Every Role Matters

I was watching the Chiefs on Monday Night Football in my hotel room in Hutchinson, Kansas while also streaming the World Series on my iPad as I got  ready for sleep before a morning keynote. So much for that plan. The game went 18 innings. An instant classic and a preview of what was to come.

Five days later, the Dodgers and Blue Jays gave us one of the greatest World Series finishes in years. Los Angeles’ opening day payroll of $328 million makes them easy targets for criticism in a sport without a salary cap,  especially when smaller-market teams fight to keep up. But this championship was a reminder that money alone doesn’t win. People do.

Shohei Ohtani, he of the 10-year, $700 million contract, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the $325 million pitcher and World Series MVP, were heroes on the biggest stage. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and the other highly paid Dodgers had key moments too. But when everything hung in the balance, some unlikely heroes emerged.

Miguel Rojas, a 36-year-old infielder who hadn’t started any of the first five games of the Series, got the call in Game 6 after manager Dave Roberts trusted a hunch that the veteran’s experience could steady the team as they attempted to fight off elimination. Rojas hadn’t homered since September 19th,  his only one since mid-July.  Yet in Game 7, trailing with one out in the 9th inning, he tied the game with a swing that changed everything.

An inning later, he saved the game again. A stumbling, off-balance throw home with the bases loaded kept the season alive. Moments later, Andy Pages, a 23-year-old from Cuba in his second big-league season, and the very player Rojas had replaced in the lineup, came sprinting in from center, colliding with left fielder Kiké Hernández to make the game-saving catch that preserved the Dodgers’ title hopes. Roberts had inserted him for his defensive prowess as the Dodgers took the field with the game tied. 

Two players. One veteran, one up and comer. Neither among the highest-paid, but both trusted and ready when their moment came.

The Dodgers’ payroll may grab the headlines, but this World Series was won by trust, resilience, and teammates who embraced their roles.

That’s Small Ball.

Question: Who on your team is ready for their moment, regardless of role, and what might happen if you trusted them with it?

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