Hot Stove Update: Ryan Vogelsong Signs Extension

Ryan Vogelsong's story is the type that gets passed down from one generation to another. I just finished reciting it to my daughter at dinner tonight. I'm thinking that someday they will pass it on to their children, or maybe I will tell their children myself and someday they will tell their grandchildren. It's that kind of story. It will probably get embellished in the retellings 60 years from now, but it's such a great story now I'm not sure it's possible to embelllish it.

Ryan Vogelsong was drafted by the Giants in the 5'th round in 1998. He pitched well in the minor leagues and got a September callup in 2000. I remember watching him pitch a couple of innings. He was a big kid with long arms and legs with a lively fastball and a sharp breaking slider. Dusty was impressed and said he thought Vogelsong was going to be a workhorse pitcher for the Giants for years to come. In 2001, he was traded in a package of players to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jason Schmidt in one of Brian Sabean's better trades. No sooner had Vogelsong arrived in the Pittsburgh organization when he suffered a UCL tear and underwent Tommy John surgery. He kicked around the Pirates organization for several years with several major league looks but not much success. Finally in 2007 he went to Japan where he pitched for the next 3 seasons.

Vogelsong always had good stuff. He just couldn't always throw it for strikes. Once in Japan, he discovered that the gaijin don't get any breaks from the umps over there. He had to not only get the ball over the plate, but he had to have enough on it to not get hammered. He also learned to have some equanimity about getting squeezed by the umps. By 2010, he was ready to try for a comeback in the U.S. He signed with the Phillies and pitched for Lehigh Valley, but was released mid-season. He hooked up with the Angels and finished the season with AAA Salt Lake and pitched creditably but not good enough to make anyone think he was going to make it back to the majors any time soon.

He went to pitch winter ball in Mexico as a minor league FA. There, his catcher was long time Giants farmhand and now minor league coach, Guillermo Rodriguez. Vogelsong had an idea. He wanted to complete what he started back in 1998 and pitch for the San Francisco Giants. He asked GRod to make a call on his behalf. The Giants did not respond with an offer. The Dodgers did make him an offer. Vogelsong went back to GRod and asked him to make one last call to the Giants. HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE A DODGER! This time, the Giants responded with a contract offer and Vogelsong accepted.

He pitched well in spring training but didn't make the 25 man roster. He accepted an assignment to Fresno and pitched well there too. He got the callup when Barry Zito went down with an injury. We all know the rest of the story. Vogelsong was nothing short of sensational. There were standing ovations as he walked off the field after another great start. His wife, who had encouraged him to continue following his dream cried in the stands watching him pitch. Nobody wanted Barry Zito to come back. When he finally did, it was Jonathan Sanchez who got sent down, not Vogelsong. He got named to the All-Star team and nobody thought he didn't deserve it. He won the Willie Mac Award.

There were lots of things to notice about Ryan Vogelsong last year. I'll tell you just one that sticks in my mind. I don't think I've ever seen a player with a sense of purpose about him in the dugout like Vogelsong had last year. On days he was pitching, he would set up his corner of the dugout like it was his office. He spread out the towels carefully, lined up his water bottles, he rarely sat down. From the minute he got back to the dugout after pitching his half of the inning, he would towel off, open a water bottle, talk to his catcher, talk to rags, then look out at the action on the field. You could see him gathering himself for the next trip out to the mound. And oh yeah, nobody looks better in a baseball uniform, especially a Giants baseball uniform.

Now, after all those years of struggling, all those years of his family pulling for him when it seemed like nobody else was, after staring at the possibility that he might end up leaving the game with nothing to show for it, Vogelsong has earned financial security for himself and his family. I honestly don't care what happens to him over the next two years the contract covers. Of course, I want him to do well and for the Giants to win, but if it doesn't happen, I will never begrudge the pay he gets over that time. Nobody, and I mean nobody in baseball deserves it more.