Stephen Vogt

Stephen Guy Vogt (/ˈvoʊt/; born November 1, 1984) is a Major League Baseball catcher with the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. He previously played for the Tampa Bay Rays. Vogt has also filled in at first base for the Athletics.

Amateur career

Born and raised in Visalia, California, Vogt went to Central Valley Christian High School where he was a three-year letter winner in basketball and baseball. Vogt later went on to NCAA Division II Azusa Pacific University, graduating in 2007. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, outfielder for the New York Mets, is also an alumnus of Azusa Pacific, graduating in 2008.^[1] At Azusa Pacific, Vogt led the team to their first NAIA World Series since 1984, and was an NAIA All-American. During his career at the school, Vogt batted .448 with 31 home runs, 294 hits, and 199 RBIs.^[2]

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays (2007–2012)

Vogt was drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2007 in the 12th round, 365th overall as a catcher and left fielder. He was selected 15 picks ahead of future fifth overall pick and former Athletics pitcher Drew Pomeranz. He was assigned to Low-A Hudson Valley, playing 70 games, 55 at left field, hitting an even .300. He played all of 2008 with now defunct Single-A Columbus, playing 113 games, 67 in left field, hitting .291. His 2009 season was cut short after just 10 games after a shoulder injury that required surgery. He played for High-A Charlotte for those 10 games and for the 2010 season, which he played in 106 games with a .345 average, splitting time between catcher, left field and first base. He was invited to spring training with the Rays, hitting 4–9 with a home run. He started that season with Double-A Montgomery, playing in 97 games with a .301 average before being promoted to Triple-A Durham. He finished with 31 games there, hitting .290. On November 18, 2011, Vogt was added to the big league roster to be protected from the Rule 5 draft.^[3][4]

He made his major league debut with the Rays on April 6, 2012 at Tropicana Field against the New York Yankees. In his first ever at bat he was struck out by David Robertson as a pinch-hitter. After a strong season at Triple-A Durham where Vogt batted .272 with 9 home runs and 43 RBIs in 94 games, he was added to the active roster as a September call-up. Despite having 25 at-bats in the 2012 season, Vogt couldn't manage to get his first big league hit.

Oakland Athletics (2013–present)

The Rays traded Vogt, on April 5, 2013, to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later or cash considerations. To make room on the roster, Oakland designated recent waiver claim Dan Otero for assignment.^[5] Vogt's first Major League hit was a home run against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 28, 2013. Vogt appeared in 47 games with Oakland as a reserve catcher in 2013, hitting .252 with 4 HR and 16 RBI.

In the 2013 American League Divisional Series against the Detroit Tigers, his walk-up music was Comatose by Skillet. In game 2, Vogt hit a game-winning walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning in a 1-0 win over the Tigers.

Following an impressive spring training with the A's in 2014, in which he hit .364 with 3 HR and 12 RBI in 20 games, Vogt was among the final cuts made by Oakland as Daric Barton won the final Opening Day roster spot.^[6] Manager Bob Melvin called Vogt's demotion "...maybe the most difficult (decision) I’ve ever had to do" as a manager. Vogt was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on March 29, 2014 and soon missed over a month of playing due to straining his oblique muscle on April 8.^[7] Vogt played in 21 games with the River Cats before earning a promotion back to the big leagues on June 1 due to injuries to left-handed hitters Brandon Moss and Josh Reddick.^[8] He was hitting .364 with 3 HR and 19 RBI.

"I Believe in Stephen Vogt" Chant

Each time Vogt begins an at-bat in Oakland, the fans in the Right Field Bleachers will start the "I Believe in Stephen Vogt" Chant, modeled after the "I Believe That we Will Win" chant made famous by the U.S. Men's Soccer team.^[9] After everyone stands up, one person in the Right Field Bleachers will lead the chant in a repeat-after-me fashion as follows:

• I
• I BELIEVE
• I BELIEVE IN
• I BELIEVE IN STEPHEN VOGT

After the leader says "I Believe in Stephen Vogt," those in the section begin to jump up and down, clapping their hands and chanting "I Believe in Stephen Vogt" repeatedly.^[10]

The chant began in June 2014, around the time that the World Cup began in Brazil, when Vogt began playing in Right Field for the Athletics.^[11] Soon after the chant began, Vogt went on a hot streak, giving the fans in Right Field good reason to continue to believe.^[12] The chant led to the creation of a banner hung in the Bleachers^[13] and even a T-shirt produced by the A's, sold in team stores throughout O.co Coliseum.^[14]

Bobblehead

In 2015, the A's produced a bobblehead of Vogt, which was given away to fans on May 28.^[15] The bobblehead was modeled after Vogt's appearance on the MLB Network talk show, Intentional Talk, where he performed a bit dressed up as a basketball referee.^[16] The bobblehead featured Vogt dressed as a basketball referee and included a sound chip in the base, with three audio clips. While the first two featured bits of audio from his MLB Network interview, the third clip featured the fans of Oakland's Right Field Bleachers performing the chant. The A's ended up winning the game 5-4 over the New York Yankees.^[17]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Stephen Vogt on Twitter