Octorara Alumni Stages Major League Comeback

Giants' Vogelsong beats Pirates 5-2

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- After almost five years of playing in Japan, Salt Lake, Lehigh Valley and other spots, simply being announced as a starting pitcher in the majors once again was quite the thrill for Ryan Vogelsong .

"It was a sense of accomplishment for me before the first pitch had even started," he said. "I was fighting it a little bit not to find myself getting too relaxed, you know?"

He settled in just fine.

Vogelsong won while making his first big league start in almost seven years, pitching effectively into the sixth inning against his former team and leading the San Francisco Giants over the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Thursday.

"Thousands of times," Vogelsong said, "I wondered if i was ever going to pitch in the big leagues again, let alone get a chance to be a starter again and win a game."

Vogelsong (1-0) made his first start since Sept. 29, 2004, when he was with Pittsburgh. He spent three seasons in Japan after last appearing in a game for the Pirates in June 2006, then spent last season playing for the Triple-A teams of the Philadelphia ... (read the entire article here)

And Ryan's very own Wikipedia page here.