As an avid baseball fan for more than five decades, you often feel like you’ve seen it all – until earlier this week, that is.
This has been an absolutely abysmal season for my Detroit Tigers. In April, the team jumped off to a roaring 11-2 start, and the city was thinking World Series. At the very least, a strong playoff run.
And why not? During the past decade, the Tigers have played in the World Series twice (losing both times), as well as going deep into the playoffs in other years. Expectations were high.
But the team faltered, and may now finish in last place in a division they often dominate. You can pin some of the blame on injuries, but every team endures its fair share of physical setbacks. The Tigers simply haven’t performed, and at the trading deadline, the decision was made to dump some of its best and most marketable players in order to “reboot” (not “rebuild”).
And it’s just gotten worse as the season has wound down, as crowds in Comerica Park have been reduced to gatherings. It’s a sad state of affairs for a city that deserves better, always supporting this team.
But the big news on Tuesday was that their hard-throwing closer Bruce Rondon (who has had an up and down injury-plagued season) was “sent home” by the team. There were few comments by Tigers management, but a lack of effort was cited in the story as the main reason why Rondon will not be with the team through the end of the season.
A lack of effort?
In Major League Baseball?
Maybe that’s something that happens at the Little League level. But in all my years of watching thousands of players take their best shot at playing Abner Doubleday’s amazing game, I’ve never heard of a player being dumped by the team for not trying hard enough.
But it got me thinking that if radio played by the same rules, wouldn’t the same thing happen at a number of stations around the country? Wouldn’t a number of employees be “sent home?”
Who knows what was going on in Rondon’s head? Was he depressed about the team’s performance? Or his own? Or his ongoing injury problems?
It doesn’t matter because whether it’s Major League Baseball or major market radio, a supreme effort isn’t just a good idea – it’s mandatory. That’s true whether we’re talking about Philadelphia or Pensacola. If radio is your chosen profession, it’s your obligation to work your butt off. And if you’re unhappy with your team or your manager, U-Haul is just a phone call or a mouse click away.
While this situation is most definitely an embarrassment for the Tigers, it does suggest there’s a limit to what they’ll put up with. They could have gutted it out with Rondon for a couple of weeks by simply benching him, and few would have known the difference.
They made the right call. And it begs all of us in business to look down our benches, and ask ourselves the same questions.
Who’s going all out, even when ratings, sales, and overall performance aren’t optimal?
Who’s playing hard, even though the rumors and trade reports are dark and scary?
Who’s walking in the station every day, giving it the old 110% on good days and bad ones?
Who’s a cancer in the building, fanning the flames of dissent and paranoia?
In my position, I get to see it all. One of the delights of the past year has been working with and observing Mark Thompson, head of the Mark In The Morning show, make his radio comeback on KSWD/Entercom’s Sound in Los Angeles. After decades of success with “The Mark & Brian Show,” Mark had something to prove.
Mark is about mega-effort every single day. Prep is never an issue. It’s all about energy, creativity, and who brings the best stuff to the table. And of course, that work ethic has rubbed off on his entire morning team, as well as the entire staff.
I watched Kevin Matthews do the same in Grand Rapid at WLAV, after enjoying many successful years in Chicago radio. These are the guys you want on your team because they know what it takes to win.
On the other side, I was speaking with a PD the other day who expressed concern that a new team member on his morning show simply wasn’t putting out the effort. Going home shortly after the end of the show, not devoting prep time during the day, and not very excited about making appearances on behalf of programming and sales.
In every station, there are probably conversations that need to take place with employees – on and off the air – who fall into this second group.
And it’s even a conversation we should have with ourselves, especially those of us who have been in the business for more than a few cups of coffee.
Do we love what we’re doing? Are we bringing it every day? Are we exerting a strong amount of effort? Can we continue to get it up for radio?
The Tigers certainly don’t want any more publicity for their incident with Rondon, but it begs the question of why more teams and businesses don’t take the same action.
It’s easy to be upbeat and excited when you’re in first place. But for everyone else, a challenge is motivation, energy, and turning up the jets to help the organization. Taking a hard look at the entire staff in this light isn’t just a smart move. It’s necessary for the good of all the employees.
If someone’s not working, not putting in the effort, and not enjoying playing the game of radio, maybe it’s a simple “don’t let the studio door hit you on the way out.”
There are too many people working hard and giving their all.
The last thing a station needs is to Rondoned.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Spot on. And it shouldn’t have to come down to this but as a few PD’s have said over the years, “Yes, this is the big time”. Thanks to Kidd Redd, Smokey Rivers, Bill Pugh on that one.
Great to hear from you, Tim – always one of the hardest works jocks in show business.