Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — For those of us who still read, there is a great Dodger title that has just been published. Written by a long-time Southern California sports journalist, How to Beat a Broken Game: The Rise of the Dodgers in a League on the Brink was published at the end of March, 2022. In this well-researched book, Pedro Moura, who has worked for the LA Times, Fox Sports, and the Athletic, shows how Andrew Friedman brought the data-driven brand of baseball from small market Tampa Bay to the big time, and in so doing changed the face of baseball forever.
The book begins with the familiar litany of baseball’s ills: the pace of play, the three-true-outcome brand of baseball, the lack of balls in play, the interminable at-bats resulting in strikeouts or walks, etc., etc. But then, it chronicles how Friedman, and his small band of stat-obsessed devotees, rose to prominence with a mixture of forward thinking and savvy business practices.
“I think in order to fix what’s broken, you have to agree on what’s broken, and I’m not sure they do,” Moura said in a recent interview. “Within the game, there are different approaches as to what the biggest situations in need of fixing are. The thing I fear is for the people involved, the feedback that they’re getting dollars wise is good enough that they’re not fearing for the future of the sport. It seems like most decisions are made based on what is coming in financially, and whenever we see any data about this, it seems like the vast majority of teams, if not all of them, are doing well. So it’s hard for me to see them saying, ‘Oh, we need to radically shift how we approach it and actually make some aggressive changes to get this product better now.'”
Among the Dodgers featured prominently in the book are Mookie Betts, and the story of how Friedman used his Tampa connection to Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom to orchestrate a blockbuster trade that changed the face of both franchises. Clayton Kershaw, and how after his NLDS humiliation against the Nats in 2019, he showed a willingness to change and seek out advice from Driveline, a high-tech sports consulting firm that helped him regain his edge. And, the way the Dodgers had an uncanny knack of taking players off the scrap heap (Max Muncy, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor) and turning them not only into adequate players, but into stars.
In that same interview, Moura pointed to the signing of Freddie Freeman to show how the idea of “optionality” works in the Dodgers’ mindset. “I think that’s the entire ethos of the idea of versatility and creating a roster of flexibility so that people can always slide in. They got an equal or better hitter to Corey Seager for half as much money, for 60% of the time commitment. And when you look at it like that, why would you want to sign somebody for twice as much money? The defense will arguably be better than it would have been with Seager. I’m seeing this talked about a little bit, but I don’t know if people properly appreciate it. Freeman is, in every way, at least as good as Seager or better, except for the fact that he plays a less demanding position. But in this situation, the Dodgers totally removed any penalty from the less demanding position and they’re actually improving as a result.”
Published by Public Affairs books, this fascinating look behind the curtain at Dodger Central is a great summer read for any Dodger fan!
