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While the overall regular season record does not look impressive, that was the result of their 22-29 start to the season. Once they fired Giradi, they went 65-46 for a respectable .585 winning percentage. Remember, it's not how well you did during the regular season - just ask Dodger fans - but how well you are playing now. Both teams are firing on all cylinders.

Thanks. I spotted doen quick enough but missed puposely even after rereading 3 times. I like to think my eyes were auto-correcting for me, at least 50% of the time. 😄

I can only find one typo ☹️

Probably the most enthusiastic fans I've seen all post season. Good for them, it's been a long time coming. Enjoy the ride. Go Phillies!

Now that baseball season is officially over, 😉, time for me to catch up on my DVR recordings. I have 5 episodes of Amazing Race to watch. Anyone else watching?

Enjoy your cruise!

I've been skimming thru some of the Icon threads as well and as expected, reactions are mixed. Which is fine as everyone has their pwn exceptions of what a cruise should be. I guess the only thing I would add - here on this thread where it's safe - is that Royal has gotten really good a "passenger flow" by spreading events (and people) all around the ship at different times to alleviate chock points. I've sailed all classes of ships from Radiance on up to Oasis and while all will feel crowded at max capacity, in my very subjective experience, the Radiance class felt most crowded while the Oasis felt least crowded. I understand if people don't want to sail on a ship with water slides, bumper cars, etc and have to schedule shows in advance but I wouldn't let the number of passengers on a ship deter me. JMHO.

Not sure if you found it or if someone else already replies but here it is.

Thank you. Hockey season is in full swing. Let's Go Rangers. I was at yesterdays day's game. It was horrible, they lost 5-1.

Although I should add, Judge 62 HR and probable season MVP, it's not easy to see him walk away. He is one of the reasons that Yankees made it to the post season. If he really wants to see the Yankees get to the next level, forgo some potential salary & let the money be spent on pitching. The old adage is sill true: Good pitching beats good hitting. Teams rarely bash their way to a World Series title

I think Judge's value may have dropped a bit. The last couple of years, his post season performance has not matched his regular performance. As much as he's the face of the Yankees, unless he's going to give the home team a discount, the money could be better spent elsewhere. What can I say? Go Phillies! I can't say I'm surprised by the Yankees, they've been a .500 team since mid-July. Too many injuries to the bullpen and lead-off guys left them thin both offensively and pitching. I agree, some players seemed to lack heart, whining about how Houston "got lucky" on a few key hits. No, at least 2 of the games swung in Houston's favor when they capitalized on mistakes made by the Yankees including last nights go head run. And Boone needs to go. He's too soft on the players and too eager to pull a pitcher at the first hint of trouble. The only thing that does surprise me is the sweep, I thought they would be able to win at least 2 games at home.

Keep the pictures coming. I never tire of traveling vicariously thru others.

I've done that. Left my towels on the last tender back from Grand Cayman. I realized as soon as I was back on the ship but since I was already scanned in, they would not let me back on the tender. One of the officers made note of it and I was never charged.

Bayley's office must be really, really big. And wet. 😄

Ok, so maybe I didn't quite keep up to date as just finished reading up from last Tuesday. But I am up-to-date and determined to stay that way. More importantly, after reading a few comments, I think I'm going to join the Kraken Klub. I'll still need to buy some but I already wrote down @Ocean Boy recipe. Just have to google what a rock glass is. 😄

I don't even like bourbon and I'm a big fan of Widow Jane. I shouldn't say I don't like bourbon, but I don't drink it often. A bottle of the Widow will last years in my house.

I''d love to hear your thoughts on NCL. Fun fact: many years ago, my niece was a bartender on Pride of America. For about 18 months. While she wouldn't do it again, as a recent college she loved the experience and since she had minimal expenses, saved enough money to pay off some very substantial student loans, buy herself a BMW when she came back and still had plenty of money left over. As an American-flagged ship, it's the only cruise ship to employ an all-American crew. Also, no casino as gambling is not allowed in Hawaii.

I attend about 12-15 Yankee games a year with my older brother and we always buy 2 hot dogs with mustard from an vendor outside the stadium. One year, they happened to win the first 4 or 5 games we attended when I decided to get ketchup instead of mustard on my hot dog. The Yankees lost that game by some ridiculous score. I was never allowed to get ketchup on a hot dog again. 😀

In theory, both teams should have the same advantage with the roof open. However, I can see Jimbo's point. I'm not enough of a baseball geek to get into the analytics of the game but let's say for arguments sake that the majority of the Yankee power hitters are hitting to right field and the winds are blowing to the left, that negates their power advantage, as proven by Judge's long fly out that was almost a home run. If the winds are blowing to the right, then keeping the roof closed would also negate the Yankees power hitters. The very definition of home field advantage. From what I read, most managers prefer to keep the roof closed as to cut down on unpredictable weather events. You could see that in last nights game with some of the swirling winds making a few routine pop-ups more exciting than they should have been.

I should point that out to him. 😂 Or maybe you don't. 😉😇

There is a term for that. "God winks" was coined by Author Squire Rushnell. He has a series of books where he gathered stories of coincidences that are so astonishing, they could be interpreted as divine intervention. DW was a big believer in god winks. I would usually try to come up with a logical explanation but there were a some that left me wondering.....

When the temperature and humidity are low enough and no threat of rain, the roof can be opened. The TV broadcast said it was MLB's decision but a few artilces I found online said it was Houstons decision. I've heard the same about Girardi. Boone is known as a players manager and is criticized for cuddling his players and not holding them accountable. I agree, would love to see Mattinly as manager.

You didn't miss anything. 😉 Yesterdays game (game 1) was the game the Yankees needed to steal. They had Justin Verlander on the ropes early, driving up his pitch count. But they just couldn't capitalize on the chances they had. Verlader got better as the game went on, reverting back to Cy Young form at the tender age of 39, and making the Yanks look like little league. Meanwhile, Boone pulled the Yankee pitcher - Tailion - early in the game, after only 67 pitches. While his pitching wasn't pretty, he was effective in holding the Astros in check and was actually "out-picthing" Verlander. He a lower pitch count & allowed less base runners than Verlander at that point. Boone should have let him pitch 1 or 2 more innings as the score was only 1-1. Instead, he went to an already thin & shaky bullpen and in the blink of an eye, th Yankees were losing 3-1. Boone must come from the Buck Showalter school of thought and over-manages the game. Put the players in there & let them play.

I forgot to answer the most important question. Yes! Friends checked in on Leonard while we were away but once home, he was pretty much my shadow. Must've tripped over him a half-a-dozen times as he was always at my feet.

It was a much needed quick, getaway. I was hesitant at first as hitting the casino's was something me & DW would do 4 or 5 times a year, usually split between Atlantic City and the Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun duo in CT. But DSD (Dear Step Daughter) encouraged me to go, which was no surprise as she was coming with. LOL. And once we were there, everything went fine. Dining-wise was nothing special. Plenty of snacks were packed to graze throughout the day. One night, we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe which is where I thought I was going to watch the Yankee game. It's typical of a big hotel chain restaurant. Good, but nothing special and a bit pricey for what you get. An interesting place we went to is called The Irish Pub, a 1920s style speakeasy a short stroll down the boardwalk. It's not designed to look like a 1920's speakeasy, it's an actual bar that hasn't changed since the 1920s. Check out the video on their home page. https://theirishpub.com/ Food was surprisingly good and there is a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. There is a hotel above it with an old style elevator, the kind you pull a cage door to close and pull/push a handle to go up or down. Some of the rooms don't even have a private bathroom, there is a common one at the end of the hall. Stepping into the place feels like you're stepping back in time. One of the keys to winning-by-breaking-even is to budget accordingly and take breaks when slots are not going your way. The best way to do that is taking strolls on the boardwalk & the weather on Monday & Tuesday were perfect weather for that, a bit of an early autumn chill but plenty of sun and no breeze made it comfortable. Hard Rock also has free, live music every night at one of the casino bars which also made for a nice, long break from gambling. I did spend some time by the indoor pool. It's really nothing special but I was feeling a bit fuzzy after one too many mudslides the night before. 😵