Veteran right-hander Ryan Vogelsong will formally retire as a member of the Giants this coming Sunday, the team announced via press release.
“We are so excited to honor Ryan and touched that as one of our home grown players his career will officially end where it all began for him,” said Giants GM Bobby Evans in a statement within the release. “Ryan’s journey in this game has been marked by highs and lows, successes and challenges, but through it all he has always been a person of great integrity, strong character and a fierce competitor. He is a World Series Champion and a forever Giant.”
The 40-year-old Vogelsong was in camp with the Twins back in Spring Training but didn’t make the big league club out of camp and hasn’t appeared in the Majors or minors during the 2017 regular season. While his final season the Majors came as a member of the Pirates — one of two big league teams for which Vogelsong ever played in parts of 12 big league campaigns — he’ll be most remembered as a San Francisco Giant.
Vogelsong was San Francisco’s fifth-round pick back in 1998 and ultimately went on to debut as a 22-year-old with the Giants back in 2000. He struggled through half of the 2001 season before being traded to the Pirates as part of that season’s Jason Schmidt trade. Vogelsong was ultimately unable to cement himself as a consistent member of the Pirates’ staff, and the Bucs cut him loose in 2006.
Vogelsong went on to spend parts of the next three seasons pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and found enough success to get a look with the Phillies and Angels at the Triple-A level in 2010. However, neither club saw fit to bring him to the Majors, setting the stage for an improbable rise to prominence as a member of the team that first gave Vogelsong a chance in that 1998 draft.
In the 2010-11 offseason, Vogelsong rejoined the Giants on a minor league deal, and while few would’ve expected him to even surface in the Majors, he took things one step further by establishing himself as a key member of the Giants’ rotation. Vogelsong returned to the Majors with a flourish, tossing 179 2/3 innings with a 2.71 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 en route to a few rogue Cy Young votes (11th place) and his lone All-Star nomination.
Vogelsong went on to play an instrumental role in the Giants’ 2012 and 2014 playoff rotations, and when all was said and done, his second tenure with the team resulted in 792 2/3 innings of 3.89 ERA ball with 7.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 and two World Series rings.
All told, Vogelsong’s career will come to a close with a 61-75 record, a 4.48 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 over the life of 1190 Major League innings. Those numbers don’t include another 37 innings of 2.92 ERA with a 29-to-16 K/BB ratio for the Giants in the postseason. Vogelsong banked more than $20MM over the course of his 12-year playing career. Best wishes to him in his post-playing days.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Can he pitch one last time?
Agreed. Enough of the ceremonial crap. If he doesn’t pitch as a Giant (MLB or MiLB), then he should “retire” as a member of the team for which he most recently pitched.
No thanks.
He was only ever good for the Giants. He’s a Giant.
yeah pitch as a giant – unless you think he will hurt the giants’ chance at making a playoff spot, you know like if every other team in the NL dies in a horrendous plane crash.
Why do you care?
Don’t the Giants already have a few players on their 40 man roster that are in retirement? I.E Sandoval, Cain and Pence. The Giants are basically The Villages for aging, decrepit MLB players
Panda isn’t retiring any time soon, Cain might. He said he wants to be with the Giants for his career. I doubt they’ll sign him again. Pence isn’t anywhere close to retiring.
Morse might. His concussion he got from the Strickland-Harper brawl still has him on the DL. I hope he comes back for next year honestly. Morse is the man
Is that an exact quote from Brian Sabean? Because you sure as hell sound like him. Good, you can keep all that washed up trash and enjoy finishing in last place every year. When are you Giants fans gonna wake up out of your comas and grasp reality?
Chill out and go back under your bridge in the YouTube comments section.
Are you dumb? Players get to choose who they retire with.
Many players end up playing out wishy-washy years at the end of their career while they hold legacy with their career franchises.
Don’t be a child.
Boo hoo…grab a tissue snowflake
Or maybe he should retire with the team that drafted him! There we go, problem solved with our flawed logic.
For the Giants, yes. For any other org, no. He’d be an essential core piece for the ongoing “Giants youth movement” lol
I guess a first pitch in full uniform will do. Great career Vogey, we’ll miss you
Ryan who?
I guess you didn’t pay attention in 2012.
Wasn’t allowed to stay up that late on school nights, I guess.
The guy who made seven career postseason starts, and his team never lost a single one of them?
Solid career. 3-0 in the postseason with a 2.92 ERA in 37 innings are impressive numbers.
Solid 1.6 WAR through parts of 14 seasons. 61-75 with a career 4.48 ERA. What’s the tentative date for the retirement of his jersey in SF?
This kind of thing happens all the time in baseball. I’m not sure why it’s over so many people’s heads. He was a part of some important teams and beloved by the fan base and wants to retire a Giant. It’s pretty straightforward.
Pretty dumb SundownDevil. That mean Mays should be in the HOF as a Met.
Hank Aaron as a Brewer!
Ivan Rodriguez as a National!
well. He did play for the nationals.
Mike Piazza as an Athletic.
Todd Zeile as any of the gadzillion teams he played for! Oh wait. Not a HOF member.
I think the most out of place would likely have to be Dizzy Dean
The Cards HOFer stepped out of the broadcaster booth to come back, 6 years after retiring, to throw 1 game (4 innings) for the StL Browns
It was a publicity stunt so forgettable that it isn’t even listed on his HOF plaque
One of the most satisfying experiences I’ve had as a baseball fan was watching him turn himself into a good pitcher at the age of 33 after a 5-year absence from the big leagues.
Maybe just as amazing was watching his 2nd comeback. He had finally collapsed the year prior, two years later than everyone thought he would. Then in 2014 he was awful in spring training. He was awful for the first few weeks of the year. His velocity had dipped. His control was gone. He looked about as washed up as any pitcher I’ve ever seen. As a guy about to turn 37, who was a fringe sort of player to begin with, none of this was surprising.
Every Giants fan thought he was down to his last start. Even with Bochy’s noted veteran love, he may have been. Then he turned it around. His MPH came back. His control came back. He just… willed himself into being a useful pitcher again. He wasn’t great that year, or even good. But he was a legit big league starter for a team that desperately needed one. It was remarkable and beautiful.
Love Vogey. Highs and lows for sure, mostly lows the past few years; but man, what a fighter and a great player of the game.
They need to get Lincecum to do this too.
maybe cain too the same day – we can rip the band aid off and move on knowing that they will be honored for what they did in SF without holding on…
Between the two of them, they might pitch an inning. Loved Vogey as he persevered and had a magical run.
App is double posting. Not me!
If Timmy is game, I’m sure the org will jump at it when the time is right.
Great real pitcher (not just a flamethrower)- actually have an autographed glossy of him on the wall – we need more like him in the game nowadays.
He might be able to beat the Dodgers right now. Start him!
Sign him for a day and let him pitch to one batter. It’s not like the Giants are playing meaningful games
I remember when Lyles hit him in the eyeball with a 90+ fastball. I thought that eye was gone for sure. He never even flinched until after contact.
Why not just insert Vogelsong back onto the Giants 40 man? I’m pretty sure the airheaded duo of Sabean and Evans have seriously considered it. What’s one more washed up has-been? He’d fit right in with the Giants
This really impacts this year’s Cy Young balloting.
Vogelsong is a class act. Glad to see him retiring as a Giant and wish him all the best. Heard him interviewed a few times on the radio and he’s a refreshing interview. Talks in depth about the game, really honest, very intelligent baseball mind and doesn’t do any of that “non-speak” crap.
One last order of chicken enchiladas for Vogey. Thanks for everything, especially the 2012 postseason: there would have been no comeback against the Reds or Cardinals without him, to say nothing of his scoreless start in Game 3 of the World Series.