What a crazy year, huh? I mean, seriously, who saw THIS coming? Knowing what we knew about Vogey heading into the season, I’ll just say this: I don’t think I ever anticipated affectionately calling him Vogey! I didn’t think I’d be affectionately calling him ANYTHING!
Even if you saw this team being terrible, and even if you predicted that we’d already ship off our veteran bats by now, there were still plenty of other candidates ahead of Vogey heading into the season, with Mitch Haniger at the very top of the list. He was, after all, an All Star last year. Plus, “outfield” is the biggest position on the team, so it would’ve been easy to sneak him on as a reserve. Much harder to make it as a quote/unquote first baseman (which is where Vogey’s listed, per the MLB website).
I’ll be honest, I didn’t really give it much thought up until now, mostly because I never REALLY cared. If I had to guess at what I would’ve guessed heading into the season, I probably would’ve just banked on some pitcher coming from out of nowhere to have super low numbers and ultimately never making it into the actual All Star Game.
This is MUCH more interesting! Now, invite Vogey to participate in the Home Run Derby and I might actually watch the fucking thing!
That’s all that’s left to look forward to in my book. He’s tied for 17th in all of baseball with 20 homers, which is enough. Not all of those players are in the game in the first place, so that really whittles things down. But, I would argue (mostly sight unseen) that Vogey has had a higher rate of impact with his dingers. It always seems like he’s hitting these bombs late in games to pull the team back into it (if only for the bullpen to gag it away again). It’s that hardly-quantifiable clutchness factor that, I believe, sets him apart.
Also: Big Man Hit Ball Really Hard. For entertainment’s sake, let’s get this man a slot in the Derby!
If I had to project his chances – should they invite him in – I’d say Vogey will either wilt quietly in the first round, hitting lots of disappointing liners and pop ups … or he’ll make it all the way to the finals and (perhaps) win the whole fuckin’ thing. If I were a betting man (and you know that I am), I’d put a good chunk of cash on Vogey coming out he victor.