Tim Kelly: Thank You, Phillies Nation!
Today is my final day as the Editorial Director at Phillies Nation.
As many of you know, I became the Managing Editor of On Pattison when it launched in early September. I’m excited about what we are doing over there, and that all came together very quickly. But it was extremely important to me to finish out the season at Phillies Nation to cap off what’s been a great run.
I pitched Brian Michael, the owner of Phillies Nation, on the idea of taking over the site on April 17, 2018.
It was less than a month before I graduated college, and I didn’t have anything concrete lined up. I had been writing on the internet for about five years at that point, and was ready for my next opportunity. Phillies Nation had a gigantic social media following and I thought if I got the chance, I could make it as big as it had been with Corey Seidman, Pat Gallen and Tim Malcolm, among others, in its heyday.
My first message — which I sent on Facebook, definitely not the most professional manner to reach out, looking back at it — didn’t get a response.
So I reached out a second time, just to make sure this wasn’t going to be a fit. When you’re searching for a job at the end of college, you get pretty used to sending out feelers and applications that don’t pan out, it’s just part of the process.
But this second one got answered and after some more extensive conversations, Brian gave me the opportunity to take over Phillies Nation. As it turned out, Brian and his wife, Lauren, had been on their honeymoon the first time I messaged him. I’m extremely thankful to them for the opportunity I’ve had to lead Phillies Nation since.
In 2020, we got the chance to be credentialed by the Phillies for the first time. My first event that I covered was Joe Girardi’s introductory press conference, and first game was Zack Wheeler’s first start as a Phillie.
We’ve become regulars in the press box since, but it was not always an easy journey. We were one of the first non-traditional outlets to get a chance to be in the press box. Everyone was definitely not a fan of us at first. There were some frustrating moments as we learned the ropes, particularly since the first two years were almost exclusively on Zoom because of the pandemic. But we made it out on the other side because Brian, myself and Destiny Lugardo were constantly coming up with ways to improve the site and gain the respect of everyone.
Speaking of Destiny, she started as an intern but has been Deputy Editorial Director for the bulk of my time here. She’s a great writer, and was willing to push back on ideas and thoughts I had when she disagreed. She’ll do a great job leading the site moving forward, and will be in this industry for decades to come if that’s what she chooses to do.
Other people I want to give a shoutout to are Ty Daubert, Nathan Ackerman, Jonny Heller, Bailey Digh and Grace Del Pizzo. Some of them I recruited to come to Phillies Nation, all of them I would recommend going forward. (Trying to guard Jonny in basketball isn’t fun, though.)
Finally, thank you to everyone who has read Phillies Nation during my time here. I hope you will continue to read my work, but also remain loyal to Phillies Nation because there are plenty of great writers here and based on the 20-year history of the site, a ton more to come.
During my time here, we got to cover Bryce Harper’s free agency, a pandemic-shortened season, three playoff appearances and one World Series. I’m very proud of that. Now it’s time to pass the torch.