Cut by Phils, Vogelsong becomes an all-star

PHOENIX - On Tuesday night, Ryan Vogelsong will set foot on Chase Field as baseball's most improbable all-star. But almost a year ago to the day, the 33-year-old righthander was running pregame sprints in the outfield at Louisville Slugger Stadium.

He was property of the Phillies, the team he loved while growing up and dreamed of playing for while at Octorara High School and Kutztown University. But he hadn't pitched for triple-A Lehigh Valley in nine days, and this was after a demotion to the bullpen, so he had an idea of what came next. "I'm not stupid," Vogelsong said.

He had spent three years pitching in Japan because the lucrative contracts outweighed the slim chance of slumming it in the minors hoping for that unlikely major-league job. At least in Japan, he would never have the discussion he was about to have.

Rod Nichols, the IronPigs pitching coach, met Vogelsong in the outfield.

"I need to see you in the office," he said.

"Release or DL?" Vogelsong asked.

"Release," Nichols said.

Vogelsong packed his bags, left Louisville on July 16, 2010, and waited 10 days for his next job. He had not thrown a pitch in the majors since 2006, and even then, he lugged a career 5.86 ERA in 315 innings. His control suffered and now the one fantasy he permitted himself to dream - pitching for the Phillies - was crushed.

"At that moment it was gone," he said.

Almost a year to the day, Vogelsong was smiling. He was seated in a ballroom at the Arizona Biltmore and reporters were asking him - yes, Ryan Vogelsong - if he has a message for all the minor-league pitchers out there who want to surrender, who feel like the system has chewed them up and the dream is dead.

"I don't think I have to say anything," Vogelsong said, before saying something. "All you have to do is just listen to the stories. It's as simple as, 'Don't ever give up.' I came into this game and people told me, 'You don't stop playing until they kick you out and take the uniform from you.' And here I am."

Here he is, baseball's story of redemption and second (Third? Fourth?) chances. Vogelsong has a 2.17 ERA in 14 starts for the Giants, who signed him this offseason after an impressive winter stint in Venezuela.

Most of all, he is confident again.

Cole Hamels remembers Vogelsong from last spring because they were in the same throwing group and each had newborn sons. And Hamels remembers something else.

"Seeing him in spring training, it was like, 'This guy is good. Why hasn't he been in the big leagues?' " Hamels said. "Now he's actually proving to everybody [that] sometimes it just takes a little bit longer for everything to click. Things are clicking and now we have to play against him."

That fact is not lost on Vogelsong, who hopes to pitch when the Giants visit Citizens Bank Park in late July.

Recently, Vogelsong was watching MLB Network when it showed his picture with a bunch of other all-stars. That's when it hit him.

"Man, that is crazy," he said. "I'm in that group with those guys."

And on that day in Louisville one year ago, absolutely no one could have predicted this.