Speaker 1: It's the Son of a Butcher podcast. You guys know
Speaker 1: the drill. We come to you every Wednesday. This week's
Speaker 1: guests the principal owner of the Houston Astros, Jim Crane.
Speaker 1: They just won the World Series and I thought it
Speaker 1: would be a good opportunity to talk to a guy
Speaker 1: like Jim about, you know, all the stuff that they've done,
Speaker 1: you know, as a as a major league franchise organization,
Speaker 1: kind of a building a culture of winning, a series
Speaker 1: of excellence and and all the things that they do.
Speaker 1: UM at the Astros organization. UM, I've known Jim Crane
Speaker 1: for a long time. He's effectively my boss here at
Speaker 1: Floridian because he owns the Floridian. But UM, I've gotten
Speaker 1: to watch his right, I mean, I think my dad
Speaker 1: and I've known Jim for around twenty five years and
Speaker 1: gotten to watch his rise not only in business but
Speaker 1: also in sports. And UM, he's got some pretty cool
Speaker 1: things say. And let me tell you, obviously he owns
Speaker 1: a golf course, so he UM, he loves golf and
Speaker 1: is a huge, huge offer. Um. He took over the
Speaker 1: running of the Houston Open on the PGA Tour, so
Speaker 1: UM lots to talk about But before we jump in,
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Speaker 1: with Jim Crane Jim. In two thousand fourteen, Ben rid
Speaker 1: er Um from Sports I wrote an article um cover
Speaker 1: of Sports Illustrated said the astroids gonna win the World
Speaker 1: Series two thousand seventeen, which you guys did. But when
Speaker 1: that article came out, Uh, did you think he was
Speaker 1: crazy for writing it? Did you envision that happening? And then,
Speaker 1: I mean, if you think about it, five years later,
Speaker 1: you guys have just one another World Series? Crazy? Yeah? No,
Speaker 1: I think you know, I think they liked the method
Speaker 1: we were going at. The team wasn't very good at
Speaker 1: the time, and um, you know, the people we had
Speaker 1: under contract weren't producing. So you know, Balloon out stripped
Speaker 1: the thing down and got a lot of young players
Speaker 1: and started to develop them, and you knew you'd start
Speaker 1: to win at some point. You just didn't know win.
Speaker 1: And you know we got good and added a few players,
Speaker 1: but a little good fortune. But you know the plan works,
Speaker 1: so you have to give him credit. I mean, when
Speaker 1: he wrote that article, you you have had three seasons
Speaker 1: in a row. You buy the team in two thousand ten,
Speaker 1: two thou eleven, yea, and then you guys lose a
Speaker 1: hundred and six games in eleven twelve, you win, you
Speaker 1: lose a hundred seven hundred eleven and that turnaround from
Speaker 1: where the team was then versus where it is now
Speaker 1: at the as the best team in baseball. Um. I
Speaker 1: guess the obvious question Jim is and how do you
Speaker 1: do that in such a short period of time. You
Speaker 1: mentioned obviously good fortune and you've got to get some
Speaker 1: breaks and stuff. But I think people are starting to
Speaker 1: see what you guys have built, you know with the
Speaker 1: Houston Astros. Um, there's a culture of winning that you
Speaker 1: have created. Um, how did you go about doing that?
Speaker 1: Because I think a lot of people listening, um are
Speaker 1: you know, obviously they're big into golf, they're big into sports,
Speaker 1: but creating, Jim a winning culture? How do you go
Speaker 1: about doing that as the person at the top. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, going back, you know when we started that,
Speaker 1: the team was financially uh and you know, losing money,
Speaker 1: so you know, the the first part of it was
Speaker 1: to stop to bleed him. But once we started to
Speaker 1: turn the team, and we made the playoffs in fifteen
Speaker 1: and beat beat the Yankees, so it was a pretty
Speaker 1: quick turnaround. The team got competitive. As a team got
Speaker 1: more competitive, it got a better following. You win the
Speaker 1: World Series. The economics are a lot better and so
Speaker 1: we had a lot more resources, you know, to bring
Speaker 1: in good trainers to bring in good coaches and and
Speaker 1: really work with the players. And then once you start winning, um,
Speaker 1: everybody's very focused on getting better and better. And so
Speaker 1: they all challenged each other and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: some of the core guys like Altuvee and Bregman and
Speaker 1: Korea at the time were very hard workers, and so
Speaker 1: when people walk into the locker room, there was an
Speaker 1: expectation that, you know, this is how we're going to
Speaker 1: do it, and this is how hard you need to
Speaker 1: work if you want to be on this team. And
Speaker 1: so they all led by example, and so once you
Speaker 1: got that, it kind of cut contagious, and so everybody
Speaker 1: walks in the locker room, there's an you know, the
Speaker 1: new guy walks in. You know, as as you've had
Speaker 1: new players from seventeen and brought new new kids up
Speaker 1: from the system, the expectation is there that you know,
Speaker 1: this is how we this is how we work, and
Speaker 1: this is how we play, and everybody gives their best efforts.
Speaker 1: So I think that the players kind of developed that
Speaker 1: themselves with some good leaders in there, and then the
Speaker 1: economics got better, and you know them when we needed
Speaker 1: to sign another guy or bringing over Land or our
Speaker 1: Grinky or whoever, you know, made the team better down
Speaker 1: the stretch. It just got us more consistent as an
Speaker 1: owner of a Major League Baseball team. The fans see
Speaker 1: it as a sport, but as you mentioned, sports in
Speaker 1: two is one of business. There is the sports side
Speaker 1: of it and then there is the business side of it.
Speaker 1: How do you, as as the guy at the top,
Speaker 1: manage those two were looking You're looking at the business
Speaker 1: side of things and then there's the sporting element of this.
Speaker 1: I mean, because I think that's a fine line between
Speaker 1: you know, the sports and the business. Well, I think
Speaker 1: you know, we've we've looked at you know, we've gotten
Speaker 1: the revenue up and of course, um, you know, we
Speaker 1: we try to make a profit if we can. You know,
Speaker 1: some years in those early years, certainly we didn't with COVID,
Speaker 1: we we didn't. Um, I think you balanced it. I
Speaker 1: think most of the teams are pretty disciplined. They'll spend
Speaker 1: the money they have on players, um, you know, without
Speaker 1: you know, going into into losses. No, although it's changing now,
Speaker 1: we've seen some teams do some very extravagant and spending
Speaker 1: and definitely losing some money. So um, we don't really
Speaker 1: look at it like that. You know, I've got investors
Speaker 1: into business, and you know you try to return and
Speaker 1: get a return for them, um, but you try to
Speaker 1: balance it. You know, we're in a position now the
Speaker 1: Astros were, you know, our revenues are up with with
Speaker 1: the four or five biggest teams, and we can compete
Speaker 1: against them, and we can sign some free agents and
Speaker 1: we can develop our players well, and we can you know,
Speaker 1: you know, sign our guys and arbitration. So we kind
Speaker 1: of use a blend model where we keep the rookies
Speaker 1: coming in, keep keep ahold of our our our guys,
Speaker 1: and then bring in some talent when we need it.
Speaker 1: And that farming has worked well. It's kept us very competitive,
Speaker 1: and we should be very competitive in two thousand and
Speaker 1: three and compete for another championship. You said to me
Speaker 1: once that from a from an owner standpoint, you are,
Speaker 1: I think one of the only owners of a mazing
Speaker 1: league baseball team that actually ever played competitive baseball. Central
Speaker 1: Missouri from seventy three to seventy six still hold the
Speaker 1: single game strikeout record for the Fighting Mules eighteen. But Jim,
Speaker 1: do you think it helps you coming from a baseball
Speaker 1: background that you played the sport that you played the game,
Speaker 1: that you understand not only you've been unbelievably successful from
Speaker 1: a business standpoint um, but you played competitive baseball, so
Speaker 1: you understand how the game works. Do you think that
Speaker 1: helps you and do you think it can hurt other
Speaker 1: owners because they weren't in baseball. Well, you know, I
Speaker 1: think it gives me a different perspective. I didn't play professionally,
Speaker 1: but played play. I was an All American in college
Speaker 1: and pitched a lot, you know, from the time I
Speaker 1: was a freshman all the way through senior and you know,
Speaker 1: I know what it is to throw nine innings. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, your your back plags back, you're a little stiff,
Speaker 1: your little sore, um. You know the wear and tear,
Speaker 1: and you know I can walk into the locker room
Speaker 1: because I was in the locker room probably from the
Speaker 1: time I was, you know, in high school all the
Speaker 1: way through college, so you know how that vibe works,
Speaker 1: and you can see it and you can see how
Speaker 1: the guys are getting along. So I'm comfortable talking to
Speaker 1: the players. I I probably talked to him, you know,
Speaker 1: more than some of the other owners, but I'm just
Speaker 1: comfortable doing it. I invite him to dinner. I try
Speaker 1: to get to know him. I kind of tell them
Speaker 1: if you've got a problem, I got a problem. We
Speaker 1: were able to get uh Jordan Alvarez his family in
Speaker 1: from Cuba, which was no easy feat, Um, but you
Speaker 1: know that was something that was really bothering him, so
Speaker 1: we put some effort and hired some people to help.
Speaker 1: And you know that that gains loyalty with your players.
Speaker 1: And you know, some times it's not down to the
Speaker 1: last dollar. It's where they're most comfortable. And that's the
Speaker 1: atmosphere we try to create at the Astros and I
Speaker 1: think it's worked pretty well. We care about our people,
Speaker 1: we care about our players, and we care about our fans.
Speaker 1: Two things, Um, that you have pushed heavily into UM
Speaker 1: the farm system, developing talent from the ground up that
Speaker 1: are part of the Astros organization. And then UM the
Speaker 1: second part that I want to get to, the analytics thing.
Speaker 1: When you came in and and and and bought the Astros,
Speaker 1: UM their farm system. They're developing of talent that were
Speaker 1: part of the organization wasn't nearly what it is now.
Speaker 1: And I think you all have had so much success, Jim,
Speaker 1: because you've taken young players, put them into the organization
Speaker 1: in an early stage. Because it's easy in two to
Speaker 1: do what the Mets and the Yankees and the Dodgers
Speaker 1: to just go buy superstars. Why was it important for
Speaker 1: you to build from within and and have these players
Speaker 1: um part of the Astros organization from a very early age. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, you start with the coaches and the scouts.
Speaker 1: The scouts do a good job of selecting the guys
Speaker 1: and not often in the first round, it's the second round,
Speaker 1: a third round and identifying that talent. And then once
Speaker 1: we have the talent, we make sure we've got the expertise,
Speaker 1: you know to improve that change up are you know,
Speaker 1: get more rotation on the spin on the ball when
Speaker 1: the guys thrown a slider or you know, developed their
Speaker 1: swing better so they make it more contacts. So it
Speaker 1: really is that you know that, you know, first the scouts,
Speaker 1: we get the guys in the system, and then we
Speaker 1: really try to fine tune them and find something um
Speaker 1: that they weren't doing effectively where they were at I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we brought in some pictures Derek uh Derek Cole,
Speaker 1: and you know we were able to improve his slider
Speaker 1: and his his rotation on his fastball and make his
Speaker 1: you know, his pitches a little more lively. And um,
Speaker 1: you know that that he had, he had a very
Speaker 1: good couple of seasons with us. So I think you
Speaker 1: give a lot of credit to the coaches and the
Speaker 1: scouts and then you know, then just you know, working
Speaker 1: those guys as a team in the locker room, and
Speaker 1: you know, you get a good manager. Dusty Baker is
Speaker 1: very good with the players. He's he's comfortable in the
Speaker 1: locker room. He can talk to the guys, he encourages guys.
Speaker 1: He he's a he's a player's coach, and so that
Speaker 1: that type of thing worked very well. Same thing with A. J.
Speaker 1: Hinch Um. So just just really fine tuning the players
Speaker 1: and making them better and improving them. They're all good
Speaker 1: athletes when you get them. Um, you know, there's just
Speaker 1: that edge where some of the you know, in golf,
Speaker 1: some of the guys can go to another gear under pressure.
Speaker 1: You know. I think the other thing that helps our
Speaker 1: guys is they've been in the big games. Um, they
Speaker 1: know that kind of pressure and and they perform well
Speaker 1: in those big games, as you've seen over the last
Speaker 1: five years, I mean last six years, we've been in
Speaker 1: the a L Championship, uh six times in a row.
Speaker 1: Hopefully we can do it again this year. But when
Speaker 1: you find these players, I mean, do you think that
Speaker 1: again is poor of the culture. That players know that
Speaker 1: there's an opportunity for them if they get into the
Speaker 1: Astro's system early on, they see the pathways of great
Speaker 1: players that have gone from start to finish. Guys like
Speaker 1: Jose's Alto has been part of the farm system. You
Speaker 1: guys brought him up, you didn't trade him. He wanted
Speaker 1: to stay. Do you think that also helps in creating
Speaker 1: that culture around the Astros, Oh, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: I mean, even the guys that have left, um, you know,
Speaker 1: still stay in contact with with our players. They enjoyed
Speaker 1: the camaraderie. They were comfortable in the locker room, and
Speaker 1: you know, they develop a culture of winning and they
Speaker 1: they expectation was always there if you walk into the
Speaker 1: locker room, we expect to win. So um, you know,
Speaker 1: the guys, you know, I think it's helped a lot
Speaker 1: of our young players go to another another gear and
Speaker 1: really produced Penia this year was remarkable to taking koreas
Speaker 1: spot um m VP of the World Series unbelievable analytics
Speaker 1: gym in two. I mean, business is everything is is
Speaker 1: kind of being driven by analytics. Um. Why did you
Speaker 1: feel it was important early on in in you know,
Speaker 1: the new ownership of the astros to push so heavily
Speaker 1: into analytics. Well, we we were. You know that there's
Speaker 1: two thousand eleven just there was a lot of teams
Speaker 1: that were ahead of us, but there was also a
Speaker 1: lot of teams not doing anything, and we felt if
Speaker 1: we had good information, you know, from that that analytics,
Speaker 1: whether it's bad speed, you know, rotation on the pitches,
Speaker 1: you know foot speed, um, you know, closing distance on
Speaker 1: a flight ball, all of those things matter. Those little
Speaker 1: things matter. You know, if it's a tick better, if
Speaker 1: it's a tick better here, um. So that gives you,
Speaker 1: you know, good information to make a decision. Um. Then
Speaker 1: once you have that information, you've got to know the
Speaker 1: players and you know the makeup of the players and
Speaker 1: how they fit in. But you know, I think everybody's
Speaker 1: kind of caught up with each other on the analytics.
Speaker 1: There's some new stuff coming, you know, there's always new
Speaker 1: new data coming. But you know, we've got good information
Speaker 1: to help make good decisions on the players. Not only
Speaker 1: you know, drafting the players, but also once we get
Speaker 1: the guys, improving the players. So it works how much
Speaker 1: UM or the players looking at the same information that
Speaker 1: you all in the organization are looking at from a
Speaker 1: data standpoint. Yeah, we have a team of guys that
Speaker 1: work with the players on you know whatever you know
Speaker 1: they're pitching or you know, their release points, all the
Speaker 1: various things that that a picture needs to be aware of,
Speaker 1: the spin rate, you know, the location of pitches, um
Speaker 1: you know how a certain batter handles a certain pitch,
Speaker 1: and I mean they do all their homework on that.
Speaker 1: So the players are very engaged on it. Same same
Speaker 1: thing on the hitting side, you know, they work you know,
Speaker 1: hours and looking at data and looking at you know,
Speaker 1: not not only the data of their swing, but also
Speaker 1: you know what the night of that game, you know,
Speaker 1: the picture is gonna pitch, They'll go in the video
Speaker 1: room and they'll look at what, look, who's gonna pitch
Speaker 1: and what kind of movement on that ball and where
Speaker 1: they where they think they're going to try to pitch them.
Speaker 1: So they're always doing their homework. They have prep meetings
Speaker 1: before the games UM to give them that information and
Speaker 1: now they have you know, the iPads and the the
Speaker 1: dugout they can use and so it's a data driven
Speaker 1: business and the information helps. But I remember you telling
Speaker 1: me once in seventeen when you guys made your run
Speaker 1: for the World Series. You were talking about the manager
Speaker 1: at the time, A J. Hince. You were saying that
Speaker 1: you were told AJ listen, I played baseball. Um, I'll
Speaker 1: never beat you up if you make a baseball decision
Speaker 1: that goes against what the analytics are saying. Because A
Speaker 1: J played, you played. So how do you have that
Speaker 1: balance of the athlete having too much information and being
Speaker 1: able to filter roll of that in you can overload them?
Speaker 1: I mean I think you know, it depends on the player. Um,
Speaker 1: they try to break it down when they presented to
Speaker 1: them and make things simple and you know, start one step,
Speaker 1: two steps at a time. If they can take more
Speaker 1: information they need more information, they're gonna get it. So
Speaker 1: I I do think there's there's still the element, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, analyzing the situation and a particular uler time
Speaker 1: and who's done what over not just looking at the
Speaker 1: at the numbers. The managers has you know, the wherewithal
Speaker 1: and has the discretion to make you know, something that
Speaker 1: may not go right by the book, and you know
Speaker 1: that's that's what makes a great manager. So, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I think sometimes some of the teams are you know,
Speaker 1: got their lineup set and they've got everything set, and
Speaker 1: you know, here this guy comes in if this batters up,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna change this guy. And you know it's
Speaker 1: pretty pretty orchestrated from the start to finish. But um,
Speaker 1: we don't. We don't really do it like that. We
Speaker 1: lead to the manager that's on the field and kind
Speaker 1: of you know, looking in the guy's eye like as
Speaker 1: he ready to go, and you know, is this the
Speaker 1: best move? You know, using that feel along with the numbers.
Speaker 1: But they all have the numbers. You won the World
Speaker 1: Series in seventeen. Obviously the controversy that followed. Do you
Speaker 1: feel like winning another World Series in two is validation
Speaker 1: of the organization and the work that you all have
Speaker 1: put in. Well, you know, it brought a lot of
Speaker 1: a bad press and and a lot of pressure on
Speaker 1: the team. I mean, certainly what we did wasn't right. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, every we've been through that and apologize for
Speaker 1: that a hundred times, but um, you know, certainly that
Speaker 1: has been going on in baseball, and in fact, you know,
Speaker 1: for a long time there was teams, two teams find
Speaker 1: ahead of us. UM. You know, we took the punishment. UM,
Speaker 1: we weren't right and we moved on from it. I
Speaker 1: think it was nice to see the team. You know,
Speaker 1: we've been in the World Series the year before and
Speaker 1: they're hard to win, you know, if one team gets
Speaker 1: hot or the other one doesn't. But you know, we've
Speaker 1: been in UM four in the last six years and
Speaker 1: you know we've won two of them. So are batting
Speaker 1: averages five hundred in the World Series. So that's good.
Speaker 1: I mean, just to knock on the door and get there.
Speaker 1: It was great for the city. UM, it proved I
Speaker 1: think that this has always been a very good ball team.
Speaker 1: And to win another one UM and and put that
Speaker 1: banner up UM come this spring was gonna be a
Speaker 1: lot of fun for the fans and and for the players.
Speaker 1: I mean, we get great support in Houston. Without all
Speaker 1: the great fans and the attendance and the corporate sponsorships, UM,
Speaker 1: we wouldn't have the resources to do the things we do.
Speaker 1: So I really appreciate the support of Houston. One of
Speaker 1: the cliches and sports gym is. They always say that
Speaker 1: you learn more from defeat and losing than you learned
Speaker 1: from winning. You were all the Astros were in the
Speaker 1: World Series last year, you didn't win. What did you
Speaker 1: as an organization learned from not winning last year that
Speaker 1: you think helped you in two this year? Well, I
Speaker 1: think the guys knew, you know, we had a really
Speaker 1: good team this year. I can't put one, you know,
Speaker 1: certain thing that was there. I think just their consistency
Speaker 1: of being in the World Series, are being in a
Speaker 1: lot of big games, Um that they're not fearful of
Speaker 1: those games. A team like the Phillies hadn't been in
Speaker 1: the ear and years. There's a little more pressure and
Speaker 1: a little more ankst once you don't have that rhythm
Speaker 1: and you haven't been in those types of situations many
Speaker 1: many times. I think we just had a big edge. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, sometimes you win, somebody gets hot, somebody pitches better.
Speaker 1: You know, baseball, you lose sixty games in the season,
Speaker 1: You've had a really good season, so you're gonna get beat,
Speaker 1: you know, and it's a sharp series, so it's fairly random.
Speaker 1: You know. The best team in baseball this year the
Speaker 1: Dodgers or eleven and they got knocked out, you know,
Speaker 1: in an early round. So it can happen to anybody.
Speaker 1: They say confidence comes from demonstrated performance, right, you look
Speaker 1: at in the past, because everybody says, you know, how
Speaker 1: do you gain confidence? Right, You've You've mentioned it a
Speaker 1: couple of times already. Because the team keeps getting into
Speaker 1: pressure situations, keeps getting to the big games, whether you
Speaker 1: win or you lose, keep getting there has got to
Speaker 1: be huge for the athletes. Yeah, no, I think they
Speaker 1: thrive on that kind of environment. And you know, you
Speaker 1: watch some of the guys that are good at they're
Speaker 1: not always kind of be able to play the expectations.
Speaker 1: But you know, it seems like this year, you know,
Speaker 1: big hit a certain time, big play. I mean it
Speaker 1: was just our year. We were smooth with it. Um.
Speaker 1: You know. I play a lot of golf. I kind
Speaker 1: of relate to you know, if you're in a you know,
Speaker 1: not playing professionally, but if you're in a club championship
Speaker 1: or you're in a member guest and you've got a
Speaker 1: bunch of people watching, you know what guy can hit
Speaker 1: that shot under pressure that you've been there before, it
Speaker 1: helps you know, well, if you've hit a bunch of
Speaker 1: those shots, um, in that situation, you don't get as nervous.
Speaker 1: So you know, I I kind of relate to that.
Speaker 1: I mean, you you wonder about these these progralfers, you
Speaker 1: know when they're on up, when they're on on they
Speaker 1: come in and they finished that round, and they they
Speaker 1: finished that, you know that that last putter, that last shot,
Speaker 1: and you know XC all the way in And I
Speaker 1: think you know, as you've seen with great golfers, the
Speaker 1: more they've done that, the more comfortable they are doing.
Speaker 1: It's the same thing in baseball. Let's take a quick
Speaker 1: break and we are back. I once you said early
Speaker 1: on one of your dreams, two of your dreams was
Speaker 1: still own a professional baseball team and to own a
Speaker 1: golf course. You own a a burgeoning dynasty. You own
Speaker 1: the golf course. We're at here, the Fluoridian. You guys
Speaker 1: run the Houston Open on the PGA tour. Um, how
Speaker 1: did golf, Jim become such a huge, huge part of
Speaker 1: your life. Well, I was started as a kid caddy
Speaker 1: and UM in St. Louis aid, of course, right next
Speaker 1: to my high school. I think I didn't get didn't
Speaker 1: make the junior varsity when I was a freshman, so
Speaker 1: I was mad. So I just went went over and
Speaker 1: dark Caddy and after school. And then the next year
Speaker 1: my dad said, Jim, you're not gonna be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, show them how good you are if you
Speaker 1: don't play, so you know, might want to go back.
Speaker 1: So you've probably got similar speeches from your dad. But um,
Speaker 1: you know, the the you know, the the baseball has
Speaker 1: always been in the back of my mind. I never
Speaker 1: really realized I could ever have enough money to buy
Speaker 1: one in a big company. I started from scratching be
Speaker 1: four got big and had taken over. In the hostile takeover,
Speaker 1: I wasn't trying to sell it, and it's sold, and
Speaker 1: so I had sitting on a big stunk of cat
Speaker 1: a big stack of cash, and um, you know, I've
Speaker 1: been coming down to the Floridian and you know, Wayne Haysinger,
Speaker 1: you know, was trying to sell it and I was
Speaker 1: in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought
Speaker 1: I made a low ball offer and he took it.
Speaker 1: So then I was in the golf business. And but
Speaker 1: it's been fun. I mean, this place is great and
Speaker 1: it's fun to see all the people come in here
Speaker 1: and enjoy it. It's a great facility. Um, and and
Speaker 1: it's done well. And then you know, the baseball I've
Speaker 1: been on a few teams, been on a few teams,
Speaker 1: are very difficult to buy. I finally got it done,
Speaker 1: and then you know, we working hard there. We try
Speaker 1: to try to do everything right. Um. Just like I
Speaker 1: pick up teas on the golf course, I pick up
Speaker 1: trash and building at the ballpark. So we try to
Speaker 1: We try to get really good people to run their
Speaker 1: individual departments and and be the best of what we'd
Speaker 1: be and and work at it very hard every day.
Speaker 1: But I'm very grateful. I've I've got a golf course,
Speaker 1: and I got a baseball team, and and I still
Speaker 1: have a job. So I'm good dad. And I've known
Speaker 1: you for over almost five years now. Um, you're business wise.
Speaker 1: I've never pegged you as a micro manager. But I
Speaker 1: have never met anybody, Jim that is at the level
Speaker 1: you're at that is as focused on the small little details,
Speaker 1: you know as as someone who's you know, business, the
Speaker 1: things that you've done, sports, the things that you've done.
Speaker 1: Do you think that one of the keys to your
Speaker 1: success is the attention to the small stuff that a
Speaker 1: lot of people overlook. Well you want you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the little things matter. And whatever business you're in,
Speaker 1: you know it's a cargo business, you know, away a
Speaker 1: palette loaded, whether to get to the other end or not.
Speaker 1: Stuff like that. Um, but I do watch everything and
Speaker 1: watch people working, and you know it really it really
Speaker 1: relies on good people. You have great people on your staff,
Speaker 1: and you set the standards. You know, nine out of
Speaker 1: ten times they're going to meet those standards and and
Speaker 1: things get better and better. Good people hire good people, um.
Speaker 1: And you know you want things to run first class
Speaker 1: and they enjoy that. Like our staff and he used them,
Speaker 1: will all get a ring all the way down to
Speaker 1: the usher. That's the way of showing appreciation. And those
Speaker 1: people are doing the little things that really matter to
Speaker 1: make a stadium look great and clean and nice. And
Speaker 1: you know, I have a rule there at the ballpark.
Speaker 1: If something, don't let anyone leave mad. We're coming here
Speaker 1: to have fun. If somebody drops her ice cream, give
Speaker 1: him another one. If somebody builds a popcorn and another one,
Speaker 1: give him a beer. Don't don't don't make anyone. This
Speaker 1: is a place we want to have fun and enjoy it,
Speaker 1: so make things right, and that attitude just kind of
Speaker 1: breeds on itself. It works here at a golf course,
Speaker 1: it works at the ballpark, it works in your business.
Speaker 1: So I just used those same principles since I started
Speaker 1: started companies many many years ago. You're involved with the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour. Now you guys took over the running of
Speaker 1: the Houston Open. What was the reason that you just listen,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not like you need to take on
Speaker 1: a PGA Tour event. You're running, you know, the Houston Astros.
Speaker 1: You're running all of your businesses globally. Um, what was
Speaker 1: the reason why you wanted to get involved with the
Speaker 1: PGA Tour and and and basically take over the running
Speaker 1: of the Houston Open. Yeah, Well, Houston is a big town,
Speaker 1: a lot of golf. It's a golf town. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: the tournament had failed and so they had lost the
Speaker 1: slot um before the Masters, and they didn't have a sponsor. So, um,
Speaker 1: I felt the location wasn't always the best and that
Speaker 1: was kind of part of the downfield. You know, the
Speaker 1: sponsor for years pulled out and I felt that with
Speaker 1: our baseball you know, connections and all the sponsors we
Speaker 1: have there that we could move it downtown, um, in
Speaker 1: a city park, but that took a lot of money.
Speaker 1: We raised a lot of money to do that and
Speaker 1: put about thirty two million in the city park. But
Speaker 1: that's where it was originally played. It's a place where
Speaker 1: it had plenty of room to do it, and it
Speaker 1: was a central spot. So I knew that the draw
Speaker 1: would be good because they had a hard time getting
Speaker 1: fans out of the other locations. So just all that
Speaker 1: came together. And the main reason we did it is,
Speaker 1: you know, I went to the Phoenix Open one year
Speaker 1: and I was with the CEO of Waste Management, Jim Fish,
Speaker 1: and I said, man, this thing is unbelievable. I mean,
Speaker 1: how much revenue you generate. He said, well, um, you know,
Speaker 1: they generate about twenty million for charity. And I'm going,
Speaker 1: holy smokes. You know, that's something that interests me. And
Speaker 1: I felt if I could get it downtown, I could
Speaker 1: get the course renovated and pull all of those strings.
Speaker 1: And we got a lot of support from foundations and
Speaker 1: you know, donations throughout the city and a lot of sponsors,
Speaker 1: and so we were able to pull together and this
Speaker 1: last year we made about five and a half million
Speaker 1: for charity. And so it's worked. It's up and running
Speaker 1: and it should be a great tournament. For many years.
Speaker 1: You mentioned charity, uh, the Astros Foundation. When when you
Speaker 1: took over the running of the Houston Astros, how much
Speaker 1: money was in the Astros Foundation? And how much is
Speaker 1: in the Astros Foundation now, well, we've there wasn't much.
Speaker 1: There was like thirty thousand. We couldn't find it. But um,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, we do a
Speaker 1: lot of events to raise money. Great sponsors again, you know,
Speaker 1: they're the key. Um. We've probably raised over sixty million,
Speaker 1: and you know, we spent thirty two million on the
Speaker 1: golf course and you know, we probably give away five
Speaker 1: or six million a year and you know, have a
Speaker 1: pretty good balance in there. Um, and all that goes
Speaker 1: back into the community. And I think, um, you know
Speaker 1: that's why we get a lot of support of the ballpark.
Speaker 1: We started the baseball program. What we renovated, um, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty three city fields and have eleven thousand kids that
Speaker 1: have run through that program. We've had two kids drafted
Speaker 1: and forty baseball and softball scholarships just from the kids
Speaker 1: that have gone through that system, so you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's easy to get behind that from a sponsor standpoint
Speaker 1: when you can get those kind of results. And so
Speaker 1: it's just given back to the city. We have a
Speaker 1: great city and they're very generous and you couldn't do
Speaker 1: it without them. So let's take a short break and
Speaker 1: we will be back right after this. All right, let's
Speaker 1: get back to the interview. Through golf you've gotten to know. Mean,
Speaker 1: we've got a bunch of tour players that are members here,
Speaker 1: Brooks d j Um, Gary Woodland, Ricky Fowler. Um, you've
Speaker 1: got a close friendship with Jimmy Walker. You get to
Speaker 1: play a lot of golf with a lot of really
Speaker 1: good golfers. When you play with these guys, Jim, what
Speaker 1: stands out? I mean, obviously you're around baseball all the time,
Speaker 1: so you're around the best baseball players in the world,
Speaker 1: but you you get a ringside seat. Um, you're playing
Speaker 1: the Dunhill every year, playing the Pebble Beach Pro Am.
Speaker 1: You play a lot of problems when you play with
Speaker 1: the best players in the world. What what what impresses
Speaker 1: you about their games? Well, they're just they're very, really,
Speaker 1: really good. I mean you know, they they you know,
Speaker 1: and they can focus. I mean, these are guys that
Speaker 1: have all one big tournaments and um, you know play well.
Speaker 1: It's it's hard to win every week in that business too,
Speaker 1: but um, just just the way they strike the ball.
Speaker 1: If you you know, I can kind of look at
Speaker 1: you know, guys swing and and you know you try
Speaker 1: to emulate those swings. Not that you've got the speed
Speaker 1: or the power they have, but but when you watch
Speaker 1: good players play, um, I think it makes you better.
Speaker 1: So they're just fun to play with. And you know
Speaker 1: you can't play at that level, but um, a lot
Speaker 1: of times you played better when you're playing with him
Speaker 1: because you want to try a little harder and you
Speaker 1: kind of watch what they're doing. Um, and and it's
Speaker 1: great fun. I mean, not a lot of people get
Speaker 1: to do that. So that's one one great thing about
Speaker 1: having of course, you know they'll trip in here and
Speaker 1: go play nine holes and uh, it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite stories that I'd love for you
Speaker 1: to tell you, uh, you repaired with Jimmy Walker when
Speaker 1: Jimmy Walker won the Pebble Beach Pro am and last
Speaker 1: round there on was yeah no so so Jimmy's kind
Speaker 1: of you had a six shot of lead going in,
Speaker 1: so I'm I'm just trying to stay out of his way.
Speaker 1: But um, he's on fourteen and we've played that course
Speaker 1: on on earlier in the week on Thursday, and we
Speaker 1: had to get a string out on he pulled out
Speaker 1: of five when he blew it way down there, very
Speaker 1: hard hole of hit and two for even a pro
Speaker 1: at Pebble Beach and he hit a fan of uh
Speaker 1: three three wood to the right and they had to
Speaker 1: get a string out to see if it was, um,
Speaker 1: see if it was still in bounds, and it was.
Speaker 1: It was then barely in bounds, and he chipped it
Speaker 1: up there and made Bertie, which is you know, that's
Speaker 1: a two shot swing. But I'll get to the end
Speaker 1: of it. So we get on Sunday and you know,
Speaker 1: he's made a couple of bogies just ship. You know,
Speaker 1: it's leads down maybe two or three, and he pulls
Speaker 1: out the three wood and so I'm standing behind him
Speaker 1: and his caddie's over there and we're waiting and waiting
Speaker 1: because people on the green and so well, he's not
Speaker 1: gonna hit that through. He was like, you know, it's
Speaker 1: up hill. It was like two eighty or something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he had I think he had a five wood. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And so anyway, I waved his caddy over. I said,
Speaker 1: is he gonna hit that? That hit that five wood?
Speaker 1: He said yeah? And I said you think he should
Speaker 1: hit it? And he said no. And he says, I said, well,
Speaker 1: go tell him. He says, you tell him. So I
Speaker 1: didn't want to mess him up. So I got over
Speaker 1: and I put my arm around. I said, Jimmy, what
Speaker 1: we're gonna do here? He's I'm hit this little fade
Speaker 1: five would up there and gonna land on the green
Speaker 1: soft of any thing to roll off the back and
Speaker 1: I'll have a you know, kind of a back into
Speaker 1: the grain chip. I said, okay, So I slapped him
Speaker 1: on the back and I said hit it. Let's go,
Speaker 1: you know, just because I didn't want to tell him
Speaker 1: not they hit it. So he hit it right over flags.
Speaker 1: Sure enough, he chipped it up a little, stubbed it
Speaker 1: a little bit, and and miss the put. But he
Speaker 1: still made par. But he's coming in and he's leaking all.
Speaker 1: He's got one one shot lead coming into eighteen. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm thinking everybody's gonna blame me if he blows the thing.
Speaker 1: So he he hits a you know, pulled out an
Speaker 1: iron on eighteen, hits it to the right, not a
Speaker 1: very good shot, and then chunks it up there and
Speaker 1: it's got to hit it over the tree. On the
Speaker 1: third shot of pebble beach, hits on the back of green,
Speaker 1: blows it by the hole. It's got about a five
Speaker 1: or six ft or he curled it in the corner.
Speaker 1: So he did. He won by one stinking shot. But
Speaker 1: you know, you go back, you know the difference. You know,
Speaker 1: you can see these guys when they when you play
Speaker 1: with him doing that it you know, turn it comes
Speaker 1: down to one shot and it could have been that
Speaker 1: shot where you hit it out of bounds on the
Speaker 1: first day. That's the two shot swing. So um, it's
Speaker 1: a tough business. But but it was fun to watch
Speaker 1: him under pressure and you could see the pressure getting
Speaker 1: to him a little bit. You know, he got kind
Speaker 1: of out of his routine. So those guys, those guys
Speaker 1: to feel the pressure, I'm sure, but it was it's
Speaker 1: always been fun to play with them. What do you
Speaker 1: think the similarities for everyone listening, Jim, what are the
Speaker 1: similar I mean you've been so successful in in your
Speaker 1: business is what are the similarities between business and sports?
Speaker 1: What do you feel like they are? Because we hear
Speaker 1: a lot of that. You know, they're very similar, you know, competition,
Speaker 1: all of that. But for you, as someone that has
Speaker 1: been so successful both in sports and in business, what
Speaker 1: do you feel like the similarities are. Well, I think
Speaker 1: you know, in business, you're not You're not always gonna
Speaker 1: have a great year. You're gonna have some bad years.
Speaker 1: Things happen. Um, you know, you may not get this
Speaker 1: account that you really wanted. I mean, it's it's very similar.
Speaker 1: It's difficult. You have to be consistent, you gotta show up,
Speaker 1: and you've got to do the work. And I think
Speaker 1: being a great athlete, uh, you see all of that.
Speaker 1: In the great athletes, you know they may work a
Speaker 1: little harder, they may put in a couple of hours
Speaker 1: extra practice that you know, they may put in more
Speaker 1: time at the gym. Um. So I think that's the similarities.
Speaker 1: It's the same in business as the effort you put
Speaker 1: out and you know how you distinguish yourself against your competitors,
Speaker 1: and and it works in sports too. In business, if
Speaker 1: I see a kid's resume. UM. And and you know
Speaker 1: they played volleyball in college. Um they were swimmer, UM
Speaker 1: they whatever the sport was, if they played in college
Speaker 1: or or even competitively at something. UM, I knew two
Speaker 1: things right away. One they're gonna show up and they're
Speaker 1: gonna work. And to UM, they don't like to lose.
Speaker 1: And so when you have those two attributes in business,
Speaker 1: they're very valuable and just like they are in sports. Well,
Speaker 1: I appreciate you Targets. Congrats. UM, you guys are doing
Speaker 1: an amazing job. And uh, you know we're all just
Speaker 1: we're so happy for you because we're all Astros fans. Now, well,
Speaker 1: well we'll try to do it again. It's never easy,
Speaker 1: but you know, we'll have fun at the ballpark and
Speaker 1: we've got a good team there and we've got good
Speaker 1: people supporting us. So thank you very much and good
Speaker 1: luck to you guys. Thanks. So that was Jim Crane
Speaker 1: and UM, I mean he's he's a success. I mean
Speaker 1: borrow ten thousand dollars from his sister to start his businesses.
Speaker 1: He's a multi billionaire. UM, he's a two time World
Speaker 1: Series franchise owner in the Houston Astros. And UM, the
Speaker 1: coolest thing about Jim is, like I said at the beginning,
Speaker 1: my dad and I've known Jim. Um. I met him
Speaker 1: when he had just started his first company. He was
Speaker 1: a young member at Lock and Bar Golf Club, where
Speaker 1: my dad was the head pro and where I was
Speaker 1: working as an assistant. And you know, in the subsequent years,
Speaker 1: the only difference between Jim in the early nineties versus
Speaker 1: Jim and is he's just got a lot more money.
Speaker 1: He's the same person, and uh, you know, I'm really
Speaker 1: proud to work for him and and and be a
Speaker 1: part of everything that he's doing. So good to talk
Speaker 1: to him. So the PGA Tour Um is back. The
Speaker 1: West Coast Swing is underway. Two tournaments in Hawaii. The
Speaker 1: Tournament of champions Um not really the Tournament of champions
Speaker 1: anymore because the PGA Tour this year deciding to let
Speaker 1: in everybody that made it to the Tour Championship last year.
Speaker 1: So if you made it to Eastlake, you made it
Speaker 1: to the Tournament of champions And I'll let you guys
Speaker 1: do the math on that one. Um Colin Moore Kalis
Speaker 1: shut lead going in the final round and doesn't get
Speaker 1: it done. And John ram I mean just shoots lights
Speaker 1: out and takes the first tournament of the year. And
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I saw this tweet the other day. Um.
Speaker 1: In his last fifteen starts, John Ram has won two
Speaker 1: national opens. Um, He's won the Tournament of Champions. He.
Speaker 1: I mean, the guy basically just either wins finished his
Speaker 1: top ten or top five in every tournament he enters.
Speaker 1: And how he's the number five ranked player in the
Speaker 1: world with that resume. He just won the end of
Speaker 1: the year on the DP World Tour. Uh so he's
Speaker 1: pretty much one of his two out of his last
Speaker 1: three starts. And UM, I don't know how you can
Speaker 1: do that against the field that was in Maui and
Speaker 1: and not move up in the world rankings. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just it's it's crazy. I think they've got to
Speaker 1: try and figure something out. And and and it's not
Speaker 1: just me saying this. I mean when you hear John
Speaker 1: Rams saying that he thinks it's crazy. Um. And he
Speaker 1: was talking about that in Dubai before he won, so, um,
Speaker 1: he he said he feels like he's the best player
Speaker 1: in the world right now. And I'm telling you, I mean,
Speaker 1: Rory's mcroy's playing some unbelievable golf. Right now, Cam Smith's
Speaker 1: played unbelievable golf. Uh DJ has played great golf, Scottie Scheffler.
Speaker 1: But if you look at the way John ram has
Speaker 1: been playing over the last you know, end of last
Speaker 1: year and again the beginning of this year. Um, I
Speaker 1: think there's an argument to be made that he is
Speaker 1: the number one ranked player in the world. But I
Speaker 1: can guarantee you this, He's not the fifth rank player
Speaker 1: in the world. I know that. So, UM, it'll be
Speaker 1: interesting to see how some of the new rookies. I
Speaker 1: think everybody's excited to see how Tom kim plays um
Speaker 1: full year on the PGA Tour. Um, you'll see a
Speaker 1: lot of players starting in Hawaii, and then we shouldn't
Speaker 1: have a pretty good field for Palm Springs. The American
Speaker 1: Express it was with Ricky Fowler. Had lunch with Ricky
Speaker 1: Fowler yesterday. He said he was starting there. And you
Speaker 1: heard me say this on the podcast before. I'm betting
Speaker 1: that Ricky wins on the PGA Tour before the Masters.
Speaker 1: That is my hot, hot take. But hats off to
Speaker 1: John Rom. He is. If there's a better golfer on
Speaker 1: the planet, I don't know who it is. And you know,
Speaker 1: when I watch him play golf, I wonder how he
Speaker 1: doesn't basically win every golf tournament because he rarely hits
Speaker 1: it offline, and he's an amazing putter, and when he
Speaker 1: is firing on all cylinders. Um, he's one of those
Speaker 1: two three guys in the world of professional golf where
Speaker 1: I just don't know how you beat him. So I'm
Speaker 1: excited golf's back, and it'll be good to see all
Speaker 1: of the tours back up and running very very soon. Sonovo,
Speaker 1: which comes to you every Wednesday, we will see you
Speaker 1: next week. Thank you everyone for listening, rate review, subscribe
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast