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56 PLAY BALL BAY AREA NEWS GROUP C atcherStephenVogtwasa 2015 All-Star for the A's with a monster first half in which he had 14 homers, 56 RBIs and a slash line of .287/.374/.498. He has legions of fans who delight in chanting, "I believe in Stephen Vogt" during each of his at-bats at the Coliseum. Pitchers love his pitch calling and the way he frames strikes. Manager Bob Melvin likes to have him at the plate with men on base. The media is quick to find him in the postgame scrum. He is more than a baseball player, though. While he is thoughtful and introspective about baseball and wants to coach or manage someday, Vogt also is a gifted mimic and comedian whose impersonation of a referee is a YouTube classic. Vogt has lesser-known skills. He's a gifted singer and onetime actor who may get back to both of those pursuits once his time on the diamond is over. At one point he believed his career was over. He was ready to take a minor league coaching job just to stay in the game, but the A's bought his contract from Tampa Bay at the beginning of the 2013 season; not too much longer after that, he was an All-Star. Foryou,whichcamefirst: baseball or comedy? Baseball came first. From a young age I loved baseball, and that was kind of my thing. Comedy came in about 12 or 13, when you are able to watch movies and start to quote movies and Chris Farley and "Tommy Boy." That was really the beginning of it for me. Is Chris Farley sort of your hero? Yeah. I loved him. He was a big part of our childhood. His movies were those right when you turn 13, and your parents let you start watching PG-13 movies and "Tom - my Boy" and "Black Sheep." When did you first realize you could entertain and hold an audi- ence in the palm of your hand? I think from soon around middle school and high school. I was always in church musicals, and I remember being in one in sixth grade, and I had a solo. It was kind of like a doo-wop-type song. And I remember watching the video, and it was, 'Wow, I really got into that part.' I really felt that, and that kind of acting/ singing thing was always a thing I liked to do. But then the comedy part starts coming in when you get a little bit older, and you are around adults, and when even they are laughing at you, that's when you know you have a real good aptitude for comedy. You seem to have a good memory for things around baseball. Do you have a good memory for music, comedy and drama — things like that? Yeah. I've been gifted with kind of a, not a photographic memory, but if I write something down, it sticks. And when people speak, I actually listen. I think a lot of people kind of hear bits and piec - es, but I listen to the whole thing. I was talking to a teammate the other day, and it blows me away how many songs and movie lines I actually remember. It's not like I study those things. I don't look up lyrics online to try and remember songs. It's just a gift that I have that I remember those things. It's probably thousands of songs I can sing and hundreds and hundreds of movie lines I can quote. So in high school, it was baseball for you, but your parents wanted more than that from you? My parents' rule was that we had to be involved in two sports and be involved in two activities, at least for my brother and I. So I played basketball and baseball. I was in ASB (Associated Student Body). I was in choir and honors choir. I was in band for one year and drama for three years. I couldn't do all of them, so I gave up band for drama for my sophomore year. What instrument did you have to give up? I played the trumpet and the bari - tone horn. Every kid wants to play the trumpet. I played the trumpet from fifth, sixth grade, and then seventh, eighth and ninth grade I played the baritone horn because that's what we needed. Have you ever been able to get back to it? I do still have my trumpet. I broke it out a couple of years ago. I had to oil the keys, or the valves, I guess they're called. I played it a little bit. It came back to me. Have you ever wanted to sing the national anthem before a game? Actually, I did. In college summer ball, I sang the national anthem before a game. Funny story. I was in Fort Collins, Colorado, and I Vogt, right, smiles during spring training. While Vogt is dedicated to and thoughtful about baseball, he also loves music, acting and comedy. THE A'S