Major League Baseball

Phillies Farewell: Goodbye and Good Luck to TBOH

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:39 p.m. ET

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Jun 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; General view of Citizens Bank Park during the second inning between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Managing Editor of TBOH for the last two years is leaving, but is leaving the site in good hands as it moves into the future.

I have had the honor and pleasure of working for the last two years as the primary Editor and a lead writer here with the “That Ball’s Outta Here” blog in the FanSided network. But now it is time to say goodbye, and this will be my final piece for the site.

In the summer of 2014, I applied for a position with and was excited to receive an opportunity to join the writing staff here at TBOH covering my hometown Philadelphia Phillies.

On July 24th, 2014 my first article was published entitled “Bad News, Phillies Fans, It’s Worse Than You Think“, which as you can imagine was not a feel-good piece. You can read it at that story link.

In that piece, I outlined the problems facing the organization, which if not obvious to everyone already would become so in the coming months.

The team was old, the younger players who they had been counting on to continue the previous era success were not panning out, the minor league system was nearly barren, and there was little confidence in the decision makers being able to right the ship.

I continued in that role as a writer over the next four months, pumping out pieces that included my opinion that the Hall of Fame ban on Pete Rose should be lifted, and a grading of the Phillies broadcasting team.

As the off-season arrived, I began emphasizing pieces on Phillies history, including a “Philography” series of biographies that would continue throughout my time with TBOH.

As the end of November rolled around, the staff around me at TBOH had really begun to dwindle, possibly under the weight of an off-season following a second straight losing campaign with little hope for the future.

In fact, not only was the writing staff leaving, but so was the editorial staff. At some point near the end of that month of November 2014, I was first approached about the possibility of taking over those editorial responsibilities.

While flattered, I had to weigh the responsibilities of becoming an editor with FanSided against my life at that time. I work full-time in another profession, and have a full home and family life as well.

Being an editor in the FanSided network means that you need to produce at least 30 pieces yourself each month, and edit those submitted by the staff writers. You also need to promote and grow your site regularly on social media.

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I decided to accept the job, and so began the responsibility of editing the site on December 1st, 2014.

For the first year and a half, I performed that responsibility without a co-editor. It was completely my show.

One of the benefits of becoming more well-known as the editor of a major Phillies blog over time was making contacts within the team itself.

I got to produce interviews with former Phillies player Mitch Williams and top Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford, Spanish language broadcaster Angel Ibo Castillo, and the Phils’ former publicity director and official historian Larry Shenk.

When I took over the site there were only two staff writers still on board. One of those would produce little in the coming months, and eventually left.

There has been just one writer who remained from the time that I took over as editor until this ending of my time in the position. That writer has been Ethan Witte.

Ethan is a New Jersey school teacher by daily profession. He generally was able to produce about a half-dozen pieces each month, usually involving a statistical slant.

I would describe him as my “Sabermetrics” guy, and I have been very happy and grateful to have Ethan as a regular contributor.

Ethan is also leaving TBOH now, and you can now catch him writing at the Phillies site “The Good Phight“, where he recently produced his first piece on Cameron Rupp. I encourage everyone to follow his feed @ ethan_witte on Twitter.

In addition to having to increase my own personal writing output, there were two primary responsibilities in taking on the editorial position.

First was growing the site’s social media presence. Both a Twitter feed (@FS_TBOH) and a Facebook page had been established, but neither was being fully and aggressively utilized.

Second was in growing a writing staff. That one can be a real challenge, as the positions are non-paying and require a minimal output of at least a handful of pieces per month.

The social media growth was fairly easy, and was right up my alley. I had been a heavy user of social media across many platforms since the dawn of the internet age back in the late 1990’s.

Over the last two years not only has the content at both Twitter and Facebook grown, but the follower and interaction levels have as well.

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From a few hundred the Twitter feed has grown to more than 1,400 followers today. Every piece that comes out at the TBOH website is also publicized with links at both Twitter and on Facebook, and we usually have in-game and other daily commentary at the Twitter feed.

Maintaining a steady writing staff can be difficult. They are generally one of two types: young college writers looking for a little experience and publicity to get their career going, or simply fans with somewhat of a knack for self-expression.

The fact that they are not paid, combined with having to actually produce pieces on a regular basis, can wear down folks who may be initially enthusiastic.

In addition to Ethan, there have been a handful of staff writers at TBOH over these last two years who I would like to thank for their regular contributions and positive attitudes: Tyler DiSalle, Ryan Gerstel, David Mosemann, Aaron McGlohn, Alexis Girardo, and Mike Azzalina.

This past May, the folks at FanSided brought on George Stockburger (Twitter: @DraftStock_1) as a co-editor here at TBOH.

George comes to the site with a reputation for having grown FanSided’s NFL Draft site “NFL Mocks”, and will now take over as the primary site editor here as well.

Assisting George will be John Town (@johntown99_), a young man whose enthusiasm is infectious, and who has jumped into his recently increased responsibilities with both feet.

May 18, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Who doesn’t love the Phillie Phanatic? Back on April Fool’s Day, Matt Veasey announced the big guy’s retirment. April Fools! Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

I would encourage all fans of TBOH to add both of these folks as Twitter follows. They will be referencing the site pieces and other Phillies content on a regular basis.

Also, if you are a baseball fan, especially a Phillies fan, and feel that you have an ability to express yourself well in writing, perhaps even someone who is confident in their ability and looking for an opportunity to get started, fill out the application at the bottom of this piece and join the staff.

When I notified FanSided that I would be leaving TBOH at the conclusion of the Phillies 2016 regular season, it was my intention of leaving the network completely, and writing simply at my own personal site at mattveasey.com from now on.

However, I was presented with another opportunity, to join the staff with FanSided’s primary Major League Baseball coverage site “Call to the Pen” as a staff writer.

With a decreased overall responsibility level as well as the opportunity to expand my writing to all of the baseball world, I have decided to accept that position.

I began that writing for CttP during this month of September while also winding down my coverage at TBOH.

Those first CttP pieces have included updates on the Wildcard races in both leagues, players such as Stephen Strasburg and Byron Buxton, former Phillies and current Indians manager Terry Francona.

Of course with my own personal love of the Phillies, there will be frequent pieces on the team. I have already produced pieces for CttP on Roman Quinn‘s big league debut, and my opinion that the club should largely avoid the coming free agent market.

I would like to thank FanSided for the opportunities of both editing for TBOH these past two years, and now writing at CttP. Especially thankful for the input, guidance, and professionalism of David Hill and Chris Headrick.

Finally, I want to thank the many folks who have followed TBOH over these past two years. A number of you have become regular readers and have regularly interacted with me through the site and social media, greatly increasing my own enjoyment of the Phillies.

I have always described baseball as “The Greatest Game that God Ever Invented”, and have been a Phillies fan since age 9 when, in 1971, Veteran’s Stadium opened in my former South Philly backyard.

Moving forward, I will continue expressing that love of the game and the Fightin’ Phils with CttP and at my Twitter feed (@MatthewVeasey), and I hope to continue to bring articles and commentary that is of interest to all of you.

So while it’s goodbye in one way, realistically it is simply a change. If not already, add a follow to “Call to the Pen” for another great source of information on the Major League Baseball world – and I’ll see you there and on Twitter.

Let me leave you with a video clip. This one is my favorite play from the last two seasons. If you’re a Phillies fan, you already know the play well. It’s the tremendous Tyler Goeddel-Cameron Rupp play from this past May. Enjoy, and Go Phillies!

Next: FORMER PHILS HEADED TO MLB PLAYOFFS

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