Oakland A’s fan favorite Stephen Vogt joins Seattle Mariners as bullpen coach

A’s fans will still get to see Stephen Vogt next season. He’ll just be wearing a Seattle Mariners uniform.

The fan favorite who retired after last season was hired as a bullpen and quality control coach by the Mariners, the team announced Tuesday. Vogt, 38, made no secret of his desire to get into coaching as soon as he could, with the ultimate goal of becoming a major league manager.

Vogt spent six of his 10 seasons with the A’s and represented Oakland at the All-Star Game twice. Vogt closed his career with a home run at the Coliseum in his final career at-bat. His first career hit was a home run at the Coliseum nine years earlier. His biggest moment with the A’s was during the 2013 ALDS when he produced the winning hit in Game 2 against the Tigers.

Vogt joins manager Scott Servais’ staff with the Mariners. The A’s will play the Mariners 14 times in 2023. The first is May 2 at the Coliseum.

“I am beyond excited to be joining the Mariners’ organization and major league coaching staff,” Vogt told The Associated Press. “This next chapter of my career is one I am ready for and thrilled to be beginning in Seattle.”

Vogt was a career .239 hitter with 82 home runs, also playing with the Rays, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Giants and Braves. He won a World Series ring with Atlanta in 2021.

But it was in Oakland where Vogt had his biggest successes and was adored by the fans, in large part because of his personality and a less-than-direct path to the majors. Vogt didn’t make his major league debut until he was 27, and opened his career by going hitless in his first 32 at-bats.

“I had a coach tell me, ‘Every day you take the field there’s a little boy or girl that’s at their very first baseball game and you need to show them the correct way to play,’ and I’ve taken that to heart,” Vogt told Janie McCauley of the Associated Press last season when he announced his plans to retire. “And every night that’s why I run hard, that’s why I play hard. It’s the correct way to play baseball.”

A’s fans serenaded Vogt with chants of “I believe in Stephen Vogt!” for much of his two stints in Oakland. His first stint ended in June 2017 when he was designated for assignment by the A’s. But he was back in Green and Gold last season, after shoulder injuries nearly ended his career, and played in 70 games. He hit .161 with seven home runs, including a dramatic walk-off blast to cap his playing career on the final day of last season.

The solo home run in the seventh inning of the A’s eventual 3-2 win over the Angels might have been the highlight of an otherwise forgettable season that saw Oakland lose 102 games.

“Catching seven shutout (innings), walking and hitting a homer in your final at-bat,” Vogt said told reporters following the game. “Can’t even make it up.”

At the time, Vogt shared that he had been studying current A’s manager Mark Kotsay, former A’s manager Bob Melvin and others to prepare for a second career as a coach and, ultimately, a manager.

“I haven’t always been the best player. I’ve been one of the best players in the league, I’ve been one of the worst players in the league,” Vogt told the AP. “I’ve been injured and everywhere in between, I’ve been DFA’d twice, I’ve been traded, I’ve been non-tendered, you name it. I’ve been the guy that knew he was going to have a job next year to the guy that had to fight for his job next year, and just always go out and earn it.”

Vogt and his family have lived in the Bay Area previously, but he, his wife Alyssa, and their three children currently live in Tumwater, about 60 miles south of Seattle. Alyssa is the girls basketball coach at Tumwater High and grew up in the area.

“It’s amazing to have the ability to not move the family for the first time in 16 years,” Stephen told the AP on Tuesday. “That is another perk of an already great opportunity to be coaching with the Mariners.”