As Mo Vaughn steps into the batters box, he gives the opposing pitcher his intimidating glare. As the hurler takes a look at Vaughn’s face and movement, he immediately shakes inside the body. Unknown if he wants to actually try to sneak a fastball by him without letting his bat do the talking, or just to walk him so that the pitcher will not take that chance. Mo Vaughn, first baseman for the Boston Red Sox is one of Fenway's finest stars. The 34-year-old phenomenon began attracting major league attention while playing for Seton Hall. As a freshmen, he broke the career record of home runs hit by a Seton Hall player by smashing 28 longballs. In his three-year career with the Pirates, Mo held a .417 batting average, hit 57 home runs, drove in 218 RBI's, and was named to the All-America team every season. His fraternity brothers of Omega Psi Phi dubbed the name "Hit Dog" for Mo for his great hitting ability. In 1989 the Boston Red Sox chose him as 24th pick of the Amateur Draft, signed him late in the season, and sent him to Double A New Britain. At New Britain, Mo was among the team leaders by hitting eight homers.
In 1990 Vaughn saw action in Pawtucket, Boston's top farm club where he hit .295. His 22 home runs and 78 RBI's were second best to Phil Plantier who led the league in both categories. 1991 was the break through year for the Hit Dog. After 14 home runs and 50 RBI's produced at Pawtucket, Vaughn made his major league debut on June 27. For the 1991 season in the majors, Mo batted .260 with four homers and 32 RBI's. In 1992, Mo's sophomore season with the Sox, experienced some difficulty by starting his first 23 games hitting only .185. In May he made a short stint at Pawtucket and then returned to Boston's lineup in June. For the season, Vaughn hit .234 with 13 dingers and 57 Runs brought in. However, 1993 was the greatest season yet for the Hit Dog. He busted out of the pen with his cool .297 batting average launching 29 homers with 101 RBI's to be named Red Sox MVP by Boston Writers Association.
1994 was another great season for Mo. In the strike shortened season, Vaughn led the sox in nearly every batting category, hitting a spectacular .310, maintaining a .576 slugging percentage, plus 26 round trippers, and 82 RBI's. The following off-season, the Red Sox acquired slugger Jose Canseco by trade which made good things happen for the sox. In 1995, Mo Vaughn showed his talents and was a huge part of the Eastern Division Championship. He received the honor to play in his first All-Star Game, and during the week of July 31-August 6, he was named the AL Player of the Week. His .300 batting average,
career highs with 39 home runs, 126 RBI's, 11 stolen bases, and great team leadership, earned himself the 1995 American League Most Valuable Player Award. Not only did Mo show great excellence on the field, he demonstrated his generosity off the field as well. Mo was very active in supporting Boston communities like the Food Bank, the Jimmy Fund, Boys and Girls Club, and also put up the "Mo Vaughn Youth Development Program." With his involvement in the community, Mo was honored the 1995 Bart Giamatti Award by B.A.T. (Baseball Assistance Team) for his outstanding deeds for community service.
In 1996, the Red Sox extended Mo Vaughn's contract through the 1998 season. They signed him to a $18.3 million contract and with the performance of Mo's bat, the Red Sox were in for a treat. People have been wondering how Mo had been
hitting the ball better than he did his previous year. He mentioned to the press that he was told that he hit .409 whenever
he made contact with the ball in '95, so he's been working on cutting the strikeout total so he can get some more base hits. Earlier that season Mo received a finger injury from getting it stuck to some pine tar on his bat. But he stayed in the line-up to continue to keep his team out of the basement of the AL East division. After being named the AL Player of the month for May and player of the week for September 8-14, Vaughn became a top contender for MVP honors.
As the 1997 season progressed, Mo continues his career with the Red Sox while the team went through a rebuilding process. Vaughn explained to Seth Livingstone in an interview about it, "We might do some things later, but right now, we're a team that's got some inexperience, and that's what we have to go with. No doubt about it. We've lost some veterans that could play. I'm going to have to be more patient. Hopefully my walk total will go up and my strikeouts will go down with more experience. That's my main thing." Around mid-season, Vaughn had been put on the Disabled List while recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to replace torn cartilage. After the All-Star Break, Vaughn returned to the Sox lineup and showed signs of total recovery by hitting a home run his first game back off the Disabled List. He had performed incredibly in 1997, maintaining some of the best numbers in homers, RBIs, and batting average in the league.
After the acquision of Cy Young Award Winning hurler Pedro Martinez, Red Sox management made an attempt to secure the club's success by offering Vaughn a three year $30 million contract extention. Vaughn declined considering the fact he was seeking more of a long-term deal so negotiations were postponed until a future date. In January of 1998, Vaughn was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol coming home from a night club. Facing drunken driving charges which he was later acquitted on, the Red Sox management requested Vaughn to complete an alcoholic evaluation. The incident caused Vaughn to become insulted and claimed the organization was in the works of a 'smear campaign' against him. It was obvious that Vaughn would refuse to partake in this suggestion, and in result, the Red Sox would later offer a contract extention worth less than the previous one - a two-year $20.2 million agreement. Due to the status that Vaughn would become a free agent at the end of the 1998 season, Mo Vaughn turned down the offer and stated he would file for free agency at the end of October.
Despite entering the 1998 which questioned his remaining career in Boston, Vaughn did display a winning attitude and remained to stay focused on the diamond instead of the negotiations. The way Boston had played in 1998, the Red Sox placed a wild card winning season on the board and drew a comparison to the unforgetable 1967 Impossible Dream season. "I've never seen anything like it; that's the God's honest truth," Mo Vaughn said last April, "I don't think you try to explain it or do anything about it" (ESPN 1998). Even though Mo Vaughn continued to put up impressive numbers with the club with a .336 batting average, 39 Home runs and 113 RBI's, Mo continued to have his struggles with the club. In late-July, he claimed the Red Sox organization hired private investigators to follow him around and trying to see if Vaughn was under the influence of illegal narcotics. He explained to the press he was through with the Boston organization after all the difficulty he had faced with the front office.
After the World Series ended, Mo Vaughn declined his $6.6 million option to stay for 1999 with the Sox and filed for free agency. The Red Sox organization then had exclusive negotiation rights with Vaughn for two weeks. After that, any team could willingly make their offers. The Red Sox took a gamble and chose not to make a bid for the Hit Dog, instead asking him to come back when his market value was determined. When the Vaughn reached the opportunity to negotiate with other teams, the Anaheim Angels showed immediate interest, offering $72 million over six years. The Red Sox would later bargain a deal, which was slightly less than Anaheim's proposal. Mo Vaughn pitched the offer and quoted, "it's time to start a new chapter in my life," making it obvious the Hit Dog had plans to leave town. "I would have loved to play here for my whole career, and in my heart, that was my plan. But it wasn't my organization's plan. I was able to not hold any grudges through this whole thing, but maybe they hold theirs. It might be goodbye to an organization, but it'll never be goodbye to a city or the fans that supported me" (Boston Globe 11 Nov 1998).
During the Thanksgiving holiday, Vaughn made up his mind and agreed to terms with the Halos. A lucrative $80 million contract guaranteed through the 2004 season with an option for 2005. The signing made Vaughn the highest paid player in terms of per season adding up to be $13.3 million annually, until the Dodgers broke the bank by signing free agent hurler Kevin Brown three weeks later. "Mo was the one guy out there we really wanted." General Manager Bill Bavasi says of Vaughn, "There's a fire inside him." Many Anaheim Angel fans considered Vaughn's arrival to be, "the beginning of the new Mo-llennium."
Despite a mega-million dollar contract, the 1999 baseball season did not turn out to be everything Mo Vaughn and his Angel teammates expected it to be. On opening day, Vaughn chased down a foul ball hit by Omar Vizquel. While attempting to make the catch, Vaughn fell in the home teams' dugout and came out with a twisted ankle. All of this happening in the first inning in the Angels' first game of the 1999 season.
I'm frustrated," Vaughn said while on the disabled list, "It's only been about 24 hours, and I'm frustrated. Don't tell me about X-rays and MRIs. Get me some ice. Let me get out there."
Vaughn would find himself on the Disabled List for several weeks until full recovery. Despite hitting a home run in first game back from the DL, Vaughn and the Angels franchise experienced a difficult season, finishing last in the American West division and Vaughn hitting under .300 for the first time since 1992.
"Losing is so much like it's accepted here," Vaughn commented in September of 1999 about Anaheim's losing ways, "It can't be that way to be a good team. It gets to a point where it's too easy to get dressed and go home. Not a lot of people have suffered enough. If we weren't suffering enough (in Boston), people made us suffer. If players weren't pulling their weight, we'd find them and d*mn near beat them up."
Mo ended up having a explosive first half of the season. He became a terrifying presence to face while pitchers were on the mound facing him. His .271 batting average and 36 home runs contributed to an offensive spark that helped ignite the Angels to .500 ball. With a lineup that contained hitting machines Vaughn, Troy Glaus, Darin Erstad, Tim Salmon and more, the Angels had one of the most dangerous hit men in the game. However, in the final two monthes of the season, Anaheim saw their margin for first place in the AL West to grow larger and larger, and found themselves falling behind all their division rivals down to the bottom of the barrel once again. Despite a better season, the Mo and his Angels were once again dissapointed.
That winter more dissapointing news arose before the 2001 season went underway. Mo announced that due to a ruptured tendon in his left arm that had been nagging him for over six monthes, surgery would be required to bring him back to his playing form. Because of that surgery, he would be expected to sit out for six monthes or until he is fully recovered. "I learned that the pain in my arm that I've experienced the past six months requires surgery," Mo said. "As you can imagine, I'm deeply disappointed with the news. Last season, the Angels exceeded many expectations and my teammates and I believe this year will be even better. I will be there for this team any way I can in 2001."
With a new direction for the Angels, Anaheim had a desire to trim payroll by trading some of their offense in pursuit of pitching ace. They completed a blockbuster trade involving premiere pitcher Kevin Appier with the Mets bringing Mo to the Big Apple to join their powerhouse offense which included Roberto Alomar, Mike Piazza and Jeremy Burnitz. Mo was so excited about about returning to an East Coast contender, he deferred a chunk of his own salary to persuade the Mets into trading for him. Indeed, the Mets were willing to trade their ace, Kevin Appier, to bring Mo Vaughn to the Big Apple during the holidays.
Some people thought the move was risky considering Mo spent the entire 2001 campaign injured, but Vaughn accepts the challenge and worked hard overcoming his injury. However, Vaughn was not yet 100% when starting the season. He was fighting a pulled hamstring during spring training and a broken bone in his hand the first week of the season. All the nagging injuries seemed to disrupt his performance. It wasn't until the second half of the season when Vaughn regained his momentum and started to crush the ball once again. He ended up hitting 26 home runs, but 18 of those were hit in the last three months of the season. On the other side of things, the team itself was not doing well either. Many distractions were getting to the team, including feuds between Roberto Alomar and Roger Cedeno, lawsuits between the co-owners, and some members accused of drug use.
"We don't want to go through this again," Mo Vaughn told the press after the season ended. "This is horrible. It can't be any worse than this. It's probably the worst situation I've ever been in on a baseball field."
"Mr. Wilpon and I sat down in a meeting before I left and he made some demands and one of them was to be yourself," Vaughn said. "That was nice to hear. I believe that with talent, you need a little emotion and he wants that to come out. I think I had a lot of other things on my mind last year like trying to match up what pitchers we were facing; what clubs, everything was different.
In February, Vaughn arrived to spring training twenty to thirty pounds lighter. He had never felt in better shape since the early 1990's when he first started out as a rookie. "I'm not going to say if weight was an issue with my hitting last year. I've been hitting all my life. A lot of it was not playing a whole season [in 2001]. We all know that the better shape you are in and the more working out you do, the better you should be. You'll see."
That season, did not go as planned for Vaughn. He began developing arthitis in his left knee due to a lack of cartilage in the knee which caused the bone to rub against one another causing aganizing pain. He was immediately put onto the disabled list at the beginning of May.
He visited six doctors who specialized in arthroscopic knee surgery. Each doctor said the same thing. He would need knee replacement surgery, a surgery that would surely end Vaughn's career. Vaughn found the news heartbreaking. Though he insisted on other options, he had to face the grim reality that there were no other options but to have the surgery. "I'm through, man," Vaughn told the Boston Globe, "My career is over. I have an injury no doctor can fix, but I have no regrets. You've got to get up, get on with life and keep moving."
Though Vaughn was forced into retirement at the age of 35, he was still determined to find success in doing what he also loved, making communities a better place. In 2005, he joined up with a man named Eugene Schneur to develop OMNI LLC, an organization that provided Section 8 housing in neighborhoods that were in disrepair. With the help of New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and a $28.56 housing loan, OMNI began a quest to provide 65,000 low income housing units in the New York area. It started with two apartment complexes in the "Mott Haven" section in the Bronx. The organization renovated the apartments, and put in new flooring, appliances, walls, and cabinets into them.
OMNI is doing much more than providing better and more affordable housing to thier tenants, there is a social contribution as well. They are bringing after school programs to the area, classes for adults, to help give the locals opportunity to better themselves. "In some cases tenants haven't seen their building's owner in 15 or 20 years," Vaughn told Sports Illustrated. "By our sixth month of construction, when we're finished and people say, 'I appreciate what you've done,' that's what it's all about for us."
Today, OMNI has provided over 1500 housing units to New Yorkers and have also expanded operation to Wyoming.