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A review by jfranco77
The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First by Jonah Keri
3.0
This book is really a collection of essays that meander through the period beginning with Stuart Sternberg's purchase of a minority share of the Devil Rays and continuing through the 2010 season. It lacks a solid structure that really ties the whole thing together, but the stories themselves can be entertaining. Some are good, and some are lacking.
The Wall Street backgrounds of Sternberg and Friedman, and some window into how that plays into the current management of the team, are covered. It would be good if this was explored in more detail. The Extra 2% is naturally compared to Moneyball. But in Moneyball, Michael Lewis tells anecdotes from the A's history and always relates them back to something about Billy Beane's approach. The Extra 2% doesn't really do that - the stories are told for the sake of including them.
The good:
-The area scout who really wanted the Rays to draft Albert Pujols (spoiler alert: they didn't)
-The antics of Vince Naimoli and his failures to rally the community or follow a coherent plan
-The history of Joe Maddon, the Rays' quirky manager who spent a career earning this gig
-The long journey that Naimoli took to get the team established in Tampa, and all the fits and starts along the way
-
The bad:
-Tropicana Field is a dump, we get it. If we didn't, it would be apparent by the 5th time that it comes up
-The inconsistent editing and tone. Some parts are almost documentary-like, well-written, structured, and professional. Others feature swearing and colloquial language - not quotes either, just a change in writing style.
-The lack of overarching story leads to changes in scope. At times, Keri is focusing on the results of individual games.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book. I feel like I did learn a lot about the Rays' history and a little about their approach. But the best parts of the book were not the analytical parts, so I worry that the audience attracted to the book won't be the audience that enjoyes the book.
The Wall Street backgrounds of Sternberg and Friedman, and some window into how that plays into the current management of the team, are covered. It would be good if this was explored in more detail. The Extra 2% is naturally compared to Moneyball. But in Moneyball, Michael Lewis tells anecdotes from the A's history and always relates them back to something about Billy Beane's approach. The Extra 2% doesn't really do that - the stories are told for the sake of including them.
The good:
-The area scout who really wanted the Rays to draft Albert Pujols (spoiler alert: they didn't)
-The antics of Vince Naimoli and his failures to rally the community or follow a coherent plan
-The history of Joe Maddon, the Rays' quirky manager who spent a career earning this gig
-The long journey that Naimoli took to get the team established in Tampa, and all the fits and starts along the way
-
The bad:
-Tropicana Field is a dump, we get it. If we didn't, it would be apparent by the 5th time that it comes up
-The inconsistent editing and tone. Some parts are almost documentary-like, well-written, structured, and professional. Others feature swearing and colloquial language - not quotes either, just a change in writing style.
-The lack of overarching story leads to changes in scope. At times, Keri is focusing on the results of individual games.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book. I feel like I did learn a lot about the Rays' history and a little about their approach. But the best parts of the book were not the analytical parts, so I worry that the audience attracted to the book won't be the audience that enjoyes the book.