Ed Vosberg retired from baseball in 2002. Wasn't that enough? He was 40. He had his World Series ring. He pitched for the Giants, A's, Phillies, Diamondbacks, you name it. Eight big-league teams.
He pitched in Italy. Mexico. Canada. Puerto Rico.
You get tired writing it all down.
Vosberg pitched on three Class AAA minor-league champions and another in Class AA. His teams won the Caribbean World Series, the College World Series and made it to the finals of the Little League World Series.
How is that for a lifetime reputation? Have winner will travel. Rubber arm.
After retiring, the UA and Salpointe Catholic product worked in the minor-league systems of the A's and the Diamondbacks. He and his wife, Lori, essentially restarted their lives. They had a son, Noah, now 3.
People are also reading…
"He'd golf a lot, until he got so good he was shooting 68, 69," Lori says of her husband. "He never lost his competitive fire. We'd go bowling, and he'd get 200 and something."
When he played catch with D-backs prospects, Vosberg noticed how good his arm felt. Remarkably, he had not lost much zip off his fastball. Maybe he had not lost any zip at all. He did not say anything, but as the years went by — 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 — he kept hold of the notion he would pitch again.
"He should never have quit," Lori says. "His body has held up remarkably well. I knew he thought he could still pitch."
A few months ago in Phoenix, he showed up, unannounced, at a mass tryout held by the Milwaukee Brewers. Club officials might have thought it was a joke.
"That looks like Ed Vosberg," they might have said. "What is he now, 50? Is this some kind of reality-TV thing?"
Pitching for San Diego, Vosberg made his major-league debut in the summer of 1986. The only big-leaguers from the Class of '86 still active are Greg Maddux, 41, Jamie Moyer, 44, and Barry Bonds, 42.
And, of course, Ed Vosberg, who will turn 46 in September.
Over the winter, with absolutely no fanfare, Vosberg signed with Potros de Tijuana of the Mexican Baseball League. Competition in the Mexican League is probably somewhere between Class AA and Class AAA, certainly not a place where a 45-year-old "zurdo'' (lefty) can get in some recreation.
His manager, Alex Taveras, told the El Sol de Tijuana that Vosberg, "es diestro para sacar los batadores" (is a master at getting batters out).
Through eight starts with Tijuana, Vosberg is 3-2 with a 2.48 ERA, fifth among all starters in the Mexican League. Through 43 innings he has struck out 28 and walked just nine.
"I'm not just doing this to stay in shape," he said a few days ago. "There are scouts in the stands all the time. Sure I hope to get back to the big leagues. My fastball is as good as it has ever been, sometimes 88, 89 mph. I don't have that speed all the time, but I've been pleased to find that I have it when I need it."
If there is a shock to Vosberg's system it is that life in the Mexican League is not what he became accustomed to while pitching 266 big-league games.
After a recent night game in faraway Monclova, Vosberg and his teammates boarded a bus for a three-hour trip to the Monterrey airport. They arrived at the terminal about 1a.m. and waited overnight for an early-morning flight.
"Not too many luxuries down here, but the fans are loyal, and the baseball is good," said Vosberg, who, in his younger days, pitched for teams in Los Mochis and Mexico City. "If we have a short road trip, and it's not my turn in the rotation, I am not required to travel with the team. I can go home to Tucson and be with my family if I want."
The plan for the summer is for Lori and their two young children to spend a significant amount of time near San Diego, renting a furnished apartment, so that Daddy can "be home" on Potros homestands.
Where this grand comeback goes, nobody knows. That is part of the fun of it.
"It's a wild ride; baseball has always been a big adventure," Lori says. "Ed has been playing professionally since he was 21, and it has always been like life on the edge. You never really get comfortable unless you're a big star, I guess.
"But this is what Ed likes to do and, fortunately — knock on wood — his body has held up. I've encouraged him to forge ahead, but he really didn't need any motivation. He was eager to get back out there."
Over the next six weeks, Vosberg and the Potros travel to Veracruz, Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Minatitlan and Puebla. He said the experiences are such, combined with those from Part I of his career, that he could write a book.
By July, Vosberg will have had another 10 starts and 60 to 70 innings. By then he should know if he's good enough to attract a big-league team looking for a left-hander to get out a tough lefty in the eighth inning.
"Ten years down the road, I didn't want to look back and regret not getting back out there when my body felt so good," he says. "My agent is making calls, looking for an opportunity for me. I'll give it another two good months. Who knows what might happen?"
