I like this article on the “weirdest” coaching staff in baseball and how it has made the San Francisco Giants a powerhouse. Jared Diamond writes in The Wall Street Journal:
Fernando Perez studied creative writing at Columbia University and is the author of essays that have been published in prominent literary magazines. Mark Hallberg spent years working as a teacher and administrator at schools in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Dustin Lind has a doctorate in physical therapy.
These are a few of the people on the unconventional coaching staff who have helped transform the San Francisco Giants into a powerhouse and disrupted a sport that traditionally hasn’t taken well to outsiders. The Giants were the surprise of the National League last season, winning 107 games and ending the Los Angeles Dodgers’ streak of eight consecutive division titles. It’s been more of the same early in 2022, with San Francisco again looking like a serious World Series contender.
The Giants accomplished all of this while being guided by a group of coaches unlike any other in the history of baseball—and their unexpected success is forcing the industry to rethink just who is qualified to wear a major-league uniform.
“We hire a staff with the mind-set that a more diverse coaching staff gives us a better chance to win,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “If you want to have a wide variety of human beings for players to connect with, you can’t have them all cut from the same cloth.”
Action Line: Orthodoxy is often the precursor of mediocrity. If you want to stand out, you need to be different, or “weird.” That goes for investments as much as it does for sports. Following the crowd without a plan is planning to fail. If you need help building a plan that doesn’t simply follow the crowd, get in touch, I’d love to help.
