I am a season ticket holder for the Tigers and love to give our employees and customers the opportunity to take in a game. I also love the sport myself. As a geek, I can study baseball statistics until my head spins, but so much of the game cannot be explained statistically. So much of winning and losing comes down to the details (good defense, throwing out a runner at home, taking an extra base in a key situation).

Paying attention to details is what separates the great organizations. That pertains to baseball and it pertains to business. Dave Dombrowski, president and CEO of the Detroit Tigers, is a leader who makes sure that his organization pays attention to the details. I have an interesting story that highlights what kind of organization he runs.

I sent the following e-mail to Dave Dombrowski last July 9th:

Dave, My name is Sam Hoff, I have had season tickets for the last 10 years. I really enjoy having access to the Tiger Club and the Tiger Den Lounge. There are some great pictures from the Tigers Past on the South Wall of the Tiger Den Lounge. Unfortunately there is no way to identify the pictures on this wall. I recognize Ty Cobb and Hank Greenberg, but beyond that I am pretty well lost. I am sure most people who attend the park are even more lost than me. I have a couple of questions:

  • Are there presently any plans to put identifiers on these pictures?
  • If there are no plans, would you support it if I helped to organize an effort to do this?
  • Do you have any contacts at the Mayo Smith Society, or other Historians who would be a good resource for such an effort?

Much to my surprise, he answered the e-mail the same day:

Thank you for the note and comments. Presently, there have been no plans to put the names on the pictures. However, we will be glad to review the request and see if we can make this happen.
 

The fact that he actually answered my e-mail was a shock. The bigger shock was when I arrived at the park Monday for Tigers’ Opening Day and noticed that every picture along the south wall of the Tiger Den Lounge had a professionally engraved placard noting the player’s name as well as the years he played for the Tigers.

One person outside his organization came up with an idea and mentioned it once. He obviously reviewed it within his organization and figured it was a worthwhile idea and got it done. Hats off to Dave Dombrowski, he obviously would be successful in whatever organization he ran. Hopefully, his organization (and the City of Detroit) is rewarded with a world championship in the near future.