Some of you may be hoping to see the baseball season come to an end so that I will just stop obsessing about it. I can only ask that you bear with me. I confess to the obsessive part of this.
I began yesterday to ponder why the Rays have been successful, suggesting the strange thesis that the church can learn something from them. So first, why the Rays success?
I’m no expert and I’ve not played baseball since little league. But there are some obvious things that can be noted. Clearly they did not improve by following the lead of their rivals, spending bunches of money on big name hitters and pitchers. (Funny to me how in small churches we assume that growth depends upon being able to act like the bigger, wealthier churches. I don’t think that is the case. But I get ahead of myself.)
Rather In looking at the stats, some trends emerge. First, the stats reveal that the change did NOT occur in their offense. Here is how they finished the year statistically in hitting (out of 14 AL teams):
- Batting average – 13th (remember – this is out of 14 teams!)
- On base percentage – 8th
- Runs scored – 8th
Curiously, these statistics are not very different from those posted in 2007. The Rays offense is average, as it was last year. Growth is not dependent upon an organization, like a church, perfecting every aspect of its ministry. The Rays do not excel in hitting, as some churches do not excel in preaching or worship or depth of relationships. But their hitting is not sick either. It is good, just not great.
Where the change for the Rays has occurred is in defense and pitching. Hear is where they finished in 2008.
- Earned Run Average for entire pitching staff – 2nd
- Saves, total for the year – 2nd
- Walks/Hits allowed per inning – 2nd
In each of these categories in 2007 they were 14th. Dead last.
The same trend can be seen in their defensive stats (though I don’t have a clue how these are calculated):
- Fielding percentage – 6th
- Defensive efficiency rating – 1st
Again, in 2007, the Rays were 13th in fielding percentage and 14th in defensive efficiency. The improvement is startling.
Even in spite of these particular numbers, in most other statistical categories, they are in the middle of the pack. The important revelation is that they are at the bottom of NO category except losses.
What has made the difference for the Rays is that they looked for those areas where they were weakest, and strengthened those areas. They did not need to become perfect in every area. Their improvement began by their addressing the missing aspects to their team health.
I think it is important to note that their dramatic return, from worst to first, is unusual, and is not something to be expected in any organization. But one could say that had they simply improved their fielding and pitching from 14th to, say, 8th, they could have had a mid pack, perhaps .500 season, and we’d still be happy.
And I think it is reasonable to suggest that an organization, say, a church in seeking to know how it might strengthen its ministry does not need to perfect that which it does well. A small church will not have the resources to do so. But what a church rather needs to do is to examine the neglected areas.
More to come….