NEWSLETTER
Steven Vogt is calling it a career, but not before he received a special sendoff in Oakland on Wednesday.
A’s Catcher Stephen Vogt Gets a Storybook Sendoff
Stephen Vogt spent five of his first six MLB seasons in Oakland and after making stops in Milwaukee, San Francisco, Arizona, and Atlanta in the last few years, Vogt returned to Oakland for one final season, announcing his retirement on September 22.
Vogt played his last MLB game on Wednesday and capped off his 10-year career with a sendoff to remember thanks to his wife and kids. Here’s Payton, Clark, and Bennett running up to their dad before the game and embracing him as he took in the scenery of the coliseum for the final time.
During Vogt’s first at-bat of the game in the bottom of the second inning, Payton, Clark, and Bennett were accompanied by mom Alyssa to the A’s public address box where they took over the mic and announced their father’s at-bat against Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani stepped off the rubber to allow the Oakland crowd to give Vogt a warm standing ovation, a really classy move on Ohtani’s part.
The icing on the cake for Vogt and his family on Wednesday? One final home run trot around the bases at the coliseum.
What a fantastic moment for Vogt, his family, and the A’s fans. Vogt told NBC Sports Bay Area recently that he’ll take some time off with his family, but he doesn’t plan on being away from baseball too long. The 38-year-old plans on getting into coaching and one day becoming an MLB manager:
“I know you have to earn your stripes, and you have to get there,” Vogt told NBC Sports Bay Area. “And so, I think for me; obviously, my goal is to one day manage, and I always set my sights very high, and I’m not afraid to hear no. I’m not afraid to fall flat on my face.”
Vogt is a two-time All-Star and a World Series Champion and is now retired with a pension and big plans after some well-deserved time off. Congrats!
Why Joe Maddon Was Fired
Sports Illustrated released an excerpt from Tom Verducci and Joe Maddon’s book, ‘The Book of Joe’ in which they paint a picture of Maddon’s firing by the Los Angeles Angels on the heels of a 12-game losing streak this summer.
“Joe Maddon was fired in his living room, sporting a freshly cut mohawk. On the morning of June 7, 2022, the Angels had lost 12 games in a row in a cavalcade of oddities and disasters, including the worst two weeks of Mike Trout’s baseball life (he hit .114 and struck out 17 times in those 12 games); a slump by Shohei Ohtani (.180, 15 strikeouts); injuries to key hitters Anthony Rendon and Taylor Ward; and epic failures by the bullpen. Los Angeles held 10 leads in those dozen games and lost them all.”
The excerpt continues to explain that Maddon had gotten a mohawk haircut as he did years ago with the Tampa Bay Rays in an effort to awaken the Angels from their two-week slumber. But Maddon and his mohawk never made it to the clubhouse as Angels GM Perry Minasian arrived at Maddon’s front door to deliver the news.
Maddon says that he was relieved that it was he that Minasian had decided to fire instead of his assistants that Minasian had spoken to him about dismissing in the days and weeks leading up to the firing.
“Maddon thought he had a good idea of why Minasian was there. Over the previous few days Minasian had told Maddon he was considering firing some coaches. ‘You can’t do that,’ Maddon had told him. ‘They’re very good at what they do. No, that’s not the answer.”
The excerpt from ‘The Book of Joe’ is a must-read for baseball fans this morning:
