The Extra 2

What happens when three financial industry whiz kids and certified baseball nuts take over an ailing major league franchise and implement the same strategies that fueled their success on Wall Street? In the case of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, an American League championship happens—the culmination of one of the greatest turnarounds in baseball history. In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team’s Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. When former Goldman Sachs colleagues Stuart Sternberg and Matthew Silverman assumed control of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, it looked as if they were buying the baseball equivalent of a penny stock. But the incoming regime came armed with a master plan: to leverage their skill at trading, valuation, and management to build a model twenty-first-century franchise that could compete with their bigger, stronger, richer rivals—and prevail. Together with “boy genius” general manager Andrew Friedman, the new Rays owners jettisoned the old ways of doing things, substituting their own innovative ideas about employee development, marketing and public relations, and personnel management. They exorcized the “devil” from the team’s nickname, developed metrics that let them take advantage of undervalued aspects of the game, like defense, and hired a forward-thinking field manager as dedicated to unconventional strategy as they were. By quantifying the game’s intangibles—that extra 2% that separates a winning organization from a losing one—they were able to deliver to Tampa Bay something that Billy Beane’s “Moneyball” had never brought to Oakland: an American League pennant. A book about what happens when you apply your business skills to your life’s passion, The Extra 2% is an informative and entertaining case study for any organization that wants to go from worst to first.

Let's face it. Everyone in the world today is in sales in some capacity. Some of us are selling a potential spouse. Some of us are selling a product. Some of us are selling a service. Some of us are selling information. Is there a difference? In this book, David R. Carothers dives into a series of actions you can take that will move your sales game from good to best-in-class regardless of what you are selling!What if you discovered the difference between you being a good salesperson and being a great salesperson only requires an extra 2 minutes of your time? Would you believe it? In "The Extra 2 MInutes" David unpacks over 30 years of sales experience to show you the basic, easily executable tasks you can complete to separate the gap between you and your competition. By focusing on giving your prospects and clients an unforgettable buyer's journey culminating in an awesome client experience, you will raise your compensation, close rates and client-retention to a level you may not have dreamed possible. While it will take you longer than 2 minutes to read this book from cover to cover, it has been formatted in such a way that you can read it in small snippets and immediately put the information to use. Not only will you receive easy to read examples and real world stories of success, each chapter comes with a specific activity and the supporting resources needed to implement that process into your daily routine.

Join George Beard and Harold Hutchins for a wedgie-powered wonder! The All New Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book O' Fun 2! Word-searches, mazes, quizzes, crosswords and truly disgusting jokes combine to make this a must for any fan of Captain Underpants and Super Diaper Baby! Have you read your Underpants today?

With the proven methodology of the Side by Side series, Side by Side Extra enhances learning and instruction with the all new eText. Side by Side Extra features new grammar activities and self-assessment skills checks. The eText activities complement the program's dynamic conversational approach and support students' independent practice for self-paced learning, including complete audio. * eText connects point-of-use audio to Student Book pages for lively and effective language learning. * eText FunZone with skill-building activities, eFlashcards for vocabulary practice, engaging videos, and games reinforces each unit's objectives. * Built-in assessment and vocabulary and skills checklists enable students to assess their progress. * Expanded Activity Workbooks with Digital Audio CDs provide supplementary Gazette activities, listening activities, and "Can-Do" reviews. * Mapped to the Global Scale of English

More than 50 years after their breakup, the Beatles are still attracting fans from various generations, all while retaining their original fan base from the 1960s. Why have those first-generation fans continued following the Beatles and are now introducing their grandchildren to the group? Why are current teens affected by the band's music? And perhaps most importantly, how and why do the Beatles continue to resonate with successive generations? Unlike other bands of their era, the Beatles seem permanently frozen in time, having never descended into "nostalgia act" territory. Instead, even after the announcement of the band's breakup in 1970, the group has maintained its cultural and musical relevance. Their timeless quality appeals to younger generations while maintaining the loyalty of older fans. While the Beatles indeed represent a specific time period, their music and words address issues as meaningful today as they were during the Summer of Love: politics, war, sex, drugs, art, and creative liberation. As the first anthology to assess the nature of fan response and the band's enduring appeal, Fandom and the Beatles: The Act You've Known for All These Years defines and explores these unique qualities and the key ways in which this particular pop fusion has inspired such loyalty and multigenerational popularity.

EXTRA DIRTY is book #2 in the Ruby Steele Mystery, which begins with ON THE ROCKS (Book #1). Ruby Steele, 30, beautiful, fit, seems just like any other ex-pat hiding out in the Bahamas and playing local bartender. But unruly patrons find out the hard way: Ruby is a mixed-martial-arts pro, and not one you’d want to cross. A 40-something female tourist seeks out Ruby, desperate for her help. She was out partying all night with her friend, both of them drinking way too much and doing things they don’t want their husbands to know about. The problem is, as of 12 hours ago, her friend is missing. Their husbands can’t know. The cops can’t know. She needs Ruby’s help. And she’s running out of time. Ruby, though, has enough problems of her own. Shadowy figures from her old life are getting close. Way too close. Can Ruby really pay detective and take on someone else’s problems? Who is this woman, anyway? And what isn’t she telling her? Ruby can’t keep away from a bad decision. And this time, it looks like, there won’t be any exception…. Welcome to the Bahamian world of Ruby Steele, replete with her local dive bar, her wily pet monkey, her major drinking problem, her (way) too many fights, her inability to get herself out of trouble, and her fists made of stone. Ruby’s life is a complete wreck. But there’s one thing she’s good at: capturing your heart. EXTRA DIRTY (A RUBY STEELE MYSTERY) is book #2 in a page-turning mystery/thriller series, one that will linger with you long after the last page is read. Book #3 (FULL-BODIED) in the series is also available.

In a future where the Population Police enforce the law limiting a family to only two children, Luke, an illegal third child, has lived all his twelve years in isolation and fear on his family's farm in this start to the Shadow Children series from Margaret Peterson Haddix. Luke has never been to school. He's never had a birthday party, or gone to a friend's house for an overnight. In fact, Luke has never had a friend. Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding, and now, with a new housing development replacing the woods next to his family's farm, he is no longer even allowed to go outside. Then, one day Luke sees a girl's face in the window of a house where he knows two other children already live. Finally, he's met a shadow child like himself. Jen is willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows—does Luke dare to become involved in her dangerous plan? Can he afford not to?

Changing history is harder than it appears. Every time Nathan thinks he has stopped a world-ending war, he learns that somebody is trying to start it again. But once this is over, he'll be free to relax and spend some quality time with his Champions. As the war heats up, Nathan finds himself caught up in the schemes and fluffy tails of one of his former Champions, Narime. More figures from his past intrude, including a dark elf with a twisted personality and a princess who makes Nathan question his memories. Behind everything, Kadria lurks alongside the other Messengers. Nathan finds himself buried in politics and at risk of losing everything should his heretical alliance with her be discovered. In the end, the risk is worth it. Because the reward is to get back everything that Nathan lost. Heretic Spellblade contains plenty of violence, harem/undefined relationships, beast girls, and scenes that don't fade to black. Consider yourself warned.