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

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