FanPost

Vogelsong rejects the Dodgers, goes on win the Willie McCovey Award

One of the highlights of the season was Ryan Vogelsong's performance, which not only capped up with a fully-expected win of the Willie McCovey award for the most inspirational Giant yesterday, but also this nice little tidbit of how he refused to wear Dodger Blue even after being traded away from the Giants:

Even if Vogelsong hadn't won the Willie Mac Award, he would have entrenched himself in Giants lore through the manner in which he re-signed with the organization before this season. The Dodgers, San Francisco's archrivals whom Vogelsong will face Saturday, actually offered him a contract first, shortly after last December's Winter Meetings. But, while playing for Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League, Vogelsong told teammate Guillermo Rodriguez, briefly a Giants catcher who had become the organization's roving catching instructor, that he preferred to return to his professional baseball roots. Rodriguez immediately contacted Giants vice president of baseball operations Bobby Evans.

"About three hours later we had a deal in place," Vogelsong said. "I couldn't see myself being a Dodger. And I'm sure glad it happened the way it happened."

Story link.

Why is this not just a FanShot, I hear some of you say? Because I am going to take credit for being the first person to rebel against the old SAMPLE SIZE and CAREER AVERAGES arguments and predict unreservedly a full year of success for Vogey back in May:

It's the Real Thing, Vogey is

I’m going to be the one to say it.

He’s not going to "regress towards the mean."
He’s not going to "revert to his career averages."
He’s not going to "show appropriate age-related decline."

Ryan Vogelsong is going to complete his Elvis year.
The only reason predicting regression is interesting at all is because there are outliers.
Ryan 2011: The Outlier – It’s got a beat, you can dance to it.

by achiappanza on May 21, 2011 12:45 AM PDT up actions

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.