Cut By Phils, Vogelsong Now An All-Star

Good article in this morning's Philadelphia Inquirer about Major League All Star Ryan Vogelsong.  Octorara is mentioned in the second paragraph.

The article details Ryan's demotion and then outright release by the Phillies' farm system in 2010 and then his meteoric raise to the World Champion San Francisco Giant's pitching rotation at the start of the 2011 baseball season and then to the All Star game happening in Phoenix this evening.

Phoenix is the perfect city to showcase Vogelsong's out-of-the-dust return to baseball's pinnacle event.

You can read the entire article here.  These paragraphs are worth capturing:

"I don't think I have to say anything," Vogelsong said, before saying something. "All you have to do is just listen to the stories. It's as simple as, 'Don't ever give up.' I came into this game and people told me, 'You don't stop playing until they kick you out and take the uniform from you.' And here I am."

And Cole Hamel's praise of Vogelsong's unlikely journey:

Cole Hamels remembers Vogelsong from last spring because they were in the same throwing group and each had newborn sons. And Hamels remembers something else.

"Seeing him in spring training, it was like, 'This guy is good. Why hasn't he been in the big leagues?' " Hamels said. "Now he's actually proving to everybody [that] sometimes it just takes a little bit longer for everything to click. Things are clicking and now we have to play against him."

Vogelsong, An All-Star and Inspiration

By this point you all know Octorara alum Ryan Vogelsong made this year's National League All-Star team.

Over the next several weeks leading up to the game on July 12th, Parkesburg Today will post snippets of his inspirational story with links to the longer article.

I've been nudging The Daily Local News in West Chester for the last several weeks to write about Ryan's story.

Here's their first article from this morning's paper.

Money quote:

"There's never been a time in my career when this seemed like even a realistic possibility," Vogelsong said. "A year ago, almost to the day, I got released and didn't know if I would ever pitch again."

"I did tell my wife, obviously, and my parents," Vogelsong said. "I told them not to tell anyone because things spread so fast on Twitter and Facebook. My parents don't know what Facebook is, though. Or Twitter."

Vogelsong On NL All Star Team

 

When Major League Baseball announced their All-Star rosters this afternoon, Octorara's own Ryan Vogelsong joined 12 other national league pitchers atop the National League All Star lineup.

Vogelsong, a 1995 Octoara grad, is sporting a 6-1 record and a 2.05 ERA this year pitching for the World Champion Giants.  This will be his first All-star appearance.

The national league pitchers joining Vogelsong include three Phillies and four Giants are as follows:

Ryan Vogelsong, San Francisco Giants, Lefthander

Jonny Venters, Atlanta Braves, Righthander

Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers, Lefthander

Cole Hamels, Philadelphia Phillies, Lefthander

Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta Braves, Lefthander

Joel Hanrahan, Pittsburgh Pirates, Righthander

Heath Bell, San Diego Padres, Righthander

Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants, Lefthander

Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies, Lefthander

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants, Lefthander

Brian Wilson, San Francisco Giants, Righthander

Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies, Lefthander

Tyler Clippard, Washington Nationals, Righthander

Here's a quick story of how Vogelsong learned of his selection to the team this afternoon:

It's quite fitting that the World Series champs will be represented by four pitchers at the All-Star Game. This team is built on pitching, and Bochy had no qualms about using three of his nine discretionary picks on his guys.

"I'd have liked to have a position player there, to be honest, but we've got four on there. We're well-represented."

Wilson, Lincecum and Cain speak for themselves. The real story here is Vogelsong, who is being rewarded for a great comeback tale. Bochy had to be careful with the timing of telling Vogelsong, because he is pitching today. He did it a few hours before game time.

"When I told him it was an emotional time," Bochy said. "There are special moments in this game. This is one of the best."

Money quote:

"He's deserving. I know he's only had 12 starts, but he's seven innings away from qualifying for the ERA lead. He gave us a shot in the arm. He helped save us. He's a big reason we're in first place. No. 2, he's a great story, the perseverance he's shown in this game, being in Japan for five years, the minor-leagues, the rollercoaster he's been on."