Lesson Twenty-Two: Play ‘Little Ball’

I’m a baseball man. I didn’t start out this way, but somehow it crept up on me in my late 20s. As a kid, then teenager, I was basically apathetic towards baseball. I played it for a few years, but I was uncoordinated, slight-of-frame, and more comfortable in front of a book than a fast-ball.

Today I’m at the point where every morning I check at least two sports websites for my daily fix. And what’s worse is that during the off-season I’m just as persistent—tracking trades, player movement, expert opinions on how my team, the Seattle Mariners, will fair in the coming season.

But in my heart I know that baseball is analogous to business.

Let me give you some quick background that will help explain why.

The ‘dead-ball’ era ended in 1919 when the game stopped using a ball that was literally “dead”—softer and more difficult to hit. Up until then the odds where against the hitter. Home runs were a rare commodity and teams were left to rely on the hit and run, singles, bunts and stolen bases to win games.

For pitchers, it was the era of the ‘spit ball’—a pitch completely legal at the time. Many pitchers relied on the spitball and other trick pitches to keep batters on their toes. The batters used heavy bats, and as a result choked up on the handle.

Then in 1920 a livelier baseball was introduced and the game completely changed. Offense went way up as the ball came, more sharply, off the bat. And on May 1, the prototype slugger, Babe Ruth, hit the first of his many home runs into the seats of Yankee stadium.

Since then it has been the era of the slugger.

The interesting thing however is that as much as offense has been the main thrust of baseball for 80 years, pitching and defense still win games.

Take the Mariners.

In 1999, the Mariners lost the first of two superstar power hitters, Ken Griffey Jr., and then in 2000, Alex Rodriguez. These were both the kind of players that come along once every few decades and Seattle had both on one team. Before they left, Seattle regularly lead the league in home runs. But even with their superstar power, they had a losing record most years.

After they left, Seattle transformed into a team of pitching, speed and defense—what they call ‘little ball’. Little ball is when a team does all the little things it needs to win: bunt ahead runners, draw walks, steal bases, drive up pitch counts, hit in the clutch. Seattle could no longer rely on a big scoring home run inning.

What’s interesting is that little ball wins games. If you look at the 2001 season, Seattle tied the alltime major league baseball records for victories in a season, winning 116 games. In an era of sluggers and home run records, little ball works.

So what about your business? How is your team’s little ball? Most businesses I know—and certainly the clients I’ve dealt with—are in the same boat. They can’t afford superstar advertising, or a high-paid sales force. They are small- to mid-market businesses that will always lose ace staff to bigger markets and greener pastures. They can’t compete head-to-head with the sluggers in their industry.

But you don’t have to.

You can win by executing on the little things that capture your customers’ heart—better service, involvement in the community you serve, being faster, more convenient, friendlier, in touch with your customers’ needs.These kinds of companies get the most out of the players they have. They win.

How can your team improve its little ball?


Principles of Persuassion by Shane Spark