CLEVELAND — Stephen Vogt exited the white Chevy Tahoe at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, embraced his wife and told his six-month-old daughter she had no idea how much her life was about to change. About an hour earlier, Vogt learned he was getting the call to the majors with the Tampa Bay Rays for Opening Day in 2012, a last-minute decision spurred by an injury to B.J.
Upton. The big leagues were never a guarantee for the product of Azusa Pacific University, for a guy who was stuck in A-ball as a 25-year-old third-stringer. His playing career unfolded in implausible fashion, with a rise to two All-Star Games, cult hero status among the diehards in Oakland and a World Series ring in Atlanta.
Advertisement But his coaching future? That was never in doubt. An American League Manager of the Year award in his first year at the helm in Cleveland? It’s not shocking to anyone who has witnessed any part of his baseball journey. Vogt inherited the coaching DNA from his father, Randy, who presided over his sons’ teams through high school.
Randy would set his alarm for 3 a.m. during baseball season so he could hustle home along Highway 99 in central California each afternoon from his job as a CPA to coach them on the diamond.
He’d do anything to accommodate his kids’ baseball aspirations. He first noticed Stephen’s leadership qualities when his son was a sophomore in high school and lifted his mask and raised his hand to tell his short-fused head coach (Randy) to stop .