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Mo Vaughn
Given Name: Maurice
Nickname(s): The Hit Dog
Born: 1967

1B-DH 1991-2000, 2002- Red Sox, Angels, Mets

Mo Vaughn's Teammates

  • All Star 1995, 1998
  • AL MVP 1995

GamesAverageHRRBI
Career 1346.298299977
League DS 7.22627

Stats through the 2001 season

Books and articles about Mo Vaughn

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Drafted from Seton Hall University by the Boston Red Sox with the 23rd overall pick of the 1989 draft, Vaughn enjoyed early success in the major leagues. In 1993, his first full season with Boston, he knocked 29 home runs while collecting 101 RBIs and batting at a .297 clip.

Vaughn's unique batting stance proved a good match with the unusual dimensions of Boston's Fenway Park. With his 6-1, 240 frame looming over the left side of the plate, Vaughn forced pitchers to work him outside. He took advantage of this tendency by poking numerous balls to the opposite field off and over the stadium's fabled Green Monster. When he left the Red Sox following the 1998 season, Vaughn ranked fifth on the club's career home run list with 230.

Vaughn's hefty girth seemed more suited for football than baseball, but at his father's insistence he turned down a scholarship offer from Miami to play baseball at Seton Hall, which did not have a football program. Growing up in Connecticut, his idol was Reggie Jackson, although he admitted that he was also influenced by Chris Chambliss. "I hit like Chambliss with that right foot in front a little," he told MLB.com in 2002. "I had Reggie in my mind but Chambliss' style."

Vaughn built a reputation as one of the most powerful and clutch hitters in the game during his stellar 1995 season. While batting .300 with 39 HR and 126 RBI's he gained his first All-Star game appearance and captured the A.L. MVP crown in one of the closest votes in baseball history. Vaughn edged out Indians slugger Albert Belle to win the prestigious award with 12 first place votes and 308 points to 11 first place votes and 300 points. His powerful numbers and acknowledged clubhouse leadership led to Boston's first playoff berth in five years, but the BoSox were quickly dispatched by Cleveland in a three-game division series sweep.

In 1996, Vaughn put up the biggest numbers of his career, batting .326 with 44 HR and 143 RBI's. Despite this statistical upgrade, he was denied a second straight MVP award, losing out to Texas outfielder Juan Gonzalez.

After missing the playoffs two straight years, Vaughn's Red Sox returned to the postseason in 1998, but again fell to the Indians in the division series. Fueled by a running feud with Boston GM Dan Duquette, Vaughn decided to test the free-agent market in the offseason. After growing up in Connecticut, attending college in New Jersey and playing pro ball in Boston, he left the Northeast in favor of California when he signed a lucrative deal to play for the Anaheim Angels.

On opening day with the Angels in 1999, Vaughn fell down the stairs of the visitor's dugout attempting to catch a foul pop-up. He suffered a bone bruise and sprained ligaments in his left ankle, injuries which kept him out of the lineup for more than two weeks. While the pain in his ankle affected his swing all year, he still ended up with respectable numbers, including a .281 batting average, 33 HR and 108 RBIs. After the injury many major league clubs put fences in front of dugouts to prevent similar accidents.

Although Vaughn launched 36 home runs and totaled 117 RBIs the next season, his average dropped again, falling to a .272 mark that was his lowest since batting .234 over 355 at-bats in 1992. In January 2001 he learned that he had played the final month of the season with a ruptured tendon in his left arm. The injury forced him to undergo surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2001 season.

Undeterred by Vaughn's recent history of injuries, the New York Mets decided to take a chance on the hefty slugger by acquiring him for starter Kevin Appier on December 27, 2001. Tabbed to replace the disappointing Todd Zeile at first base, Vaughn didn't fare much better than his predecessor, batting nearly sixty points below his career average through the first three months of the season. (GS/AGL/JGR)


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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
» June 5, 1989: The Orioles select Louisiana State University pitcher Ben McDonald (14–3) with the first pick in the annual amateur draft. He'll sign August 19 and debut September 6, missing by three days being the first in this draft to debut. The Jays John Olerud, picked on the 3rd round, will debut September 3, singling in his first at bat. The next three picks are high schoolers: the Braves take Tyler Houston; the Mariners pick Roger Salkeld; and the Phillies choose Jeff Jackson. The White Sox get Frank Thomas with the 7th pick, while the Angels take Kyle Abbott with the 10th, and Chad Curtis on the 45th round. The Dodgers use their 1st round pick on Jamie McAndrew, son of former Mets P Jim McAndrew. Mo Vaughn goes to Boston on the 23rd pick and Chuck Knoblauch to the Twins on the 25th (he had been picked on the 18th round by the Phils in 1986, but did not sign). On the 4th round, the Twins select and sign P Scott Erickson, who was drafted but not signed in the previous three drafts.

» April 19, 1994: The Red Sox defeat the Athletics, 13-5, as Mo Vaughn and Tim Naehring twice hit back-to-back home runs. The pair connect off Bob Welch in the 2nd inning and off Carlos Reyes in the 6th.

» May 2, 1995: The Red Sox defeat the Yankees, 8-0. Boston scores its runs on grand slams in back-to-back innings by former college teammates John Valentin and Mo Vaughn. According to SABR statistician David Vincent, it is the 1st time ever that two grand slams account for all the runs scored in a game.

» May 15, 1996: Mo Vaughn cracks two of Boston's four home runs, and the Red Sox score in each of the first seven innings, to clip the Angels, 17–6. Mike Stanley matches Mo's four RBI.

» May 20, 1996: The Red Sox pound the A's again, racking up seven runs in the 3rd to win 16–4. As in yesterday's 12–2 win, Mo Vaughn and Jose Canseco homer: Mo's homer is his 9th in his last 12 games and ties him for the American League lead with 17. Bill Haselman adds four hits, including a homer.

» June 5, 1996: The White Sox down the Red Sox, 8-6, despite Mo Vaughn's five hits. Frank Thomas' sac fly in the 12th inning drives home the game winner.

» September 15, 1996: The Red Sox defeat the White Sox, 9–8, despite three home runs by Chicago 1B Frank Thomas. Mo Vaughn and John Valentin each hit two homers for Boston to power the Sox to victory.

» September 24, 1996: Boston 1B Mo Vaughn slugs three home runs and drives home 5, in the Red Sox' 13-8 win over Baltimore.

» May 22, 1997: The visiting Red Sox collect 19 hits, but strand 16, in beating the Yankees, 8–2. Former Yankee Mike Stanley hits a three-run homer, and Wil Cordero adds five hits, Tim Naehring has four hits and Mo Vaughn belts his 10th homer of the season in the 8th.

» May 30, 1997: Give it to me one Mo time. Mo Vaughn goes 4-for-4 and slugs three home runs in Boston's 10-4 win over the Yankees.

» July 29, 1997: The Mariners and Randy Johnson knuckle under to Tim Wakefield and the Red Sox, 4–0. Mo Vaughn's 2-run homer is the big blow for Boston.

» September 17, 1997: Mo Vaughn responds to the boos of the crowd with a two-run home run in the eighth inning to lead Boston past Toronto, 4–3. Vaughn, who makes it 4-2 with the homer off Dan Plesac, is booed during introductions and during his first three at-bats in response to his comments Monday that he does not want to return to the Red Sox next season.

» January 9, 1998: Red Sox 1B Mo Vaughn is arrested and charged with DWI when his pickup truck strikes an abandoned car and flips over.

» April 10, 1998: Mo Vaughn of the Red Sox and Steve Finley of the Padres each hit game–ending grand slams, the first time two players accomplished the feat on the same day since 1982. Vaughn's gives Boston a 9–7 win over Seattle, while Finley's powers San Diego to a 6–4 victory over Arizona.

» April 10, 1998: Down 7–2, the Red Sox jump on Seattle for seven runs in the last half of the 9th to defeat the Mariners, 9–7. Four Mariner relievers fail to get a single batter out in the frame, as Mo Vaughn's grand slam off Paul Spoljaric is the decisive hit.

» July 18, 1998: The Boston Red Sox defeat the Detroit Tigers, 9–4, with the aid of a 7–run 4th inning. Mo Vaughn, Donnie Sadler, Darren Lewis, and Nomar Garciaparra all homer in the stanza, a first for Boston.

» September 25, 1998: Mo Vaughn has two hits, including his 39th homer, to stay atop the AL batting race and lead the Red Sox to a 8–3 win over the visiting Orioles.

» September 29, 1998: Mo Vaughn leads the Red Sox to an 11–3 victory over the Indians in their ALCS playoff series, clouting two home runs and driving home 7. Nomar Garciaparra gets four ribbies for Boston.

» November 25, 1998: The Angels sign free agent 1B Mo Vaughn to a 6–year contract, a year longer than the Sox were willing to give Mo.

» April 5, 1999: In the opener at Anaheim, the Angels rally to beat the Indians, 6–5. Salmon and Anderson hit homers on consecutive pitches off Jaret Wright in the 4th. But franchise player Mo Vaughn tumbles into the Cleveland dugout chasing a foul ball and severely sprains his ankle. Mo plays five innings before leaving but he'll miss 15 days. The injury will linger causing him problems at the plate and, he says later, causing the ligament damage that will curtain his 2000 season.

» April 28, 1999: The Angels defeat the Blue Jays, 12–10, after blowing a 10–0 lead. Mo Vaughn's 2nd 2–run homer of the game, in the 8th inning, is the deciding blow.

» May 14, 1999: Tampa Bay P Alan Newman makes his big league debut, after 11+ seasons in the minors, in the Devil Rays' 8-3 loss to the Angels at Anaheim. Entering the game with the bases loaded in the 7th inning, he balks home a run before making his 1st big league pitch. 1B Mo Vaughn hits his 8th career grand slam, and drives home six runs for Anaheim.

» May 22, 1999: Mo Vaughn's single in the 8th snaps a tie and rescues Steve Sparks wild knuckler as the Angles beat the Devil Rays, 8–6. In the 3rd inning, Sparks hits Paul Sorrento to load the bases, then plunks the next two batters with a knuckler. He is the 4th pitcher to hit three batters in a row, joining Houston's C.J. Nitkowski (1988), White Sox Wilbur Wood (1977) and Pittsburgh's Dock Ellis (1974). He also plunks Jose Canseco in the 1st inning to tie the ML mark for HPB. Sparks only allows five hits, but walks six in addition to hitting 4.

» June 24, 1999: The Angels defeat the Mariners, 12-7, as 2B Randy Velarde and DH Mo Vaughn both go 5-for-6. Velarde homers and drives home four runs, while Vaughn homers twice and brings home 6.

» April 21, 2000: The Angels down the Devil Rays, 9-6. Mo Vaughn and Tim Salmon hit back-to-back homers for Anaheim in the 4th inning, then repeat the feat in the 9th. Troy Glaus also homers in those same two innings, marking the 1st time in major league history that three players homer in the same inning twice in the same game. The three players with two home runs in the game ties another ML record.

» May 24, 2000: The Angels defeat the Twins, 6-5, in 10 innings. 1B Mo Vaughn goes 5-for-5 for Anaheim, with two doubles and two RBIs.

» May 28, 2000: The Angels defeat the Royals, 8-4, smashing four home runs in a 6-run 5th inning. Darin Erstad hit the 1st, then one out later, Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon, and Garret Anderson followed with consecutive blasts.

» July 24, 2000: The Angels defeat the Rangers, 6-5, in 12 innings. Texas also loses C Ivan Rodriguez, who breaks his thumb on Mo Vaughn's bat while attempting to throw out a runner. He will miss the remainder of the season. Angels Darin Erstad ties the AL mark for extra-inning game with 12 putouts by a left fielder, last tied by Rickey Henderson, in 1988.

» August 27, 2000: The Angels edge the Indians, 10-9 as OF Tim Salmon hits his 30th home run of the year in the 5th inning. Anaheim become the first team in AL history to have four players (Troy Glaus, Mo Vaughn, Garret Anderson, Salmon) reach the 30-homer mark in a single season. The Blue Jays are close with two hitters over 30 and two at 28. It's been done seven times in the NL.

» February 6, 2001: Anaheim 1B Mo Vaughn undergoes surgery to repair a ruptured biceps tendon in his left arm. Mo will miss the entire 2001 season.

» December 27, 2001: The Mets obtain slugging 1B Mo Vaughn from the Angels in exchange for their #2 starter Kevin Appier. Vaughn did not play a game in 2001 due to injuries.

» June 16, 2002: Mo Vaughn belts a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th off David Wells to give the Mets a 3–2 win over the Yankees. Mark Guthrie, in relief of Pedro Astacio, picks up the win. In the 5th, Piazza throws out Alfonso Soriano, ending a streak of 51 successful runners against Mike, not counting a 1-3-6 throwout on April 16.