- Jul 5, 2006
- 9,560
- 1,478
This roadtrip has been a complete failure. To possibly go 2-4 and at best 3-3 against these two teams is pretty pathetic.
Official 2011 San Francisco Giants Season Thread (86-76) 2nd Place in NL West
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by tim lincecum,
- Start date
- Jul 5, 2006
- 9,560
- 1,478
This roadtrip has been a complete failure. To possibly go 2-4 and at best 3-3 against these two teams is pretty pathetic.
- Jun 11, 2004
- 325
- 156
[h1][/h1]
[h1]A new verse for Ryan Vogelsong[/h1][h3]Back in the majors, at 33 years old, after stops in Venezuela, Japan and the minors[/h3]
San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy looked up at the Arizona Diamondbacks' scoreboard displaying the league pitching leaders and shook his head slightly at the difficulty he'll soon face picking his All-Star roster. For good reason. Entering the weekend, there were a dozen National League starters (with a minimum of 60 IP) with an ERA under 3.00 and two under 2.00.
What is surprising about the names on that list is that only one of them pitches for the Giants. Even more surprising is that his name isn't Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain or Jonathan Sanchez or even Madison Bumgarner. It isn't a Cy Young winner or postseason hero or someone with a no-hitter on his résumé or a $126 million contract. Instead, it's Ryan Vogelsong, who is 33 and who was told to get lost by two teams last year and began this season in the minors with his sixth club in as many seasons.
Yet since being called up in April to replace the injured Barry Zito, Vogelsong is 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA.
[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Gene J. PuskarThings are finally clicking for Ryan Vogelsong, who is 3-1 with a 1.23 ERA in his last eight starts.
"Any time a starter goes down and you have a guy come up and throw the way he has, it's a shot in the arm," Bochy said. "He hasn't just thrown well; he's thrown as well as anybody in baseball. That's how good he's been."
When Vogelsong won his first game in April, it marked his first victory as a starter in more than 2,412 days. At least, it marked his first major league victory in that span. He had many victories elsewhere, while pitching everywhere from Japan to Venezuela, as well as several more familiar minor league cities. It wasn't the typical path to major league success, but as Vogelsong says, "It got me back to where I want to be."
This is where Vogelsong wanted to be way back when the Giants originally drafted him in the fifth round of the 1998 draft. He never won a game for them, though, before being traded to the Pirates in the 2001 deal that brought Jason Schmidt to San Francisco. He went 10-19 for Pittsburgh and underwent Tommy John surgery before becoming a minor league free agent after the 2006 season. He signed with Japan's Hanshin Tigers within days, pitching in Koshien Stadium, which is perhaps best known for holding the semi-annual high school baseball tournament that is the equivalent of our NCAA basketball tournament.
"It's bigger than professional baseball," Vogelsong said. "Some guys who are heroes in the high school tournament don't go on to do anything in baseball, but they're still revered people for what they did in the high school tournament. There were guys I would face and they would be cheering for a guy hitting .120 and I would be like, 'What's going on?' And it would be because he was a high school superstar."
Pitching in Japan's Field of Dreams was an appropriate spot for Vogelsong as he worked on recapturing his dream. But that dream didn't come quickly. After two years with Hanshin, he pitched the 2009 season with the team merged from the old Orix BlueWave and Kintetsu Buffaloes teams. Because the team was a merger, it had two different home stadiums -- one in Osaka and the other in Kobe. Occasionally they would play one night in Osaka and the next in Kobe.
The majors must have seemed a long way away.
"Overall, it made me a better person," Vogelsong said of his career in Japan. "It's tough being away from family and friends nine months at a time. Being in a foreign country and in another culture, you have no choice but to grow as a person. Being in a different place and dealing with the everyday things you're not used to dealing with here makes you a better person all the way around."
Vogelsong returned to America last year, going 2-5, 4.91 for Philadelphia's Triple-A team (Lehigh Valley) before the Phillies released him in mid-July. He signed with the Angels after that and went 1-3, 4.66 before Anaheim told him his services were no longer required there, either.
- Jun 11, 2004
- 325
- 156
[h1][/h1]
[h1]A new verse for Ryan Vogelsong[/h1][h3]Back in the majors, at 33 years old, after stops in Venezuela, Japan and the minors[/h3]
San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy looked up at the Arizona Diamondbacks' scoreboard displaying the league pitching leaders and shook his head slightly at the difficulty he'll soon face picking his All-Star roster. For good reason. Entering the weekend, there were a dozen National League starters (with a minimum of 60 IP) with an ERA under 3.00 and two under 2.00.
What is surprising about the names on that list is that only one of them pitches for the Giants. Even more surprising is that his name isn't Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain or Jonathan Sanchez or even Madison Bumgarner. It isn't a Cy Young winner or postseason hero or someone with a no-hitter on his résumé or a $126 million contract. Instead, it's Ryan Vogelsong, who is 33 and who was told to get lost by two teams last year and began this season in the minors with his sixth club in as many seasons.
Yet since being called up in April to replace the injured Barry Zito, Vogelsong is 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA.
[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Gene J. PuskarThings are finally clicking for Ryan Vogelsong, who is 3-1 with a 1.23 ERA in his last eight starts.
"Any time a starter goes down and you have a guy come up and throw the way he has, it's a shot in the arm," Bochy said. "He hasn't just thrown well; he's thrown as well as anybody in baseball. That's how good he's been."
When Vogelsong won his first game in April, it marked his first victory as a starter in more than 2,412 days. At least, it marked his first major league victory in that span. He had many victories elsewhere, while pitching everywhere from Japan to Venezuela, as well as several more familiar minor league cities. It wasn't the typical path to major league success, but as Vogelsong says, "It got me back to where I want to be."
This is where Vogelsong wanted to be way back when the Giants originally drafted him in the fifth round of the 1998 draft. He never won a game for them, though, before being traded to the Pirates in the 2001 deal that brought Jason Schmidt to San Francisco. He went 10-19 for Pittsburgh and underwent Tommy John surgery before becoming a minor league free agent after the 2006 season. He signed with Japan's Hanshin Tigers within days, pitching in Koshien Stadium, which is perhaps best known for holding the semi-annual high school baseball tournament that is the equivalent of our NCAA basketball tournament.
"It's bigger than professional baseball," Vogelsong said. "Some guys who are heroes in the high school tournament don't go on to do anything in baseball, but they're still revered people for what they did in the high school tournament. There were guys I would face and they would be cheering for a guy hitting .120 and I would be like, 'What's going on?' And it would be because he was a high school superstar."
Pitching in Japan's Field of Dreams was an appropriate spot for Vogelsong as he worked on recapturing his dream. But that dream didn't come quickly. After two years with Hanshin, he pitched the 2009 season with the team merged from the old Orix BlueWave and Kintetsu Buffaloes teams. Because the team was a merger, it had two different home stadiums -- one in Osaka and the other in Kobe. Occasionally they would play one night in Osaka and the next in Kobe.
The majors must have seemed a long way away.
"Overall, it made me a better person," Vogelsong said of his career in Japan. "It's tough being away from family and friends nine months at a time. Being in a foreign country and in another culture, you have no choice but to grow as a person. Being in a different place and dealing with the everyday things you're not used to dealing with here makes you a better person all the way around."
Vogelsong returned to America last year, going 2-5, 4.91 for Philadelphia's Triple-A team (Lehigh Valley) before the Phillies released him in mid-July. He signed with the Angels after that and went 1-3, 4.66 before Anaheim told him his services were no longer required there, either.
- Jun 11, 2004
- 325
- 156
The writer forgot to mention that Vogey got offered a contract from the Dodgers, but refused it and made a stance that he wanted to play for the Giants again (at any level AA, AAA).
- Jun 11, 2004
- 325
- 156
The writer forgot to mention that Vogey got offered a contract from the Dodgers, but refused it and made a stance that he wanted to play for the Giants again (at any level AA, AAA).
- Mar 18, 2009
- 2,755
- 10
They always say, you're supposed to play .500 on the road and take 2 out of 3 at home.
- Mar 18, 2009
- 2,755
- 10
They always say, you're supposed to play .500 on the road and take 2 out of 3 at home.
- Dec 16, 2005
- 1,287
- 85
^Yup, I fully believe in that. If a team sticks to that for the most part, it would lead to over 90 wins which will put you in contention to get a playoff birth.
Hopefully Cain is the stopper today.
The last 4 games I've been to they lost, so I'm gonna stop going for a while.
Hopefully Cain is the stopper today.
The last 4 games I've been to they lost, so I'm gonna stop going for a while.
- Dec 16, 2005
- 1,287
- 85
^Yup, I fully believe in that. If a team sticks to that for the most part, it would lead to over 90 wins which will put you in contention to get a playoff birth.
Hopefully Cain is the stopper today.
The last 4 games I've been to they lost, so I'm gonna stop going for a while.
Hopefully Cain is the stopper today.
The last 4 games I've been to they lost, so I'm gonna stop going for a while.
- Mar 18, 2009
- 2,755
- 10
- Mar 18, 2009
- 2,755
- 10
- Nov 20, 2007
- 8,859
- 577
we bout to get swept on a complete game 3hitter by cahill
- Nov 20, 2007
- 8,859
- 577
we bout to get swept on a complete game 3hitter by cahill
- Nov 18, 2007
- 28,107
- 9,249
I believe that, unless you are playing some of the worst teams in baseball. The Giants have had awful series' against real garbage teams this year, which I find unacceptable, on the road or not.
- Nov 18, 2007
- 28,107
- 9,249
I believe that, unless you are playing some of the worst teams in baseball. The Giants have had awful series' against real garbage teams this year, which I find unacceptable, on the road or not.
- Jul 5, 2006
- 9,560
- 1,478
We haven't had a hit with RISP since Wednesday, 0-24 since.
- Jul 5, 2006
- 9,560
- 1,478
We haven't had a hit with RISP since Wednesday, 0-24 since.
- Jul 5, 2006
- 9,560
- 1,478
Get out the brooms
- Nov 18, 2007
- 28,107
- 9,249
Unbelievable. SMFH.
- Jul 5, 2006
- 9,560
- 1,478
Get out the brooms
- Nov 18, 2007
- 28,107
- 9,249
Unbelievable. SMFH.
- Nov 20, 2007
- 8,859
- 577
sigh
- Aug 17, 2009
- 239
- 10
Can't believe how the series is going to end.
- Aug 17, 2009
- 239
- 10
Can't believe how the series is going to end.
