Last night, the game was all on the line for Kevin Cash of the Rays. The moment of truth. His starter was lights out but he had gone through the line up twice. It’s the bottom of the 6th inning and do you let him face any hitter a 3rd time? Especially when that first hitter was Mookie Betts? Snell had struck out the first 3 hitters each twice. Low pitch count. But the Rays follow the analytics religiously and despite what he was seeing on the field, Cash went to his relievers – and a guy who had given up a run in something like 7 outings in a row. Clearly gassed. For old-time Yankee fans, this guy was the new George Frazier from the 1981 World Series. Lost something like 3 games that series.

On Twitter, the traditionalists were outraged. “Keep him in! What are you doing!?!” But the analytics followers totally got it. “This is how the Rays were managed all year long and it got them to game 6 of the World Series.” SU is more in the camp that you see what the hitters are doing and make your decisions that way. Snell is a former Cy Young winner. But I get it. The other issue is that the opposition is seeing your relievers every game and they start to figure things out. Plus the relievers are pitching so many days in a row and lose their sharpness.

It was a good series. SU did not watch a whole lot – just too many strikeouts, pitching changes and lack of actual action. It’s a week before the Election and this is not at the top of my mind right now. But a few thoughts for you:

1. The Commissioner is thinking about outlawing shifts. SU says that is wrong. The shifts actually are interesting. It’s up to the hitters and the GMs to adjust and find players who can hit to all fields, run and create. Why reward the hitters who blindly hit into the shifts like idiots? SU says make the batters adjust and let’s make teams abandon the shift for the right reason. But I suspect MLB will do what the NBA used to do with zone defenses and will start to require that 2 infielders are on each side for every at bat. We will see on that one.
2. So many strike outs. So many guys throwing 95 mph+. So much standing around. Sure, you get the occasional home run but that’s not enough. Thank goodness for Twitter in between pitches and anything else to distract.
3. There is talk now that GMs will load up on relievers – and cheap relievers at that – to keep their payrolls down. No more $30 million a year contracts for starters. Especially in a COVID world with probably minimal numbers of fans in 2021 and much lower revenue.
4. Gary Sanchez is playing winter ball for the first time in years. Hmm, I wonder why?
5. Congrats to MLB for pulling this off in the bubble. Turner tested positive and was removed from the game last night but that was it. Question: if the Rays had won last night, how many days would it have taken for a game 7 to be played? SU says probably several. That would have been interesting.

Well, that’s it now except for football and some golf and tennis for the sports viewer. SU has been accumulating its Netflix/Amazon list (the new Borat movie is getting high marks) and the political front will be front and center for me for at least one more week plus how ever many days it takes for the President to try and get to the Supreme Court which will be a whole lot bigger deal than game 6 of the World Series.

But that’s not why you are here. A few Netflix/Amazon suggestions that have come through the pipeline:

1. The Boys (Amazon)
2. New Borat movie
3. Black Money Love (Turkish) – 165 episodes
4. Intersection (Turkish)
5. Hinterland (Welsh)
6. Falling Into You (Korean)
7. Occupied (Norway)

SU is still holding out hope for college hoops to begin but who knows?