Before we had a talking horse, we had a talking camel…WholeCamels that is. Last time in this retrospective we checked in with TGP creator, David Fischer. This time we have a chat with WholeCamels, our second site manager after David.

TGP turns 20 years old this season. Can you tell us your motivation to launch the blog back in 2005? Did you think it would still be here two decades later? David mentioned his take here.

The early-to-mid Aughts were the Time of the Blog. At the risk of violating “Stick To Sports” etiquette, the onset of the Global War on Terror and the Iraq Invasion, and what many saw as a gaping abyss in coverage and a dereliction of duty by the mainstream press in providing accurate reporting and analysis, gave rise to sites like Daily Kos. People who followed and discussed sports online also saw a similar (if substantially less consequential) rot in mainstream sports media, and opening for self-published independent sports content.

Like I believe all of the original founders of TGP, I spent a ton of time on Phillies message boards in the early part of the Aughts, having been brought back enthusiastically to the Phillies by the Jim Thome signing, the imminent opening of CItizens Bank Park, and the palpable sense that ownership was finally committed to a competitive product.

Like David F. mentioned, Bobby Abreu was a litmus test of sorts for the fanbase, which carried over to the message boards. Large swaths of the fanbase disregarded or flatout hated him, egged on by certain members of the local sports media ecosystem (including a certain jackass with a beard on the radio). I was part of the faction that had read Bill James and become acquainted with analytics and had an appreciation for Abreu’s ample skillset. I spent so much time in 2003 and 2004 posting about Bobby.

So when David approached us with a proposal that gave us the opportunity to operate Daily Kos but For the Phillies, it was hard to say no.

When did you take over as site manager from David? Was there anything you feel like you changed over the course of your tenure?

I truly cannot remember when, but I believe it was sometime around 2006 or 2007. My wife and I joke about how whenever I join anything I typically wind up in charge after some time, so I guess this was inevitable. The early years of SB Nation featured a ton of changes to both the software of the publishing platform (confession: I am terrible with computers so I cannot provide any meaningful analysis on that front), and the general “look” of the sites, with a more professional, less “bloggy” look rolling out after time, as well as integration between the various team sites and main network.

What were some of your favorite Phillies or blog moments during your time active with TGP?

Obviously, the 2008 World Series, but the entire 2007 to 2011 era. Guys like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard were incredibly easy to root for and write about, but in the post-Abreu era, Cole Hamels became something of a standard bearer. Hamels was drafted in 2002, showed flashes of tremendous promise between freak injuries in the low minors, and his debut in 2006 was a really exciting moment.

However the single most fun event during my time running the site was the Cliff Lee signing in November 2010. Sometimes people forget that leading up to that night, the general assumption was that Lee would be a Yankee or possibly resign with the Rangers. Then, the “Mystery Team” phenomenon was born, and the entire Phillies online community, on TGP but also notably Twitter, spent hours obsessively checking news, cracking jokes, looking for hints and leads, until finally when the Rangers and Yankees both announced they were out, I posted in the running comment thread: “Cliff Lee is a Phillie.”

When it came time for you to step away as site manager, what was that like and what made Liz your top choice?

I’d met Liz at a couple fan meet-ups, we were both NYC-area fans, at some point she was invited to join the site and her contributions were tremendous. When I made the decision to step down for professional reasons, I asked the main site operators if anyone was interested in stepping in, and Liz put her name in the running. The consensus very quickly seemed to be that she was the best choice and I think we were proven right. Liz brought a professionalism that really elevated the site to another level, especially notable since I dumped the whole operation on her in early 2013, just when things for the organization started to get really bad (sorry, Liz). I always said it was easier and sometimes more fun to write about a bad team than a good one, maybe Liz would like to comment on this theory though.

Do you have a favorite piece(s) you’ve written?

I wrote an April Fools’ Day piece at the height of the hostilities between the Mets and Phillies about the Phillies and Citizens Bank Park plans to host a “New York Mets Day.” As we know, Mets fans always travel well to Philadelphia, their presence is incredibly irritating. Publishing a totally straight “press release” about CBP swapping out Hatfield hot dogs for Nathan’s, bringing Mr. Met in to cover for the Phanatic, and letting Keith, Ron and Gary announce the game really and surprisingly to me got some people very Mad Online.

Another item I contributed to the general discourse of the time was the Ruben Amaro, Jr. Smug Advisory System, based on the Bush-Era color coded Terror Alert system. Amaro had acquired a reputation for being “smug” (which was later confirmed to me off-the-record by no fewer than three people with personal knowledge). I created a piece of digital art that really caught on and to this day, I’m quite proud of: https://www.thegoodphight.com/f/2011/3/11/2044582/smugness-confirmed

As a footnote, I’ve come to admire Amaro a great deal, I respected his openness to accepting new roles in the industry after losing his job as General Manager, and I like him as an announcer. He is accountable and seems like a genuinely good guy.

Do you have any favorite articles written by fellow TGP writers?

As David mentioned, Wet Luzinski’s ”Veteran Clubhouse Presence” pieces were pure art. Not every artist finds a muse. Andrew Wyeth had Helga, Wet Luzinski had Pat Burrell.

David Cohen’s piece about catching a foul ball one-handed at a game also sticks out. It was a weekday game so I was at work and not watching, suddenly my email and direct messages start blowing up: “Uhh, I think David was just on TV.” I texted him, “David, confirm or deny: You just made an amazing catch at the game,” to which I later got a “Yes!” in response. His article about the experience and the subsequent attention, sharing it with his then young kids (whom I believe are now eligible for Medicare), really helped to drive home the reasons we follow sports and this particular dumb sport and team — the connections we make and memories we keep, time with loved ones. Please don’t puke, I’m sorry to get sappy and sentimental.

How do you feel about TGP’s lasting legacy in Phillies blogdom, what does TGP currently mean to you, and where would you like to see it go?

I really made a clean break with blogging when I left TGP with the exception of a couple small pieces. When we didn’t all get Zuckerberg rich off blogging like I thought would happen, I had to devote my focus to my real-life career, but I’ve continued to follow the site and engage with the crew regularly. Liz, Justin, John, you, and all the folks who followed me did so much more with the site than I ever could have done. Hell, it’s a multimedia endeavor now! Hittin’ Season and The Dirty Inning are the best Phillies pods out there (all due respect to the beautiful Absolutely Hammered). Students outgrow their teachers, there’s absolutely no way I ever could have brought TGP to the heights it has reached, I am and will always be incredibly proud to have been involved in the founding and operation of the site, and its legacy, which is much bigger than anything I ever contributed.