as the shortstop posted career high numbers across the board,but has rarely approached those numbers since.
The drop from that season for a younger player and never really look like the same player thereafter is one of those puzzlers that you wonder what happened.

Cabrera will play second for the rest of the season in Washington with Anthony Rendon moving to the hot corner as the Nationals fill the hole left by the injury to Ryan Zimmerman,which could also give Washington a chance to see if Rendon could be the full time third baseman in 2015.

Zach Walters is a 25 year old shortstop that looks to be more of a utilityman at the big league level.
Washington traded for Walters in 2012 from Arizona and looked to be just another player until 2013 when he suddenly saw a power increase as he hit 29 homers after his previous high was 12.
If that was a big leaguer,red flags would immediately appear,but little was said about Walters leap in homers.
The Nationals must have wondered as well as Walters was returned to Syracuse where he hit another 15 homers in 60 games with the Chiefs instead of sticking with the big league team before being called up when the Nationals dealt with injury issues and hitting .205 in 43 at bats,but did hit three homers in the limited action.
Walters played shortstop with Syracuse,but looks to be moved to either third base or even possibly left field in the Indians system.

I've seen Walters play and I have never been impressed,although the power numbers have made me a little more open to him.
Walters still strikes out so much (134 times in 2013) and he just strikes me as a player that might wind up being a AAA hired gun in the long term.
I just don't think that he will make enough consistent contact at the big league level to be a starting level player to be a long term producer.

Back tomorrow with more from the inbox as it has some interesting stuff popping over the side....

Swapping for Arms,Peavy in SF,Masterson out of Cleveland

 On a day that saw one arm leave one team,I realized that I had never written about a deal a few days old,so I'll catch up with both deals at once!

The freshest news is the Indians sending Justin Masterson away to the St.Louis Cardinals in exchange for a former first round selection in outfielder James Ramsey.
Masterson won double digit games for the Tribe in the last three seasons,but had struggled for Cleveland in 2014 with a 4-6 injury-plagued season and an ERA over five in his contract season.
The issue for the Indians before the season was should they attempt to re-sign Masterson as the best pitcher on the staff.
The final decision was made by the ineffectiveness of Masterson and with the Indians still needing
bats in the system that could be productive power producers-The trade was an easy one for the Indians to make,despite the team being on the edge of playoff contention.

As far as the 24 year old Ramsey goes,he was hitting .300 with 13 homers at the Cardinals AA affiliate in Springfield and was the first round pick by St.Louis in 2012 out of Florida State.
Ramsey is well thought of as a "high makeup" guy and has always been noted as a leader in the locker room,but for whatever reason repeated AA and that is a red flag to me.
Ramsey also strikes out a lot (108 times last year),so that might been one reason for his AA return along with batting average that improved from .251 to .300 in the repeat year.
The Indians must have decided that they wanted to see what Ramsey had immediately as he was assigned to AAA Columbus.

I'm OK with this deal,especially when you consider two things-the dearth of power prospects close to the majors (Maybe Jesus Aguilar could turn out) and the poor performance of Masterson dropped the potential return for the pitcher.
The deal depends on how James Ramsey does whether the return is reasonable enough....

Meanwhile,the Giants needed to add arm strength with the potential loss of Matt Cain for the season and struck quickly with the acquisition of lefthander Jake Peavy from Boston in return for AAA pitchers Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree.

Peavy,a past Cy Young award winner,had struggled this season like most of the defending World Champion Red Sox,but brings a live arm to San Francisco,even if Peavy is not quite the electric powerhouse of seasons past.
Peavy wobbled to a 1-9 record in Boston,but his ERA was similar to 2013 when he went 12-5 combined with the White and Red Sox (4.71 to 4.72) and that tells me that he was one of the players most affected by the Red Sox poor record.
Peavy allowed four runs in six innings in his first start vs the Dodgers,but didn't look awful doing so.

The pitchers that the Giants shipped away were both once highly thought of but had reached faded prospect status of recent times.
Heath Hembree had once been thought of as the Giants closer of the future,but various issues kept Hembree from reaching the big club and despite nice save numbers in AAA Fresno over the last two and a half years,the peripheral numbers were not up to snuff.
Despite Hembree's arm and potential,the Giants would only use him for nine games last season and not at all this season.
Hembree might be one of those players that needed a fresh start and new organization in order to thrive because I just don't think it was likely as a Giant.

22 year old Edwin Escobar looked like a comer after an excellent 2013 split between High A San Jose and AA Richmond.
However,the lefthander had issues this season with AAA Fresno and unlike his results rising through the system,his strikeouts fell and walks rose a bit.
Escobar's ERA with the Grizzlies was over five,but with the solid prospects waiting at AA Richmond,the team might have just decided to avoid a logjam in the 2015 Fresno rotation and move Escobar while the getting was good.
It seems to me that the Giants may be giving up on Escobar a little early,but sometimes these things have to be done.

Peavy could be a free agent at the end of the year,but he does have a player option,so if he triggers the option,the Giants could get another year out of this deal.
I believe the Red Sox could get mileage out of both the pitchers that they obtained in the trade,but the Giants were in a position that they had to do something when you consider the potential loss of Matt Cain to bolster their rotation.

Hope to be back tomorrow with more.....

Devils extend Andy Greene for five years

The New Jersey Devils decided to lock up their best veteran defenseman as he came off a year that might have saw him enter his prime as Andy Greene signed a five year extension worth 25 million dollars.

Greene is coming off a season that saw him become the team's steadying force on defense and have the best overall year of his career.
The question is after the team just escaped one long term contract on the blueline this season by buying Anton Volchenkov out of his deal and one year away from Bryce Salvador walking away,why now and will Andy Greene continue to progress or has Greene plateaued?

Greene turns 32 in October and his prime years could be in front of him as his best season was last year,so that might be a good indicator that this might be a nice deal for the Devils.
The problem is this-A five year deal is simply too long in my opinion.

Considering that the deal is added onto the current contract with ends at the end of this season,so the commitment holds Greene to the team for the next six years and will see that Greene is under hold until he is 37.
That alone doesn't sound so bad until you realize that if some  (and the odds say some) of the younger Devil defensemen work as long term linchpins of the franchise and will need new agreements within the time frame of the Greene contract.
Whether its any or all of Adam Larsson,Eric Gelinas,Jon Merrill or anyone currently on Albany's roster or even still at juniors/college,those players that work out will need to be taken care of
So,my issue is not the extension (fine with that) or the cost (five million per year is not unreasonably high overall),it is the length of the deal,which is the M.O.of late for Lou Lamoriello and the Devils that could make him more difficult to move Greene late in the deal or make him almost a drag on the team at that time.

Overall,I like keeping Greene,like the cost and the Devils should be getting a lot of production for the first few years of the deal.
However,the length of the contract levels my opinions out a bit as the Devils might be trading early production for later salary problems for a well past his prime player...

Back later with thoughts on the Indians trading Justin Masterson and a few days old thoughts on Jake Peavy's arrival as a Giant....

Reynaldo Lopez-A Bolt from the Blue

When you watch enough minor league baseball,sometimes you can get a bit numb to things.
Games can become dreary and players become routine,but then are nights like last night when you are surprised to the point that makes you realize why you watch the games.

Reynaldo Lopez may not look the part of a power pitcher,but he sure impressed me in his first appearance in Hagerstown.

Lopez had appeared in two games with the Suns earlier in the season,but both games were on the road,so this was my first game in seeing the Dominican righthander pitch.
Lopez entered the game with the best ERA in the NY/Penn league with Auburn with a number of 0.75 in seven starts,but he had less than impressive numbers in his two Suns starts,so I wasn't sure what to think.

I do now after a sharp start against Greenville that saw Lopez pitch six innings,whiff nine and allow just two hits,one of which was a blooper off the end of the bat.
Lopez throws hard.
As in tremendously hard.
So hard that Bill Cover and I remarked just how loud the pop of the mitt sounded at times to the point of resembling the loud crack you hear from a good firecracker.
For the all of the hype on Lucas Giolito and it's deserved,I haven't heard the catcher's glove ring like that in the starts that I have seen Giolito pitch this season.
It was reported to us that some radar guns (I have always wanted one of those) had registered Lopez as high as 101 MPH during last night's contest.
Normally,without seeing the gun,I would dismiss such things as hyperbole.
I will not this time as I saw (and heard) the pitches-I believe it.
This is a prospect that is flying way under the radar and at just 20 years old,the Nationals may have found themselves a arm for the future that could develop into a fine top to middle part of their rotation down the road.
There is plenty of refinement needed,but the raw ability is there.

Nights like last night are the type of nights that make following this game fun.
When someone without a large background to draw from suddenly shows up and makes you sit up and take notice,it's always a great feeling.
Reynaldo Lopez may or may not be a big leaguer and he has plenty of distance still to go,but I'll remember him one way or another on a chilly (yes,chilly) night in July that he arrived like a bolt from blue and popped that glove.
That is just another reason that I love this game.....

Boxing Challenge-Golovkin blitzes Geale!

I didn't have time to post the boxing challenge between me and R.L. Malpica,but we each added 3 points to our totals.

Heavyweight Bryant Jennings earned a heavyweight title bout with a split decision win over Mike Perez.
Both of us picked Jennings via unanimous decision and added one point to our total.

WBA Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin continued his devastation of the middleweight division with a one punch knockout of former IBF champ Daniel Geale in the third round.
Geale tagged Golovkin with a solid right that saw Golovkin counter with his own to end the fight.
Geale staggered to his feet,but told the referee that an honorable surrender was fine with him.
Gennady Golovkin is the best middleweight in the world,the best puncher in the world and if he could just get a huge name to fight him,maybe the best fighter in the world.
That's how good this man is and no fighter has to see this demolition of Geale,a fine fighter and just shake their head in disbelief.
The only bad part of this is looking back to last summer and imagine had Geale gotten the split decision (he lost a split nod) to Darren Barker and kept his IBF title that this could have been a unification bout.
I doubt WBC champ Miguel Cotto takes on Golovkin,especially when he could make far more money for a winnable bout against Canelo Alvarez,WBO titlist Peter Quillin is unlikely to accept the challenge for his trinket due to promotional considerations,so Golovkin's next bout could be IBF kingpin Sam Soliman,who holds Geale's old belt after Darren Barker passed it to Felix Sturm,who dropped it to Soliman.
Soliman is not up to Geale's standards let alone Golovkin's so look at that to be a similar showcase of Golovkin's skills,but might be the best payday that Soliman could get.
Look for more on Golovkin in a future post...

The three point evening placed R.L.'s lead still at two points at 56-54....