Mo Vaughn

Maurice Samuel Vaughn
(Hit Dog)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 230 lb.
• School Seton Hall University
• High School Trinity-Pawling School
• Debut June 27, 1991
• Final Game May 2, 2003
• Born December 15, 1967 in Norwalk, CT USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mo Vaughn had a 12-year career and retired in 2003 due to chronic knee problems. A slugger who had an MVP year in 1995, he retired with an OPS over .900, placing # 58 of all time in that category. In his MVP season in 1995, he became the third hitter in Boston Red Sox history (following Jimmie Foxx - 1936, and Carl Yastrzemski - 1967 & 1970) to amass a .300 batting average, 35 HRs, 100 RBI, 50 BBs and 10 SBs in the same season.

As a college baseball freshman at Seton Hall University in 1987, Mo shared the field with Junior catcher Craig Biggio. Biggio was drafted in the first round of the 1987 amateur draft, as was Vaughn two years later, in 1989. Other teammates on the "Hit Men" squad of Seton Hall included John Valentin, Marteese Robinson and Kevin Morton.

In 1998, Vaughn hit .379 with an OPS of 1.207 against pitchers with a sub-3 ERA. He left Boston as a free agent, signing with the Anaheim Angels in 1999. He had two very good seasons with the Angels, but missed all of 2001 because of an injury. He was traded to the New York Mets in return for P Kevin Appier before the 2002 season, but had slowed down noticeably, and he was out of baseball for good by the first days of May in 2003.

He never led the league in any major category, except RBI in his MVP year. However, he was often in the top ten. He was prone to striking out, leading the league twice, and finishing in the top ten in strikeouts nine times in his twelve-year career. Through 2016, the most similar player to Vaughn, based on the similarity scores method, is Prince Fielder. Among other retired players, the most similar are David Justice and Ted Kluszewski. Kluszewski seems a particularly apt comparison.

Vaughn is a cousin of fellow slugger Greg Vaughn.

Notable Achievements

• 3-time AL All-Star (1995, 1996 & 1998)
• AL MVP (1995)
• AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1995)
• AL RBI Leader (1995)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 9 (1993-2000 & 2002)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 6 (1995-2000)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1996 & 1998)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 6 (1993, 1995, 1996 & 1998-2000)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 2 (1996 & 1996)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 2 (1996 & 1998)

AL MVP
1994	1995	1996
Frank Thomas	Mo Vaughn	Juan Gonzalez

Related Sites

• Mo Vaughn at the SABR Bio Project