Houston Astros: Caught Stealing | Radical Methods | 1
40:42 Share

Hi, this is linsey gram, host of american scandal. Our back call ague has moved behind a payland. Recent episodes remain free, but older ones will require a wone plus subscription with wondering plus you get access to the full american, have add free, plus early access to new seasons and more join wondering plus in the wondering APP or on apple podcasts.

Its september twenty first two thousand seventeen in a humid thursday night in houston, texas at minute made park players for the chicago White socks are taking the field for the bottom of the White socks relief pitcher danny fark war jokes out to the mount for the first time in the game and takes a moment to gaze up at the stands. He sees a lot of empty seats and even more fans heading for the exit. It's late in the season.

And with the hometown astros comfortably in first place, this is a fairly meaningless game, but not the far car. He joined the White socks only a month ago, and he's eager to prove himself and protect his teams to run, lead. So when barely pinch hider, evan GTA stepped up to bat, far car takes a breath and looks toward home plate, waiting for the catch Kevin Smith to feed them a sign.

Smith gets into his catcher squat and flashes several fingers between his knees. It's a sign for a change up, a deceptive pitch that looks like a fast ball but moves more slowly. It's designed to fool the bat to make him swing early.

Fark are nods. Then he winds up and hurls to change up toward homeplace ate. But GTA doesn't swing and the slow moving change up curves out of the strike zone. It's ball one.

As far car gets the ball back from smith, he frown, thinking he heard something odd just before his pitch, a weird banging sound, but he shrugs, IT off and looks back to his catcher for the next time. Smith flashes his punky and signal for a fast ball, fark our winds up again and sends a ninety four mile per hour pitch screaming over the plate. This time, GTA swings and misses for strike one.

On the third pitch, Smith signals another change up and fark our notes again. But before he can even lift his leg for the White up, he hears that banging sound ball these far, far hand. And again, guta doesn't swing at the pitch.

It's ball too. Now far is getting suspicious ous. He wants to know where that banging is coming from, why it's only happening before certain pitches, but there's no time to investigate.

Now far car throws three more pitches, a mix of fast balls and change ups. Sometimes he hears the banging. Sometimes he doesn't get a swing confidently at each pitch, which hits them all found on the seven thro Smith signals for another change up and fark while winds up.

But when he hears the banging sound yet again, he drops his leg back down and steps off the mount Smith jobs after behind home plate and puts a protective armor around far car. OK man, what's going on? Far car uses his glove to cover his mouth.

In case anyone on the astro can read lips, they ve got our signs. What you mean every time you signal a change up, I hear two bangs over there in the dog out every time I throw a fast ball silence. They've got the science, Kevin, but there's nobody on second base right now.

Nobody on the astra can even see my science. I don't know how they're doing IT what is happening fast? Like you say, no, I wind up that dam banging happens.

You think they have someone in the crowd? Far car looks around, minute made part. He gazes at astro's fans scattered across the stadium.

Plenty of empty seats, a bright stadium light shine down on them, and countless black high tech cameras are paying directly the field, broadcasting their every move. I don't know, man, but sometimes not right. I just know that what do we want to do? Let's plan our next four pitches right here.

No signs. Alright, give me a shot far quiring Smith agree on the pitches, and Smith returns to home play gantz steps back into the banners box. And at the mound, fark war goes into his wind up as he does.

There is no banging from nearby, just the dulham of fans in the stadium. He throws a change up, down and inside this time, get a swings and misses. Strike three. He's out for the rest of his time on the mount barker. Here's no more banging, but the White socks pitch senses that something is happening over the asteroid dug out.

It's one thing for a team to steal signs when they have a runner on second base who can see what the catch is 1， that's fair in baseball, but somehow the aso seem to be stealing science with no one on base. And that makes danny far car furious because the only way to do that is to cheat. American scandal is sponsored by auto val.

I've bet you heard that IT takes ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert, right? Who came up with that? welcome. glad. Well, in his book, tipping point, it's an idea that becomes something of an axim and brought criticism to glad welfare over simplifying complex social concepts.

So what does he do? He writes a snarky follow up, revenge of the tipping point over stories, super spread ers and the rise of social engineering. Too bad the audible title itself is in ten thousand hours long, because there's more to imagine.

When you listen as an audible member, you choose one title amount to keep from their entire candle. New members can try audible free for thirty days. Visit auto document H A S or text A S to five hundred, five hundred. American scandal sponsored by team mobile 5g home internet with new home internet plus from team mobile， you can get internet right where you want IT, so you can boost your connection to places that hasn't reach before and transform your home, turn your backyard into a theatre, turn your basement and do home office for a limited time. Get a free upgrade to team mobile home internet plus while supplies last. Home internet plus starts at just fifty box a month with to pay and any voice line check availability at home internet, and get internet right where you want IT during congestion, customers on this plan may notice speeds lower than other customers and further reduction of using greater than one point two terribles per months due to data prioritization. After twenty dollar bill credit pus five dollars without on o pay debit or bank account required regulatory fees included for qualifying accounts, thirty five dollar connection charge applies.

From wondering island zy gram and this is american scandal.

In two thousand and seventeen, the houston astro accomplished something astonishing in major league baseball. In just four short years, the team went from being one of the worst in the league to clinching a world serious tile at the time. Their meteoric rise was attributed not just to the astro's talented roster of players, but to the team's unorthodoxy general manager, jeff luna, who joined the team in two thousand and eleven.

Unlike most gms, luna didn't have a lot of baseball experience. Instead, he arrived in houston with a business background and a philosophy of innovate or bus that drove the astro to become one of balls most successful franchise. But after there are two thousand and seventeen world series Victory, once the champaign was gone and the convey swept away, a very different picture of the astro o's winning strategy began to emerge.

Luna's emphasis on innovation happened at a time when major league baseball was colliding with cutting edge technology, competitive advantages were being carved out in ethical gray areas, and major league baseball was scrambling to keep up. Sign stealing had long been a legal practice within the game as long as IT was done by players on the field, but IT slipped into uncertain territory with the advent of high speed cameras and video replay rooms. Eventually, this new technology and its potential to be used in secret to gain an advantage would lead to some of the most spectacular cheating scandals that major league baseball had ever seen.

And while other teams were caught stealing signs illegally in the two thousand and seventeen season, no team embraced ed. The practice quite like the houston astro. The investigation that followed would forever alter the lives of those involved and level a lasting accusation against the astro, that they were cheaters, a team that was willing to win at any cost, and that they didn't deserve their word.

Serious championship. At the time of the sign stealing scandal, baseball fandom was already in decline, attendance was down, and viewership have been steadily slipping since a late two thousands. The explosive astro s cheating scandal LED many to wonder if the death nell had been sounded for america's favorite past time and if modern baseball could ever recover.

This is episode one, radical methods. Is two thousand and three in oakland, california. Robert halloween shelfs forward in the concessions line at the oakland color sym squinting at the menu.

Hallowe'en is a british business man, and he seen Better dining options. Choices are peanuts, hot dogs and shining jumbo pretzel that looked like they've been sitting under the heat land for a few hours too long. But hollo, I didn't come here for the food.

He came to get to know the man standing in line next to him, jeff luna. Luna and halloween worked together at archetypes solutions, a bay area, a tech company where halloween, a CEO, and luna is chief Operating officer. But luna is shy and reserved around the office.

And halloway has noticed the only thing that really brings luna out of its shell is talking about baseball. So halloway agreed to this adventure at the ballpark as a way of getting to no luu know a little Better. Jeff, how long do you've been following baseball? Oh, my whole wife, really.

But what really hoped me was when I joined a fantasy baseball. They get pen, fancy baseball. What like? A Brooks brothers suit? No, not fancy fantasy.

You make up your own fictional team with players in the league, and then watch how your team perform throughout the season. How can you tell how they perform? Your team doesn't exist? No, but each player stats do.

And their collective states determine your team to performance. Baseballs are really beautiful sport, but underneath all that, beauty is a lot of raw data. And I think I love that even more.

The company numbers guy is a baseball numbers guy that makes sense. I guess i've always had a mind for IT. I mean, it's kind of embarrass.

But after graduating from pan, I actually wrote letter to the owner of the daughters asking if they had a job opening for someone with the minds of numbers. And what they say I never heard back. Well, their loss is my gain.

I mean, are you still playing fantasy baseball? Oh yeah, sure I am. You want in. We're already into the season, but i'm sure we can.

Does that mean I have to watch every game? Well, not watch necessarily, but you have to track every game. Make sure you get the stars for all the players on your team.

For me, it's almost like a part time job. It's not A A distraction for you, right? Luna goes cine.

The man stepped forward again, finally reaching the register, and how lowey realizes he might have sent his reserved C O O back into a shell. So he backtracks, I just want to make sure my numbers guy keeps us winning the season. 抱歉， course.

Halloween watches as luna places his order, but he seems nervous as if he believes he just revealed too much about his personal interests. And truth be told, halloween still doesn't really understand his perspective. Al C O O S obsession with this strange american game.

But everyone needs a hobby, even if IT apparently involves the same kind of number crunching luna x cells that in a daydream. Early in his career, jeff linos affinity for data and analytics helped him call the latter of corporate america, but the game of baseball remained his deepest and most enduring passion. Luna was first introduced to the game by his mother while the family was living in mexico, where luna was born and raised.

Watching, playing and discussing america's past time was a way for her to ensure that her sons maintained a connection to her home country. And with Young jeff the ever worked. Years later, luna earned undergraduate degrees in engineering and economics at the university of pennsylvania, then an MBA from northwestern.

But all the while he continued to hope that one day he'd work in major league baseball, but his education and experience in corporate consulting and tech startups didn't really point to a new job in the port he left luna's fortunes began to change in may of two thousand three, with the publication of a book that blows traditional approaches to baseball out of the water. Money ball by Michael Lewis follows general manager bill bean and the oakland athletics through their spectacular rise in two thousand two. The also lays out the aid strategy for building a successful baseball team.

This strategy, called sable metrics, throws out over a century of baseball tradition in favor of a more modern data driven approach. Instead of evaluating players based on their physical or athletic process. Same meta ics focuses on a few key statistics, like on base percentage to determine a player's true potential.

Using the strategy, Billy bean is able to identify undervalued players and build a winning roster despite having one of the leagues lowest budgets. But beans methods have many detractors. Scouts believe the approach discounts the intangibles when IT comes to assessing players.

Some even argue that IT robs baseball of its soul. But for luna, money ball is a revelation. The sabor metrics approach marries two of luna strengths, his knowledge of baseball and his gift for analytics.

And when luna finishes reading the book, he starts to wonder if there actually is room in the baseball industry for a guy with his background. In August of two thousand and three, he gets an answer to that question. Luna was in his office at architect ped solutions, going through emails and preparing reports when something catches his eye.

It's a message from someone luna recruit years ago when he worked at the prestigious management consulting from mckinsey. Luna opens the email and quickly scans IT. The former colleague writes that he just got married and his new father in law, the owner of the same Louis cardinals build with junior, would like to talk to luna.

Luna can't believe what is reading. The colleague says David is going to bring some fresh blood into the cardinals front office, and he wants someone who can bring a moneys all approach to the team's recruit and efforts. Since colleague remembers luna being a fantasy baseball was when they worked together at mckinsey, he thought maybe luna was the guy to do IT.

Luna leans back in his chair, has spent too short months since he first read money ball. Now, as if by fate, an opportunity has fAllen from the sky into his inbox, still linos hesitant, the wit is apparently looking for someone with luna's skill set. Luna has never actually worked in baseball, and he seen how the moneys all approach has stir up controversy in the sport.

So luna is ensure he be welcomed by a major lead team like the cardinals, but there is only one way to find out. He clicks reply and begins to draft a response, trying not to let his excitement spill over into his raining. And despite his apprehensions, luna confidently ends the email with a question, when would bill like to meet? And then he hits and.

One month later, jeff luna finds himself sitting in the office of cardinals owner bill do with junior on the outside. The same Louis cardinals don't appear to be a team in need of a data driven overhot. Since two thousand, the cardinals have routinely made IT to the playoff, but the wait is unhappy with the team's draft system, which selects Young players to join the clubs, minor league teams and work their way after the majors.

Their draft simply haven't produced enough major league stars. Most of the cardinals best players are veterans with high salaries, acquire through free agency or trade with other teams. So do IT has come to believe that a Better use of data could give the cardinals an edge in the draft and after their meeting to its convinced that luna is the guy to make that happen, do IT offers luna the position of vice president of baseball development and luna accepts his fantasy of working for a major league ball? Colum has become a reality.

What lunas first season in the MLB is a quiet one. He spends two thousand four gathering data. The cardinals team Operations approaching IT with a business mindset, then do IT promote luna to scouting director, a position that will finally, given the power to shape the team with his own brand of analytics.

But soon IT becomes a parent that luna's unorthodox approach is going to ruffle some feathers within the cardinals organization. In early two thousand, five, right in the middle of spring training, luna calls members of the corneal coaching staff into a conference room for a seminar on pitching. Already, this is urgent to the teams.

Legendary pitching coach dave duncan. Duncan started his career as a catcher in the nine hundred and sixties before becoming a coach in the late seventies. Since then, he's developed a reputation for getting the best out of his pitchers with tried and true techniques that have work for decades.

So when duncan sits down in this conference room and here's luna introduced the guest speaker of the day, he's absolutely battled. Today's presentation will be given by a cartoonist from new yorker magazine named mike widdy. According to luna, woody has created his own theory on pitching mechanics based on years of experience in sketching pitchers.

Duncan fold his arms tightly across his chest and tries contain his anger. As with, he pulls out his sketchbook and begins showing his work to the pitching coaches in the room. Duncan gLance is over at luna and sees him grinning in the light.

He's clearly proud of himself for this time wasting experiment. Duncan has been a are of luna's presence in the organization, but between luna's button downshire and muted tones and meetings, the new scouting director hasn't left much of an impression. Lunas strikes duncan as a corporate suit who read money ball wants and now think he's figured out the sport.

So dunk s tried to ignore luna for the most part, choosing instead to focus on what he does best coaching pictures. But this meeting is crossing a line. Luna is disregarding dunk in's deep knowledge of the game and bringing in a cartoonist to tell him how to do his job.

But duncan holds himself together. Once this ridiculous presentation is over, he'll get back coaching his pictures in the way that work for decades. As for luna, duncan has seen scouting directors come and go so he can't wait for all this mute born nonsense to blow over so they can get rid of inter loppers like jeff in know and focus on the important manners like winning a world series.

American scandal sponsor by dell technologies who invite you to shot their black friday event for their lowest Prices of the year. The future is on sale today with limited time deals on select pcs like the X P S sixteen that accelerate A I with intel core ultra process. Black friday is their biggest sale the year and the best time to upgrade, but it's only here for a limited time.

Shot now at della com slash deals. That's della com slash deals. American scandal sponsored by ora frames.

Now here's something that I know is true. The people we love most are the most hard to shop for. Likely, there's one gift that probably everyone on your list is sure to enjoy. And a digital picture frame named the number one by wired car, because ora frames makes IT incredibly easy to share unlimited photos and videos s directly from your phone to the frame no matter where IT is. So when you give an ora frame as a gift, you can personalize and loaded with a thought message and photos using or APP, making IT an ideal present for a long distance, long ones like grandma or an and whose birthday you forget, but who always remembers yours. It's a gift so special that they'll use IT every day, and all of frames come in a variety of styles and colors so you can be sure to match the taste of anyone in your life. And trust me, it's the easiest way to share back to school photos, cute halloween costume photos, that video you took over the holiday, anything that you think your friends and family might smile, that can be sent to their or frames almost, and for a limited time visit or a frames dot com and get forty five dollars off or as best selling cover matt frames by using promotion de A S A check out that's A U R A frames dot com. Promotion de A S is exclusive black friday cyber er monday deal is their best of the year, so don't miss out turns and conditions supply.

In two thousand, five pitching coach dave dunk in and many others at the same laws, cardinals believe that jeff luna's days and baseball will be short and unremarkable, but IT doesn't take long for lunch to prove them wrong. The following year, owner built to its junior promote luna again to a new vice president position, putting him in charge of both amateur scouting and player development in the minor leagues.

Despite the sometimes bizarre perspectives he brings to meetings, luna continues to enjoy the support of the cardinals owner, and the team continues to be one of the leagues most successful in two thousand six, they win the worlds series. Luna can take much credit for the Victory because most of the Young players he's drafted and developed have yet to play in the majors, but for David is a sign that the team is trending in the right direction. And for the next three years, luna continues to push his data driven approach to recruitment and development, bringing in outside the box analysts, including a former NASA engineer named six madam all the while clubhouse veterans sneaker behind linos back, calling the bookish perspective al vice president names like the accountant or even Harry ponder.

But despite such resistance and disrespect, luna tries to get along with a baseball old timers. He understands that there's value in the experience and wisdom they bring to the table. So when he comes to the draft, he pursues a hybrid approach. He offers my deal to develop a player evaluation tool that combines data heavy performance analysis with insight from veteran scouts.

He also make sure to include these scout in his draft meetings so their voices can be heard as the draft on false still, conflicts between the old and new continue, especially in the june two thousand nine draft, when teams around the league take turns like in new Young players. As always, luna leads the cardinals draft from the front of a large conference room at bush stadium, the team's home park. He stands in front of a magnetic White board covered with more than a thousand magnets, each representing a potential draft pick.

Scout sit around a conference table at the front of the room, touring pens on their fingers and spitting dip into empty soto cans as their return approaches, luna and his scouts and analysts arranged the names on the board, shifting their priorities depending on which players are still available. Usually everyone agrees on a pic before it's the cardinals turn, but as a time grows closer for the team to make its third round pic, the room is split between two players, a power hitting outfielder Angelo sancho and pitcher joe Kelly. Sitting among the analysts and their laptops at the back of the room, sig, my dal speaks up and says that according to their algorithm, Kelly does not look good.

He shorter than the average big lee pitcher, and his college stats are average at best. But the scouts sitting at the front of the room disagree. One of them points out that everyone who's watched Kelly pitch, including luna, has been blown away by a fast ball, which can almost reach a hundred miles per our.

He has what scouts simply called great stuff, pitches that even a major league bat would have trouble hitting with a little coaching the scouts to believe that Kelly can become great. My dell says that may be true, but he's not great now. And song co is statistically, song co is the safer pic.

Luna let the argument play out, but deep down, he'd like to take my delle side. He trust analytics. And if you're playing fantasy baseball, he takes unco over Kelly every time.

But when IT comes time to make the call, luna ultimately chooses Kelly, trusting his scouts got feelings. Looking across the room, lino can see that my dell is disappointed. So after the scouts have filed out of the draft, he pulls my delle aside to talk about the decision.

Luna starts off by emphasizing that he still supports my del's analysis, but there are intangible the data can account for before luna can say anything else. My deal says he gets IT for all their efforts to combine my del's analytics with intuitive insights on the scouts. My deal recognizes that there is still conflict.

It's even reflected in where everyone choose us to sit in the draft room, the analysts in the back and the scout up front. They're just different tries. Luna is relieved to hear that my dell understands the dilema, and he confesses that he's still struggling to find a way to get everyone in the organization to buy into the analytical approach.

IT feels like he spends more time resolving internal conflicts that he does actually making good data driven decisions. So luna sign saying it's like he has all of the ingredient, had his fingertips with the recipe for a truly optimized team, still feels out of reach. He doesn't tell mind all this, but deep down, luna knows that the cardinals are just too successful to set in their ways to experiment with the kind of new approach he thinks they need.

An experiment, by definition, is trial and error. And the cardinals are winning the canada d error. So if lunn a really wants to push this thing to its limits, you'll need to have total control over the team and total buying from the front office.

To get that, he needs to find a team that he can run more like a start up, a team so bad that the idea of tearing IT down and building IT back up again would be a welcome change. At the end of the two thousand eleven season, one of the worst teams in baseball gets a new owner. When billionaire businessman jim praying by the houston astro established in one thousand nine hundred and sixty two, the astro enjoyed hot streets in the eighties and nineties and even made a trip to of the world series in two thousand five.

But we've never want a championship. And after two thousand six, the team fell into decline, routinely putting up more lawsuits and winds. The two thousand eleven season was their worst yet, with a team losing over one hundred games for the first time in the franchise's history.

But the team wasn't just losing games. They are also losing fans and losing money. Attendance has dropped every year since two thousand and six, and the teams costs outstripped its revenues by twelve million dollars in two thousand and ten.

Still, along with the minority stakeholders, jim crane pays six hundred eighty million dollars to buy the team, the second largest Price tag ever for a majority ly club. This is probably because where others see a losing franchise, crane sees opportunity. He earned his fortune and airflow logistics, an industry where data is crucial to success.

And he believes the same data driven approach can turn around the houston astro, what the team needs, new leadership. So as soon as the ink on the contract is dried, crane fires the teams general manager and wade, clearing the path for someone new in cranes. Mind, the astro are nothing more than a fAiling business.

And to turn IT around, he needs change, starting with A G. M, who's willing to do things differently. So when crane begins his search, he recall a meeting he had several years back with a member of the same Louis cardinal staff, jeff luna craye nose.

Luna isn't the conventional pic for A G. M. He's a scouting director. And he spent more time in flushing lid offices than on the freshly cut grass of a baseball field by luna has the business background. The crane believes my compliment, the astro o's new direction.

So in the fall of two thousand and eleven, crane calls to arrange a meeting with luna. The very next day, the two men meet, and crane still undecorated office to discuss the astro s potential. And as luna sits down, crane notices a stack of papers under luna's ARM.

I appreciate you meeting on such short notice, jeff. Well, opportunity calls and I answer and I can see you brought A A book report with you. How many pages is that? Twenty three IT was twenty five originally, but I tightened up some.

Then you put that together in just the last day. Well, sir, now please, jeff, none of that, sir, stuff. OK. Mister crane, no, no. Jim, okay.

Jm, well, I believe this team can be turned around, and I believe I know how luna opens up his twenty three page proposal and points to a detailed decision tree. The first thing the astro s need to do is stop spending millions of dollars on players who aren't producing results point blank. I don't care if they are fan favorite.

They have to go. The players on a baseball team are an investment, and we need to make sure our assets make sense long term. That means thinking differently from the draft to our free agent deals.

Yeah, and what is different look like to you. Well, to me, that looks like letting go of magical thinking and sticking to the data. Just the cold, hard facts of how a player performs on the field and that data is available.

It's all at our fingertips. We just have to set emotion aside and take a vange sounds a bit ruthless maybe to some. Well, I appreciate your Frankness. I mean, you can't make real change when you're busy walking on next shells.

I know that, but tell me, why do you take this? me? Are the cardinals not listening to you? Well, my views on how to run a baseball team have not always been embraced and think lust.

I'd rather come work for an organization that wants to try a different approach. And that different approach for the astro is what sabor metrics money ball i'm talking about, something that goes beyond money ball, something that gets this team at first championship. I mean, the oakland a is succeeded with money ball, but they didn't make IT to the word series.

We have to think bigger than what's already been done. We need to innovate and then keep innovate. To me, that's how you win a championship.

Crane leans back in this chair. He's impressed by luna, but still somewhat wary. He's a scouting director from saint Lewis, and right now he's sounding almost over confident.

Well, here's a more serious question, jeff. What are the risks? While the short term is basically all risk, we risk losing games. We risk losing a lot of them. We risk pissing off the fans, they won't understand what we're doing.

And we risk the pain of change in the sort of the station, alright, but in the meeting term, what if this works out in five years? This will be a playoff caliber team once, where at that level will go all in on talent. So you can host the commissioner's trophy, the first one in franchise history.

For the rest of the meeting, luna lays out the details of his proposal. A five year plan for the air to reach the playoffs eventually win the world series is strategy for getting there is daring. An unorthodox IT will require radical changes to the organization on both the business side and in the clubhouse.

But by the end of the presentation, crane has left impressed. He doesn't offer luna the gm job on the spot, but as luo shakes, cranes hand heads out of his small office crane fields and figure, if we know, just lay out a vision for the astro s that's progressive, aggressive and even a little cut through. It's the kind of vision that could transform a losing baseball team into a winning one.

American scandal sponsored by uncommon goods Spark's something uncommon. This holiday was just the right gift from uncommon goods, incredible hand pig gifts for everyone on your list, gifts that Sparky wondered delight. And that is exactly what I wanted feeling all in one spot, like what my wife found recently.

SHE loves puzzles and SHE adoors advent calendars. So uncommon goods is jigsaw puzzle advent calendars. Well, that's two great taste. The taste great together. And when we shop IT common goods, we're supporting artists and small independent businesses.

Many of their hand crafted products are made in small batches, so Better shop now before they sell out this holiday seon. And with every purchase made IT on common goods, they give back one dollar to a non profit nerve. Your choice.

So far, theyve donated more than three million dollars, and that's uncommon. Good to get fifteen percent off your next gift. Go to uncommon goods 到 com slash A S that's uncommon goods 到 com slash A S for fifteen percent of this out on this limited time offer on common goods。 They're all out .

of the ordinary. S C knows these aren't the sounds of holiday gifting. Oh, oh, okay.

Thank you. Well, they're not the sounds you are hoping for. You want squeals of delight like this and spontaneously written songs of joy. I am so happy. Oh, yes. oh. To give those, make everyone on your list feel heard with gifts like personalized jewelry, customer art works, vintage pieces and home decor for original gifts that say, I get you, S C has IT.

On december seventh, two thousand and eleven, astro honor jim crane higher jeff luna as the teams general manager. Austery, in a new era for houston and a world of new possibilities for luna's data driven, approached a baseball in one early meeting between luna and crane.

The new gm bluntly asked his boss, what are my constraints? Crane responds by tearing a blank sheet of paper off is no pad and slightly IT over the messages clear, there are no constraint. Your organization is a blank slate.

And luna realizes that this might be his one chance to run a team exactly the way he wants to run IT. So luna quickly gets to work, building out his front office within the asteroids organza. He brings his analytics expert, sig, my deal over from the cardinals and gives him the tiny of director of decision sciences.

He also fires veteran members of the asteroids organization, often in unceremonious ways. And when the two thousand twelve season begins, luna revealed his plan for the games themselves. That plan involves losing a lot.

If the astro are going to rebuild their team, they need to draft good Young talent. And the team with the league s worst record gets the overall number one draft pick the next year. So luna, with crane's approval, make sure the astro take advantage of that system.

In the two thousand and twelve season, the astro lose one hundred seven games out of one hundred and sixty two. The next year, they lose even more with one hundred and eleven, including their last fifteen. They become the laughing stock of the league, the fans hated and the press of them.

The disastrous s and luna's unconventional methods aren't going over well within the organization either. Sand starts to grow, and soon word of that internal strive reaches a local sports writer. Evan drc is a newly limited beat reporter at the houston ronicky version, the air.

And almost as soon as he begins work late the thousand and thirteen season, he starts to hear rumblings of turmoil within the team. IT starts with an offhand comment from an agent representing one of the asteroids players. He says it's something is off with the way things are being run.

And IT goes deeper than just losing games with his interest. Peak dalek sets off on a monthlong quest to find out exactly what's been happening behind the scenes by the spring of two thousand and fourteen. Julie has interviewed several former players and even spoken to luna on the phone.

And the more he learns, the more he realizes that something is off. Indeed, but he still hasn't been able to get a current player to give him a quote. But today he's hoping his lack will change.

From his desk and the host and chronicles newsroom, drily picks up the phone and dies the number of an astro player who agreed reluctantly to speak with them about problems inside the organization. Hello, this is that right? IT is.

Yeah, thanks for agreeing to talk with me about this. I don't want this call to be long. I'm not want to talk back raining now, I understand and that's not what this calls about. I'm just trying to get a Better sense of what's going on with your team, you know from someone who's living at every day.

But before we started you comfortable table with me recording this, do you have to well, i'm not going to use your name like we agree, but I want to make sure I have things phrase exactly as you say them and not me going off memory. The player pauses, seeming to mull IT over, and he finally agrees, and jellia begins recording the call. So tell me more about the energy on the team right now.

You faced a lot of about piva IT. Sounds like since jeff lono took over people, ah I want a way to put IT look the bottom line is I don't think anyone's happy. I'm not.

And what makes you unhappy right now? So like they just take the human element out of baseball. They being the front office, your new gm yeah it's hard to play for a gm, which just sees you as a number instead of a person.

You don't feel like a person as a number of your team like you're being dehumanized. I feel like an experiment, just experiment with all of us. And what kind of atmosphere is that you can feel the players frustration through the phone? Is anything else you'd like to add really? You swear you won't use my name, you have my word or twenty five guys on a team.

I'll make sure nothing in the article identity. thanks. I just want to make sure the fans, we aren't happy that we're trying our best.

Man, you gotto let them know that we all want this. On may twenty thirty, two thousand and fourteen, evan relic publishes an argo under the title radical methods paint astro as l cast. The piece lays out the asteroid analytics heavy approach and the discontent that is so within the organization.

Dri quotes both current and former players who say the asteroid have developed a bad reputation as a club that treats its players like disposable puzzle pieces. Delic also quotes jeff luna, whose response to the concerns is to say, we are not running for election here. It's not a popularity contest.

Dalley reporting generates a flu of negative media attention, but the band press and gripping players do little to deter luna. With owner jim crane support, he keeps pushing forward with his five year plan to rebuild the astro into a dream team, one that makes decisions based on hard data, not baseball tradition. Luna also slashes Operating costs, especially the team's payroll.

At the start of the two thousand and thirteen season, the astros entire roster is set to earn just twenty six million dollars, the lowest in major league baseball. Linos philosophy is simple. They'll spend more on talent only when they have a real shot at winning the world series, but strive within the organization continues.

Team manager bow porter is increasingly at awns with luna, whose obsession with player stat and analytics makes them more hands on the most gms linos office often sense suggested lineups down to the clubhouse recommendation for which relief pitchers match up best against opposing team hitters. They even tell porter where to line up his fields based on where batteries tend to hit the ball, a strategy called defensive shift. But as the losses keep piling up, a frustrated bow porter started ignoring his gms recommendations.

Things reach a boiling point late in the two thousand fourteen season, when luna fires porter, along with other members of the coaching, luna realizes he needs people around him who not only buy into his data driven approach, but can executed properly from the front office down to the field. So he hires a new manager, A J. Hinch, who is more amenable to the changing tides of modern baseball.

And in two thousand and fifteen, pinches first full season as manager, the team known as the disastrous starts winning. In two thousand and sixteen, they posted another winning record. Some of the teams top draft picks have started making an impact and momentum is building even as tensions continue to simmer a minute.

Made part because toward the end of the two thousand and sixteen season, IT becomes clear that despite their winning record, the astro won't make IT to the playoffs. The team's progress is under able, and luna is searching for more ways to innovate to push the astros to the next level of success. Around this time, direct the goa and ajose in turn mentions to luna that he's figured out a way to integrate more data into player analysis and get an edge on the other teams luna has always liked for goa.

The two men share a similar background business students out of the university of pennsylvania with a key understanding of baseball statistics. So when to go a flags a new use for analytics. Luna invite him to give a presentation on september twenty second, two thousand and sixteen luna and other members of the clubs front office sit down office IT one of the teams projector screens and watch to go up, bring up a powerpoint presentation.

But goa seems nervous. His voice is halting and he fumbled les to click through the slide. It's not the kind of performance that in steals confidence, but when the goa starts mentioning something called code breaker, luna s ears break up on the screen is an excel bredge, which for goa explains is filled with information that can help the aos predict pitches.

For some time now, lagoa has been watching televised games and cataloging ing opposing teams, sign sequences as well as the actual pitch that's thrown through this process. He's been building a database that decodes the signs for every time. So if the catcher is putting down two fingers and the pitcher is responding with a curve ball more than eighty percent of the time, you can almost certainly say, if you're facing that particular picture, catcher duo two fingers is gonna an a curve.

All what the goa is describing is not exactly ground breaking, and luna knows that teams have been stealing each other. Signs almost sense the invention of baseball, but luna was hungry for a new competitive, in any doubt, any other team. The league has built a database of signs as comprehensive as for go as so luna leaning forward in his chair and begins to ask questions.

The application might be rude a mentally, but he can see the potential. Five years ago, luna vow to honor jim crane that he would rebuild the asteroid organization. And thanks to innovation, that at times has been ruthless, they've ve done IT cold, hard data has paved the way to a new horizon for the houston astro.

But one thing still remains just outside their grasp, a world serious title. Luna can sense their, if they can keep finding smart ways to gather more data to stay one step ahead of their competitors, than the biggest Victory will be squarely in their sites. From wondering, this is episode one of houston astros caught stealing for american can. In our next episode, the astros round out their organization with veteran players and coaches to embrace the teams aggressive approach to innovation and technology, and there are philosophy of doing whatever IT takes to win.

If you're enjoying american scandal, you can unlock exclusive seasons on one free plus binge new seasons first and listen completely and free when you join wunder plus in the wander APP apple podcast or spontini. And before you go, tell about yourself by filling out a survey and one read com slash survey, if you'd like to learn more about this story, we recommend the books winning fixes everything by evan relic and cheated by andy Martino.

This episode contains reenactments and dramatized details in while in most cases we can't know exactly what we say, all our dramatizations are based on historical research. American scandal is hosted, edited and executive produced by me, linsey grand for airship audio, anything by Christian parada sound designed by Gabriel gool, music by lenny grand. This episode de is written by A J. Marisha, edited by amic corner that checking via a john Perry produced by john read, managing producer Olivia font, senior producer anti hm development by Stephanie gents executive producers are genuine or backman Marshaling and aero flaring for wondering.

Dracula, the ancient vampire who terrorizes Victorian london blood and garlic bats cruise ve fixes. Even if you haven't read the book, you think you know the story. One of the incredible things about that is that not only is that this wonderful snapshot of the century IT also has so much resonance today, the vampire doesn't castle reflection in the mirror. So when we look in the mirror, the only thing we see is our own monstrous ability. From the host and producer of american history tellers and history daily, the new podcast, the real history of dracula, we will reveal how author bram stoker raided ancient folk law, exploited Victorian fears around sex, science and religion, and how even today we remain in thrawl his strange creatures of the night, you can binge all episodes of the real history of dracula exclusively with wander plus, join wandering plus and the wandering apple podcasts or spotify.