SAN FRANCISCO–This day almost came six years ago, and frankly, that wouldn’t have surprised anyone
After six subpar seasons in the Major Leagues, three years in the Japan Central League, and a roller coaster 2010 ride featuring pit stops with the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies AAA affiliates, Ryan Vogelsong had little to show for his decade-long professional career.
At the end of an arduous road, all Vogelsong wanted was one final opportunity with the franchise that gave him his first. If it didn’t work out, Vogelsong said he was ready to retire as a member of the Giants.
Six years later, Vogelsong finally did retire with the Giants. It just so happens, two World Series rings and one All-Star game appearance later, the ovation Vogelsong received on Sunday was more than he ever could have imagined if he was forced to hang up his cleats in 2011.
“This is probably six or seven years in the making,” Vogelsong said. “When I left the Twins camp in March, it wasn’t the first thing that I thought of, but as I got home and knew that I was done playing, my thoughts were reflecting a little bit. Then it came back to, when I came back here in 2011, I came back here one, because I thought I still had some baseball left in me. But two, it’s where I wanted to be, I wanted to end as a Giant. I just didn’t feel like those thoughts should change. So once I knew I was not going to play anymore this year, I wanted to do it.”
How many pitchers with a career earned run average hovering around 4.50 earn the right to sign one-day contracts and retire with a special place in an organization’s history? The list probably starts and ends with Ryan Vogelsong.
In the modern baseball world, a player like Vogelsong doesn’t have much of a chance. He wasn’t blessed with stunning velocity, remarkable movement or even front-end of the rotation abilities. Vogelsong isn’t going to give analytics gurus a compelling case to keep him around, and his 61-75 career win-loss record isn’t going to satisfy the old-school folks, either.
There’s a reason, though, that the Giants embraced Vogelsong, he embraced the franchise, and the city of San Francisco will always embrace this team and this player. It’s Vogelsong’s relentless pursuit of his dream.
“It’s a great story of perseverance about how this guy was not going to give up,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said. “He kept pursuing his dream and that was to be a Major League pitcher and never stopped working at it and dreaming about getting back. He not only got back, but played just a huge, critical role in our success. Not just during the season, but especially in the postseason, I think every game he was in we found a way to win.”
That dream, of course, didn’t end after the Giants assigned him to AAA Fresno at the end of Spring Training in 2011. After 10 years of toiling, Vogelsong wasn’t ready to give up. By July of 2011, he had gone from battling against AAA hitters to representing San Francisco in Major League Baseball’s All-Star game.
With his back against the wall, Vogelsong persevered on an individual level. That’s why in 2012, when the Giants found their collective backs up against the wall with a 2-0 deficit in the National League Division Series, Vogelsong was the perfect pitcher to take the hill. After the Giants dropped both of their home games, Vogelsong threw five innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds. The Giants came back and won the series 3-2.
In Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, the Giants were down 3-1 against the St. Louis Cardinals, and again, Vogelsong took the ball. Seven innings of one-run ball from Vogelsong later, San Francisco was in the driver’s seat. The Giants won the series 4-3.
Every time Vogelsong was counted out, he found a way to keep scrapping and keep reinventing himself. And when the Giants were down and on their way out, they turned to Vogelsong. Every time, he delivered.
“We miss Vogey,” Bochy said. “We miss this type of player. He impacted our team with the intensity that he played with and the focus that he had. He was very popular in the clubhouse, he was a lot of fun, but you saw a different look when it was his day to pitch and how he competed out there and I think that did rub off on everybody and raised their game and their intensity. His day to pitch, it was kind of fun to watch him because he transformed into a different person.”
Over the 2012 and 2014 postseasons, Vogelsong started seven games on behalf of San Francisco. The Giants won all seven.
There’s no substitute for the mentality he brought to the clubhouse, and there’s no pitcher who can match his intensity.
“They were extra serious,” 13-year veteran Matt Cain said of Vogelsong’s starts. “He kind of took the seriousness to a different level. Even when Randy Johnson was here, I know his days were pretty serious. But it seemed like Vogey’s were a little more intense than even that. But it seemed like that was how he went about his start days and he never broke stride with it, that was how he was going to make every start.”
Vogelsong was never going to be Cain, Tim Lincecum or Madison Bumgarner. But he certainly didn’t want to go out as another pitcher drafted by the Giants who never made the most of his talents. What Vogelsong lacked from a physical standpoint, he made up for with the way he dominated mentally. In the biggest moments, he brought his best game.
“Intense,” Giants’ coach and Vogelsong’s old catcher, Eli Whiteside, said. “He walked in, you knew he was pitching that day. He was prepared. A lot of fun to catch and he was going to give you everything he had when he went out there. He was going to compete and no matter what he had, if he had his good stuff, didn’t have his good stuff, he was going to go out there and compete. And that’s all you can ask for.”
In sports, the great ones are often defined by their ability to win in the postseason. We live in a world where titles are a form of currency, and where championship performances are celebrated above all else. Vogelsong was never destined to be a “great one,” but on Sunday, he was honored as such.
As fans at AT&T Park stood and cheered, many wearing No. 32 jerseys or t-shirts, Vogelsong came off the mound one final time, tipping his cap, and pounding his heart. It was fitting, because for a franchise loaded with players who have long provided fans with indelible moments, Vogelsong gave fans an unforgettable story. While certain players are defined by a home run, a strikeout or in some cases an entire game, Vogelsong will be remembered for his entire career, and how his story inspired everyone who followed along.
“I think it’s a blue collar journey,” Vogelsong said. “I think people can relate with struggling, and failing, and you know, fighting through things and coming out on the other side. It’s one of those things like when all of this started coming up and obviously you reflect a little more in the present. Nicole and I have been talking a lot in the last couple of days and it’s like I told you before, there was moments in my career where if you would have told me 10 years down the road that was going to happen, I would have told you no chance. I would have laughed in your face. So I think the fact that you can look at somebody that plays for your city and your team that went through a whole bunch of things and came out on the other side, it’s inspirational and gives you hope, so I think that’s why I connected with them.”
