KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In the simple telling of this beyond-real Seattle Mariners story, Daniel Vogelbach plays the large adult son. He stands 6 foot, with the round face of a South Park character, the torso of a quarter-barrel keg and the goofy countenance of Chris Farley. He swings his bat with vigor and hits baseballs extraordinarily hard. Vogelbach is easy to love and easier to stereotype. He is, in those ways and many more, a microcosm of his team.
All it takes to see the real Vogelbach, the one who shall not be reduced to a cartoon, is a trip to the Mariners' clubhouse on a Thursday morning.