Stephen Vogt is the choice of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association as Oakland's winner of the 2015 Heart & Hustle Award, honoring "active players who demonstrate a passion for the game of baseball and best embody the values, spirit and tradition of the game." A committee of former players with established relationships to the A's selected Vogt for the honor. The final winner from the 30 nominees will be announced on November 10.
Stephen Vogt was 22 in the summer of 2006, the year he went undrafted after his junior season at Azusa Pacific, a disappointment after his coach "went to a sporting goods store and bought every major league cap he could find, a dozen in all, so that Vogt could have something to wear for photos, when his team got picked," writes Mark Whicker for USA TODAY.