First Pitch: Day Forty Nine – The Long-Term Future

19 Jan 2022

I’ve been very happy with the new approach for Pirates Prospects over the last three weeks.

If you missed the previous announcements, Pirates Prospects has switched to a weekly digital magazine format. Each week we will release all of our features on Tuesday, giving you the option to either binge-read everything, or pace yourself throughout the week.

This week’s articles featured a small collaboration between myself and Anthony Murphy on a Mason Martin feature.

When I spoke with Martin in Altoona last September, we talked for half an hour. Part of that is because Martin has so much knowledge about the game and is so introspective about his career. I feel a bigger part is because I’ve literally been there since day one of Martin’s career, following him and talking with him since his debut in the GCL.

I had too much for one article, and Martin discussed his swing changes in detail. So, a few weeks ago I contacted Anthony about doing a video feature on Martin, discussing those swing changes. The end result was two very informative articles on a prospect who might not be one of the top guys in the system, but who is definitely one of the more important prospects to follow due to the need at first base.

This kind of presentation — taking years of coverage and in-depth player interviews and using them to give an in-depth look at the player — is what I hope to unlock more of with the new format.

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In the future, there will be four outlets where you can find my writing.

1. Pirates Prospects

2. Pittsburgh Baseball Network

3. Fuquay Vinyl

4. Mystery Project

Obviously, two of those are already in existence.

Pirates Prospects is turning 13 years old (!) next week, and right now is my primary focus for baseball writing.

Pittsburgh Baseball Network is in its second year. I’ll be returning to write about the Pirates next week, with a few features I’ve been working on.

What you see in the off-topic First Pitch articles are the formation of the third and fourth projects.

Fuquay Vinyl is currently in existence as a very small online record store, where I sell rare, limited edition vinyl. Right now, this is primarily so that I can buy vinyl without having to spend baseball site money on that expensive hobby. At some point this year, Fuquay Vinyl will be an editorial site, with articles similar to the Friday First Pitch. It might also include the Marvel recaps from the Thursday First Pitch.

The Mystery Project is called that because I don’t really have a name for it right now. That’s largely on the theme of the Sunday First Pitch. Sunday is my writing day for this project, and eventually all of that writing will lead to novels and poetry collections. With my work on the previous three projects taking priority, I don’t expect this to be a realized goal until 2023.

My long-term goal is to make enough money for myself with projects three and four, which will allow for maximum growth on the baseball websites. My anticipation is that the audiences for the baseball site will be different than the audiences for the other projects, though I know there will be some crossover (there are Pirates fans who like music and things other than baseball).

My goal with the First Pitch articles is to fine-tune my style on those projects before launching them. I also want to make sure that P2 and PBN are both settled before introducing another project. Right now, I feel the P2 half is getting there.

My belief is that by branching out from constant baseball writing, I’ll become a better writer in general, which will improve the quality of my content on P2 and PBN.

That said, P2 is the guide for how everything will go. When I started that site, it was just me. More people have joined over the years, and I view the core of the site as myself, John Dreker, and Wilbur Miller. I’d like to expand that core and give young writers an opportunity, just like we’re doing right now with Cody Potanko and Anthony Murphy.

Long-term, for that to be feasible during the ups and downs, I need to make my money outside of baseball writing, so that the baseball sites can grow exponentially.

In my long-term mind, Pirates Prospects is heading toward its third decade in the 2030s, with a print magazine that you’ll be able to find in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Baseball Network has some lofty goals I’m working toward during that same time, though I don’t want to share those yet. Fuquay Vinyl would be an actual record store in Pittsburgh, working to promote local musical artists. And by 2030, I should have several books published from the Mystery Project, with the first ones hopefully being released in the next year.