Day Fifty Four: Daniel Vogelbach

Perhaps no player better exemplified the 2019 season than Big Daniel. In certain ways this is a compliment, but in most ways it is not. But as can be seen above, Daniel Vogelbach looks exactly like that one Ballard dude (not anymore. RIP Ballard) that had a rebuilt 70s muscle car and bought a half gal every Friday "so the homies can kick it." He is even wearing his hat in the correct 1990s Ballard fashion. His older brother just got out of prison and he and his boys are throwing a spodi at the Bunny Hills and when me and my guys get there they are like "nah, you guys can't have any spodi. It's for the girls and shit." And we are outwardly like, "who cares!" But really we all wish we could be part of the Ballard (at Lincoln) fun. And then Big Dan and his older bro get into a hamfisted fight with some "fools" and the whole night descends into utter chaos. And I end up partying with these Ballard guys whose names and faces I will never remember until they kick me out of their house on Sunday afternoon, when they say "who let this white boy kick it anyways?" And I bum a cigarette and walk down 24th Ave NW towards the Locks.

So Daniel Vogelbach was always already a great hero. He didn't really have to actually do anything to be an enchanted muse for a lot of us old Seattle heads. And probably for anyone who likes dumpy baseball players in general (and there's a lot to celebrate there). But as the 2018 season drew to a close Daniel Vogelbach had one immensely memorable ab. He got the September call up and stepped into the box with the bags juiced full of Canos. He palooka'ed a shot into the rightfield stands and trundled around the bases. He had hit a grand slam in the pennant race (crazy to think that the Mariners were pushing for the playoffs in 2018. And ended up with 90 wins but it's true!). I was ecstatic! Here was the very image of John Jaha (much shorter actually and not nearly as good it turns out, but in that moment!) and the arrival of the utterly unapologetic and funky "moneyball" precursor of the 1999 Oakland Athletics. Nasty players that couldn't play any other sport but can hit dingers and draw walks. Matt Stairs, John Jaha, Jason Giambi, Olmedo Saenz. Outstanding and memorable guys. Beer League softballers. Professional hitters. Gentlemen of leisure and Pro Wrestling enthusiasts. I loved that 1999 A's team. And watching Daniel Vogelbach on that September 2018 night he seemed like he could really be one of those guys. It was a monster homer. And his swing was so effortless. It looked (and it always looks like this when Daniel hits a homer) like the way the ball used to come off Albert Belle's bat in the corked bat/steroids days. It looked like a fungo bat. Daniel has some serious power in those little Babe Ruth legs of his. I spent the 2018 offseason coming into 2019 thinking about what Daniel might do if given the opportunity to play regularly. And it looked like he was going to get that chance as 2019 came rolling in to Tokyo. Those first two games against the A's in the Tokyo Dome were a ton of fun. And Daniel was right in the mix. But it wasn't until the Mariners came back to the States and started their strange barrage that he really started to take form. His March/April numbers are fantastic. He was drawing walks at a league leading rate and he was lacing the ball all over the place. He was even (sort of) hitting lefthanded pitching. May saw some contact fall off but the power was still surging and the Mariners began to plummet into some of the worst baseball I have ever seen. The 2019 season wasn't terrible. There were bright spots but the month of May, off the top of my head, with recency bias in mind, is the absolute worst month of Mariners baseball in my long life of suffering. There were innings that just wouldn't end. And during those awful twilight zone affairs it was often only Daniel's moonshots that would make the day tolerable. He got the nod as an all-star (dubious at best!!) and then proceeded to turn in a remarkably bad second half. He only had 5 homers against lefties and the question "Can Daniel Vogelbach play everyday?" was resoundingly answered. Perhaps he will be an unathletic version of Brad Hawpe, but he will never be able to hit lefties. That was pretty clear last year. And his walks took a nose dive in the second half as well. He had 30 homers so there is that, but more than anything Daniel Vogelbach made some bad times much more enjoyable.

I went to a day game by myself last year in the early 10's style: pick the absolute worst matchup and hope for a good game. So there I was watching a day game in June, scoring by myself, sitting in empty field level seats very casually, and Daniel Vogelbach just murders a ball off some hapless Royal. It screams through the air and smashes against the Hit it Here Cafe. You can't really tell when you see stuff like that on TV but it really smashed into the window. It was a mammoth homer. And he palooka'ed around the paths like the beast he is. And that was the best moment of the Mariners season last year in my opinion. It was certainly the best thing that I saw in person. And I hope that I am wrong about Daniel's ability to hit lefties. But I am fairly one hundred percent sure I am not wrong. God bless you, Daniel Vogelbach! I'll see you at the 7-11 on 65th and 24th sometime at like 4:30 in the damn morning buying Special Brew after hours.