Play Ball

Baseball season has arrived and with it the optimism that This is the year our favorite team will go all the way. The Amazing Rays will surpass their impressive performance of last season. The Big Bad Braves will return to their winning ways. Hanly Ramirez and the Marlins will surprise everyone.

This is the year.

For some insurance agents, This is the year, too, despite the faltering economy and lingering soft market. These agents have managed wisely, played by the rules, practiced the fundamentals, invested in their farm system, and are ready to play their best ball. For these agents, there are scoring opportunities all around.

This is the year they add home run power by signing key sluggers who have been let go by other teams.

This is the year they shore up their bullpen and bench by buying other teams run by veterans whose All Star days are behind them.

This is the year they manufacture RBIs by targeting the fastest growing industries, as reported by MyNewMarkets.com’s Chris Boggs: Management, Scientific and Technical Consulting Services; Individual and Family Services; Home Health Care Services; Securities, Commodity Contracts and other Financial Investments (they will come back after the recession); Residential Care Facilities; and Independent Artists, Writers and Performers.

This is the year they bunt their way onto first base with green construction and alternative energy risks, two of the most exciting growth sectors.

This is the year they play solid defense by making every client aware of the costs of breaches of data security, then move the runners along by selling them protection. As Thomas Katona, president, Apogee Insurance Group, says in the article on page 14: “It isn’t a matter if an exposure might occur, it will occur.”

This is the year they improve their on-base percentage by identifying growth companies that are entering global markets, an increasing number of which have fewer than 100 employees.

This is the year they hit and run, taking advantage of other teams’ injuries and poor management, whether it be State Farm’s forfeiting the game in Florida or AIG’s striking out around the world.

This is the year they ignore the economy, the naysayers, the commentators. There’s no waiting ’til next year for this team.

We should know by October how well the Rays, Braves, Marlins and these ardent agents have done.