SubscribeIt’s not just the players…
From the Nov. 6 issue of the Washington Jewish News:
Buy me some peanuts…and crackerjack stats
For evidence that financial smarts and good baseball sense are not incompatible, look no further than the formerly abysmal Tampa Rays [sic] ball club, which made it to the World Series this year for the first time in its history.
The Rays’ three top executives, owner Stuart Sternberg, president Matthew Silverman and general manager Andrew Friedman, are not only Jews, but former investors and bankers to boot.
Relying in part on sophisticated numbers-crunching (of the Sabermetrics sort), the trio succeeded in khopping a slew of talented players while holding the line on payroll costs. It’s worth noting, however, that the Rays made it to the Series by defeating the Boston Red Sox, whose general manager is 35-year-old Jewish whiz kid Theo Epstein.
It’s also worth noting that the small-market, budget conscious Florida Marlins won the World Series in 1997 and immediately traded, sold, or lost many star players to free agency before they could start demanding the big bucks. They finished under .500 for the next five years.
I’m just sayin’…
Enjoy it while it lasts: Matthew Silverman, left, Andrew Friedman and Stuart Sternberg. Photo by Phillippe Diederich for The New York Times.
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