Former Seattle Mariners Coach Joins Rare Company With Cleveland Guardians
The Seattle Mariners are still looking to make their second postseason in three years and will have an upward climb to do it.
The Mariners have eight games remaining in the regular season entering Saturday (two against the Texas Rangers, three against the Houston Astros and three against the Oakland Athletics).
But while Seattle is still fighting to keep its postseason hopes afloat, one former coach has already booked his, and his team's, ticket to October.
Former Mariners bullpen coach, two-time All-Star and current Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt clinched a playoff spot in his first year as Cleveland's skipper with a 3-2, walk-off win in extra innings against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.
And accomplishing that feat put Vogt in rare and amazing company.
Per a tweet from Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports on "X"), Vogt is just the fifth manager in MLB history to lead his team to the playoffs in his first year as manager, within two years of being a player.
Vogt played his last major league season with the Oakland Athletics in 2022. The other four former manager/players to accomplish that feat was Jim Fregosi (1979), Yogi Berra (1964), Al Dark (1962) and Pat Moran (1915).
Stephen Vogt is the 5th manager to lead his team to a postseason appearance within 2 seasons of playing, having never been a player/manager, joining:
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 19, 2024
1979 Jim Fregosi, CAL
1964 Yogi Berra, NYY
1962 Al Dark, SF
1915 Pat Moran, PHI
!!!
h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/q5kCaP8imX
Vogt made a huge impact as a coach in his lone season with Seattle in 2023. Under his coaching, the bullpen ranked fourth in the league in ERA (3.48) and was tied for 11th in saves (44).
Under his managing, the Guardians' pitching staff has the fourth best ERA in the league (3.66), is tied for third in WHIP (1.20), has the eighth-most strikeouts (1,359), is first in saves (52) and tied for third in wins (90).
If the Mariners accomplishes a best-case scenario, maybe the team will see Vogt again in the World Series in the near future.
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