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CLEVELAND — First, Stephen Vogt extended the line of MLB players from Visalia, becoming a two-time All-Star and an Oakland fan favorite because of his no-nonsense style and clutch hitting.

Now he’s continuing the Valley’s tradition of producing big-league baseball managers as he follows the likes of Hall of Famer Bobby Cox of Selma, Fresno State’s Jimy Williams, and Fresno High’s Pat Corrales. Like Vogt, Corrales was a catcher who embodied two of the traits associated with the position — toughness and deep knowledge of the game.

Vogt, the first-year manager of the Cleveland Guardians, has his team in the thick of the AL Central race and will be in the running for manager of the year honors, which Cox and Williams earned during their big-league tenures.

Vogt credits much of his success to the Visalia area players who reached The Show ahead of him and revealed the possibilities if he worked hard.

“Growing up there, you’re around a lot of Major League talent. I know for me being from Visalia, Jim Wohlford and Ron Robinson, to name a couple, and it’s just you feel like you can reach it. And, you know I had Aaron Hill and Shane Costa and some other guys before me that that made it to the Major Leagues,” Vogt told GV Wire before Tuesday’s game at Progressive Field.

“So you when you’re around people who have made it, they make it feel like it’s obtainable and takes work and it takes effort, but you feel like you can do it.”

Vogt said he learned a lot from attending camps run by Wohlford, Robinson, and All-Star pitcher Mike LaCoss.

“When you’re around people like that, it makes you want it even more,” Vogt said.

Vogt, 39, graduated from Central Valley Christian High School before playing at Azusa Pacific University. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted him in the 12th round of the 2007 MLB draft.

He made it to the The Show with Tampa Bay at the tail end of 2012 in his sixth year with the organization. But he saw his greatest success with the Oakland A’s from 2013 through 2017. He was named to back-to-back All Star teams in 2015-2016. He also played with the Giants, Milwaukee, Arizona and Atlanta.

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Lessons from Visalia

Life in Visalia helped prepare Vogt to become the player and manager he is now.

[/caption]“Growing up in Visalia really gives you the perspective that you have to work hard for everything that you want. It’s a hardworking area. A lot of my friends grew up on dairy farms and going out and working the fields with them, working the cows and things like that, you just learn … the dedication of hard work,” Vogt said. “And, to me, it’s a tough area. You have to be tough. I don’t really put my thumb on it, but I just feel like growing up where I did it really helped mold me into the competitor that I am.”

Vogt said he visits family in Visalia — his father still lives there, and his grandmother lives in Reedley. His offseason home is in Olympia, Washington, where his wife grew up.

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Catcher to Manager Connection

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that catchers make MLB managers.  Of the 30 managers today, 12 were catchers in professional baseball.

“We’ve we’ve experienced both sides of the ball,” Vogt said. “We understand pitchers. We understand hitters. But we also made a lot of in-game decisions. And so it’s understanding what it takes, the homework that it takes to go into a game and things like that. So I think catchers bring a unique perspective to the game that maybe not every other position does.”