Welcome back to Insider Weekly! I'm Matt Turner, editor-in-chief of business at Insider.
Sometimes something just doesn't feel right, even if you can't put your finger on why. For many baseball fans, that's been true for some time.
Every baseball is slightly different from the next. But in 2021 in particular, it felt as though the baseballs were especially unpredictable. Home runs that should have been weren't and vice versa.
This week, Bradford William Davis got to the bottom of that mystery. He reported that while Major League Baseball introduced a new ball with a lighter center that it said would travel slightly less far off the bat, as it had pledged to do in February, it also continued to use an older, heavier-center ball. The problem: It apparently didn't tell fans, clubs, or players. Read on for an interview with Davis and his editor, John Cook.
Also in this week's newsletter:
- The billionaire investor Ray Dalio says the US is on the verge of an empire-ending catastrophe.
- Leaked video shows Better CEO Vishal Garg explaining laying off hundreds of people before the holidays.
- We compiled every known flight made by Jeffrey Epstein's fleet of private planes into a comprehensive, searchable database.
Let me know what you think of all our stories at mturner@insider.com.
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Behind the scenes of our MLB investigation
Mark Weiss/Getty; Krittiraj Adchasai/iStock; Taylor Tyson/Insider
Reporter Bradford William Davis and editor John Cook share the inside scoop on our investigation into MLB's use of two different balls last season.
What prompted you to look into this?
Bradford: It started with Dr. Meredith Wills, the astrophysicist who supplied her latest study on the ball to Insider. Her work has been so captivating and notable, because practically everyone watching the game knew something has been off about the baseballs for years, especially players. It doesn't hurt to be generally distrusting of organized sports— it gives me the impetus to thoroughly poke at something when I see it.
What was one of the most surprising findings from the investigation?
John: We had Dr. Wills' data; we knew she was unimpeachable; we knew it was true. But there is always going to be a lingering concern: What if it's just noise in the data? What if there is something we think we understand but don't? It's not every day that a furtive, opaque institution like MLB basically throws its hands up and says, "OK, you got us." But given Bradford's reporting and Dr. Wills' research, they didn't have many options.
What should readers take away from this report?
John: MLB has a lot of explaining to do. Do they know which balls went to which parks? Did they distribute them at random? If they told the players' union about the decision, as they claim, why didn't any players know about it? How did they think they would be able to make a decision like this without the players and fans finding out?
Read our full investigation here: Major League Baseball secretly used 2 different types of baseballs last season
Ray Dalio says the US is in trouble
Thomas Peter/Reuters
Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates, known for successful investing on a global scale, has been studying the rise and fall of empires — and says the US is on the brink of an empire-ending catastrophe.
In an exclusive interview, he told us that investors should stay balanced, consider the effects of inflation, and hold little cash.
Here's why he's worried — and how he says you should invest your money.
Leaked video shows Better CEO explaining layoffs
Better.com
On Wednesday, shortly after the online-mortgage startup Better laid off hundreds of people, CEO Vishal Garg addressed employees in a livestreamed town-hall meeting. A leaked recording of the meeting was shared with Insider.
In the video, Garg told remaining employees that the company lost $100 million last quarter. He said, "We acknowledge that we overhired and hired the wrong people, and in doing that, we failed."
More from the leaked video here.
Search every known flight made by Jeffrey Epstein's private jets
Insider
Between 1995 and his arrest on sex-trafficking charges in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein flew prolifically aboard his fleet of private planes, often in the company of celebrities, statesmen, and girls.
We've compiled every known flight taken by the sex offender's jets — more than 2,500 in total — and published them in a searchable format for the first time.
More of this week's top reads:
- A software engineer who sat on Google's hiring committee for four years shares the top reasons they turned down strong candidates.
- A JPMorgan financial advisor is alleging the firm's private bank is trying to poach her clients.
- How Kamala Harris allowed Silicon Valley to profit from hate speech, privacy violations, and election interference.
- Here's how to keep your employees from getting swept up in the Great Resignation.
- Leaders at eight large health systems gave us a look at the most innovative pilots they're running.
- Dispatch from the Elizabeth Holmes trial: Her tearful testimony could be enough to sway the jury.
- Omicron could require new vaccines if two factors were met, Pfizer's top scientist told us. Read the interview here.
- Scoop: Google has been working on its own smartwatch to take on the Apple Watch.
Event invite: Join us on Thursday, December 9 for Transforming Business, presented by Alight, featuring conversations with Business Insider's 2021 Transformers: leaders, executives, founders, investors, and designers driving innovation and growth. Register here.
Compiled with help from Jordan Erb.
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