About TFP

The Final Pitch launched in March 2016 as a site that will cover all things baseball. The game is better than it has ever been and our access to better understand it has never been greater. In short, it has never been a better time to be a baseball fan.

The proliferation of blogs, websites, and instant analysis has allowed for greater coverage of the game. There isn’t a negative in that. Yet, there can be more coverage. There can be better coverage. Fans don’t care about getting news first. They don’t care about getting news that is slanted to just one way of thinking. Baseball fans — true baseball fans — want the whole story.

What’s In A Name?

This site is a bit personal for me. I struggled to name sites. I’m awful at it. My biggest site and company is named FullCountPitch. That doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. I could’ve used FullCountPitch again, but I wanted this site to be new, to be a fresh start. So, the Final Pitch was born. It’s a nod to FullCountPitch — a history I am quite proud of — and to the industry. There are many sites out there that do a great job of covering baseball. I’ve never viewed writing as a “my site” vs. “their site” type of thing. Read the good writing out there. Come here too; there will be good writing here as well. Make it your first stop or your final stop.

The personal part is actually pretty simple — corny too. This is my final swing at a baseball site. I love writing and I love the game. I’ve sat out for a couple of years, but it was time to give it just one more time, even if it wasn’t in the plan just months ago. It’s not about a job or about fame or competing with the big boys. To paraphrase Joe Maddon, it’s about the process. The process of coming up with an idea, doing the work, and hitting the publish button is what keeps a writing coming back. The process of building a site from zero to something is also the good part. One final pitch at it all.

The History Of FullCountPitch

The Final Pitch is a site that will stand on its own. But, it is the result of nearly a decade worth of experiences. It is a product of FCP’s history.

FullCountPitch originally began in November of 2007 as a blog. It launched with the idea that I could write about baseball for a while and then catch on somewhere else. The very thought of that some eight years later is humorous, sad, and, actually, beautiful. It was at that very beginning point where it was more about writing. At the time, I was driven by something else–a misguided desire to be something and someone else–but it was also a time when all things with writing were possible. The idea of just sitting down and writing something for others to read was an idea I had tossed around for a while, but I finally just decided to do it. I wrote some good stuff and even more bad stuff. But, I wrote every day, eventually finding a voice.

That original blog morphed into more of a news magazine format in January of 2008 and continued to go strong until May 13, 2009. During that time period, I brought on a colleague, Billy Campione, as a co-writer and creator. From the time Billy came on and until the time I wrote what would turn out to be my first in many “good bye” posts, FCP was nothing but fun. We wrote, created, and even did a podcast. We were building something that was fun and got some attention. But, that success wasn’t happening fast enough. As I watched other sites grow with sensationalistic pieces, I got frustrated. I decided I was done with FCP, the equivalent of taking my ball and going home.

I thought I would write for some other places. I did some writing here and there, but I remember getting a tweet from a National Writer–Jon Heyman–that shouted out one of my articles as being good. That little shot of “good job” got me thinking about bringing back FCP. It’s sad that it was all about the attention.

We turned the lights back on on August 17, 2009, this time as a i-magazine and with the backing of my newly formed company, FullCountPitch Media, LLC. Billy Campione was back with me and we set off to break into the mainstream. I talked my way into the credential system of Major League Baseball. We were able to actually contact teams and do interviews. It was also during this time where I started to figure out what kind of writer I wanted to be. I went through a period of doing a lot of numbers pieces and really hiding my opinion and my voice behind those numbers. At that time, baseball’s great statistical voices were starting to make their way. I agreed with much of what they said. But, I also knew–still do–that many people are still hooked on the sport because of the stories behind those numbers. I forgot that for a while. As a result, FCP became very stat-heavy. But, I found that balance.

All during this time, my personal life was, well, interesting. The absolute best moment of my life was when my daughter was born. She is and always will be my purpose in life. And, she continues to be the only thing that makes sense to me. That ultimate high came during a time where nothing else made sense. To some degree, life hasn’t changed much since 2008.

FCP continued until September 2010. I was frustrated with life, frustrated that we, as a publication with a staff of great writers, were stagnant despite great pieces, and that sensationalism was still winning. So, that September saw yet another good bye. I had it in my head that I would do a newsletter and gain an audience that way. So, I launched the FCP Baseball Report in late September, 2010. It was fine. I was writing, but reaching less of an audience.

And, then it happened.

Major League Baseball credentialed me to cover the 2010 Winter Meetings. Those three days were a blur. I sat in the media room as these famous baseball personalities were walking by and I was just starstruck. I wrote a lot, went to press conferences, and even asked some questions. While walking in the lobby, I bumped into Gary Sheffield. I managed to keep enough composure to interview him.

While at the meetings, I met some great people. One of the many was Mark Healey. He made a comment to me as we were listening to a Bloomberg Sports Presentation. He actually knew of FullCountPitch. His words stuck with me: “That’s your brand”. A few weeks later, FCP was back up and running. Life was especially messy during this time, but FCP was back to doing relatively well in a short period of time. I branched out a bit more and did some writing for other places. Yet again, this time August 15, 2011, it was time to go. Honestly, I don’t even remember why I pulled the plug. I can guess that life was crazy, coming to the ultimate tipping point. I do seem to remember that it just wasn’t fun. Nothing was fun. I went back to the newsletter thing two days later and continued to publish there until May 30, 2012. It was then that I took my first real break from writing.

The break didn’t last all that long as I began writing for Baseball Digest and then Operation Sports. In September of 2012, I dusted off the FCP domain just for me to publish. I did that off and on until February 2014. Since then, I’ve bounced around as I did publish some things for USA Today, worked for Baltimore Sports and Life, and even went to cover the Winter Meetings for Operation Sports in 2012. I let the fullcountpitch domain expire at some point, losing the rights to the name.

Back To The Start

So, that was probably more history than you wanted to know. But, there it is and here we are. It’ll be fun to see where it goes.