Oakland Athletics Veteran Stephen Vogt Set To Retire

Stephen Vogt with Giants in 2019
Stephen Vogt with Giants in 2019. Photo by Valerie Shoaps/CSM/Shutterstock (10428622ag)

Veteran Oakland Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt announced his decision to retire from baseball. The fan favorite spent 10 years in the MLB after getting a late-stage breakthrough into the league at the age of 27.

In addition to being a late bloomer in baseball, Vogt also had to endure a 15-month wait to take his first swing of the bat. “It was like a year-and-a-half wait in between my first at-bat and when I got the first hit,” Vogt recalled. “I couldn’t believe it had happened. It had been 32 at-bats, and I was in my 33rd at-bat, got a pitch to hit, and fortunately I got my first hit.”

An MLB journeyman, Vogt played for an array of teams from coast to coast, including Arizona, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Oakland, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay. During his career, Vogt had been what he considered both one of the best players and one of the worst players in the league while also undergoing a major shoulder injury in 2018. Still, this did not get in the way of him winning a World Series ring in 2021.

With his playing days now behind him, Vogt hopes to move into a coaching or managerial role, having learned from the likes of Craig Counsell and Mark Kotsay.