BradTaylor

Book Review: The Extra 2%

Worst-to-first. It’s an age-old cliché that is seldom achieved, but when it is, everyone wants to know the details. How did you do it?

Jonah Keri presents an adequate description of perhaps the most unlikely of such events, the sudden and unexpected rise of the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays in the brutal American League East. The very concept is so far-fetched, catching and passing the filthy-rich New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, that this book, if written ten years ago, would have been near the top of comedy best sellers.

The recipe for this success story begins with a sad-sack franchise, poorly located and even more poorly managed, and ripe for fresh blood. Enter Stuart Sternberg and Matthew Silverman, late of Wall Street investing and banking services, and rabid baseball fans, and the saga begins.

So what is the “2% extra” that was so deftly applied to this losing franchise, turning them from perennial losers to World Series participants in just three years?

Keri takes us through the nightmare of “culture change” that was necessitated by the policies implemented by former owner Vincent J. Naimoli. There were changes in the name, the uniform, the promotions (which could be a separate book of its own), and, most important, the way fans and employees were treated. It’s clear that these changes took time, but while these were being implemented, General Manager Andrew Friedman was charging into the fray with a determination to build a team of like-thinking players, players who would fit their respective roles and give Manager Joe Maddon options in pivotal game situations. His concept is reminiscent of the system implemented by Jimmy Johnson in Dallas in which he assigned a number value to players and prospects, enabling the team to gain advantage in drafting and stockpiling draft picks. A quick look back at the success of the Cowboys shows the merit of such a system; one that proved strikingly successful until the “elephant in the room”, the massive ego of Jerry Jones, forced Johnson out.

Friedman openly admitted that he loved obtaining players for less than they were worth, using contracts that were loaded with team options, especially in dealing with young players who were willing to risk some future earnings in exchange for immediate financial security. Of course there was, and is, inherent risk because of potential injury and the chance that subjective evaluation could be wrong, but the concept, when applied across the board, proved to be the key contributing factor in the quest to overtake teams with many times the cash flow and resources available to them. When the team fought through the wars of 162 games plus playoffs in 2008, reaching the World Series, the “Extra 2%” that had been so fiercely applied was justified, much to the pleasure of thousands in Tampa Bay as well as baseball purists all over the country who had longed for a way for small-market teams to compete with the “big-money” teams.

This book is a blend of concepts and facts that will lean you toward being a fan of the Rays if you’re not careful. The specific examples of innovative managing, from the front office to the diamond, will capture your attention, making this a very entertaining and revealing study of this very unusual story.