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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. 😵

I used to be one of those guys that would wait until Nov 1st before turning on the heat, no matter the outside temperature. Then as time went on, it became anytime after Oct 15th but only at night. After a few more years, it became anytime after Oct 1st to just take the "chill out" of the house and once warmed up, would shut it off right away. And I love to drive so I'll do most, if not all, the driving. Makes the time go by faster. I'm a poor passenger, get bored easily.

Back home from my first trip to Atlantic City in almost 3 years. Was there for 3 days/2 nights at the Hard Rock Casio, with the 2 nights being "free". The reason for the quotes is they still charge a resort fee + tax on the resort fee. Still, it was only $35 per night vs $200 night it would've been. Complimentary drinks were plentiful on the casino floor so the only things I needed to pay for was food, gas & tolls. Oh, and I came home with the same amount of money I left with. Breaking even at a casino is as good as winning to me. I didn't realize yesterday Yankee game was a day game so when I went to the hotel bar early to grab a good seat, I was surprised that it was the 8th inning. At least I go to see them win at the end. Much is being made of how the long Cleveland series and rain delays will leave the Yankees "exhausted" and they will just roll over for the "well-rested" Astros. I don't get it, position players usually play 6 days a week for 6 months. Continuing to do so for another 2 weeks in October should be not be a concern. The Astro's played 3 games in the last 2 weeks. I'd be more concerned about their players being rusty. And while the Yankees won't have their best pitchers available for for the first 2 games, tonight's starting pitcher for the Yankees - Tailion - last started a game on Oct 4th, so he will be "well-rested". Yes, the Astro's have a better overall pitching staff and are the heavy favorites but if the Yanks can steal a game or two, it's anybodies series. This is the year of the upsets!

I'm pretty sure there are no restrictions on topics here so music chat to your hearts content. ♥️

Nnoooooo. Lol, sorry. I'm one of those guys that take my holidays one at a time. No thinking of Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Which is an improvement for me. Used to be no Christmas until the first week iof December. I might be in the minority with this. 🙂 However, as the song goes. We need little Christmas

Weird place to put a lighthouse. Just to the left of the glass skyscraper. Oceans casino in Atlantic City. I'm next door, 30th floor of Hard Rock casino. Zoomed in. I'm guessing when it was built, it was the only thing there & the rest of the city was built around it.

That's right, I forgot you had traveled for a wedding (niece? nephew?) and your moms funeral. Wide range of emotions, hope things went as well as they could.

I mowed the lawn. A whole 1/2 acre. Took almost an hour. And packed my bag for a 2 night stay in Atlantic City. Oh, and made a pot of coffee. So yeah, I was pretty busy too.😆

Yankees live to play another day. No 9th inning magic today from the Cleveland Indi, er, Guardians. Very routine and boring 9th inning. Considering that the Yankees were 1 strike away from winning last nights game, this series could've been over. Should be a good game tomorrow. My fearless prediction: one of the teams is going home. Also, Jets, Giants and Bills won. Good day for NY sports.

Deep down inside, everyone is a Yankee fan. Some just don't know it yet. 😂😂😂