Nevius: Former A's player Stephen Vogt revives career across bay with Giants

I happened to be in Oakland the day the A’s cut Stephen Vogt in 2017. You could have cut the gloom with a butter knife.

Manager Bob Melvin was diplomatic but clearly disappointed. And players reached out immediately. Sean Doolittle called Vogt “the unquestioned captain of the team.”

Former Athletic Josh Reddick chimed in from Houston on Twitter to say it was ?“… hard to imagine a clubhouse without him.”

Fans, meanwhile, seemed thunderstruck. They had, out of blue sky and right field, turned the affable, everyday-guy Vogt into a cult hero. Their chant, “I believe in Stephen Vogt,” had become part of A’s lore.

Which raises a question:

Isn’t that a lot of fuss for a catcher who was batting .217?

Needless to say, there are intangibles.

To the surprise of many, perhaps Vogt, he is now on the roster of his childhood sports fave, the Giants, at the age of 34. He suffered his second serious shoulder injury at the start of last year, sat out all of 2018 and admits he nearly retired. He came up with the Giants in May after persistently hitting the ball hard in the minors.

And the Farhan Zaidi favorite has continued to drive the ball. His two triples in one game is the signature moment. But in a start at catcher Wednesday, he lined a ball into the left-center gap for a stand-up double. With this feeble lineup, even averaging in the .250s makes him one of the team leaders.

Unfortunately, there is a problem.

Vogt is funny. Like laugh-out-loud funny.

He does impressions with full costume and props. He isn’t afraid to put himself out there.

After Oakland he was in Tampa Bay, where he won the talent show so often they banned him and made him master of ceremonies.

(Side note: Can you imagine the Giants holding a talent show? Maybe they’d hire their “people” to put one on.)

His next stop was Milwaukee, where the team filmed a pitch-perfect reenactment of a scene from “The Sandlot.”

Hilarious just seems to follow Vogt around.

So you’ve got that problem: If you’re funny, will people take you seriously?

It is a delicate balance, but Vogt seems to be managing. As the trade deadline looms on July 31, Giants fans may have to get used to the second half of the season made up of youngsters and veteran auditions. A clubhouse guy like Vogt could make it go a little smoother.

You may have noticed more Vogt quotes in the media. No accident. He makes himself available and it is hard to think he isn’t making a point to teammates - especially the young guys - when he stands there and answers questions. See? It’s not that hard.

That’s not the norm in the buttoned-down Giants clubhouse.

“It’s more of an older-vet, business-like atmosphere,” Vogt said. “And that’s what won them three championships.”

Yeah, but c’mon. The Giants clubhouse is dark wood, indirect lighting and country-club quiet. It does not look like a place where young, athletic bros hang out and suit up. There is a coffee table with rows of perfectly aligned magazines. There are scented candles. Seriously.

I’m just going to say it - it looks like a high-end funeral home.

Vogt is a part of changing that. More than anything, he’s the veteran you can talk to. Because, do the young guys just walk up and ask Buster Posey questions or do they need an appointment?

As Vogt says, if they can’t talk to him, who can they talk to?

“I’ve been through everything,” he says. “I’ve been an All-Star (twice, in 2015 and 2016) and I have been the worst catcher in baseball.”

Vogt said he’s working with the call-ups from Sacramento, because they were together in spring training and the minors.

Tyler Beede is a Vogt guy. Two words that came to mind about him, Beede said, were “enthusiasm” and “trust.”

It doesn’t hurt that Vogt is a guy who knows “the game is so negative and failure-driven” that he tries to buck guys up a little.

It isn’t all Vogt. Wednesday a group of us were standing near the entrance to the clubhouse when Pablo Sandoval said “excuse me” from behind us.

What followed was a hilarious improvisation, with Sandoval pretending to be deeply disturbed that one of the beat writers was standing in the middle of the doorway. There was a long explanation of “exit, see that’s right here,” and the “entrance, which is here.”

It all concluded with Sandoval walking to the middle of the clubhouse, holding his hands out in full Andre Iguodala mode and mock-lamenting that he was only trying to help.

Which prompted a wisecrack from Vogt. And Kevin Pillar chimed in. There were laughs and for a moment the room was lit up.

And then Panda left and everything went quiet again.

That’s what Sandoval brings. Vogt’s role is a little more ?low-key. Work hard, laugh hard. Set an example. Happy to talk.

Broadcaster Duane Kuiper has been impressed.

“Stephen Vogt could do anything in baseball,” Kuiper said. “He could manage, he could be in the front office and he could be in broadcasting.

“The only thing he couldn’t do is the Spanish broadcast and I’m not so sure about that.”

I believe that.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cw.nevius@pressdemocrat.com. Twitter: @cwnevius