Vaughn Trial Starts as Officers Testify

Mo Vaughn had been drinking at a strip club before he crashed into a car parked beside the highway and flipped his pickup, according to testimony Monday at his trial at Dedham, Mass., on drunken driving charges.

Vaughn was driving in Norwood early Jan. 9 when he struck a Ford Escort parked on the shoulder and rolled his pickup truck.

“It was obvious that he was intoxicated,” Trooper Paul McCarthy said, reaching the conclusion after the Red Sox first baseman failed eight sobriety tests. “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

But defense attorney Kevin Reddington tried to show that the sobriety tests were tainted because Vaughn had a “recurrent” knee injury, was on wet ground and taking allergy medication and had gained weight in the off-season--all affecting his balance.

If convicted, a first-time offender typically gets his license suspended for 45-90 days.

Richard Ball, the first officer on the scene, said he was satisfied that Vaughn was not injured and then took him away from the crowd that had gathered. On their way back toward the patrol car to administer the sobriety tests, Ball testified, Vaughn bumped into him several times.

On the actual tests, Vaughn performed even worse, including failing three times to recite the alphabet correctly.

That, combined with what the officers described as bloodshot and glassy eyes, confusion about the cause of the accident and Vaughn’s admission that he had been drinking led the officers to arrest him.

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Larry Doby, who earned his place in baseball history as the first black player in the American League, will be a leading candidate when the Hall’s Veterans Committee meets to vote on new members.

“Few have done more for the game,” said American League president Gene Budig, who appointed Doby his special assistant shortly after taking office. “He has contributed so much, both on and off the field.”

Dick Williams, who managed the Oakland Athletics to two World Series championships, and longtime Pittsburgh second baseman Bill Mazeroski also are expected to get consideration.

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Longtime Cub broadcaster Jack Brickhouse, who collapsed while dressing to attend Harry Caray’s funeral Friday, has a brain tumor that probably is benign. The 82-year-old Hall of Fame announcer is scheduled to have the tumor removed today at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Caray replaced Brickhouse in the Cubs’ television booth in 1982. . . . Cardinal rookie catcher Eli Marrero was sent to St. Louis from the team’s training camp in Jupiter, Fla., after an examination revealed a small mass in his neck. The 24-year-old Marrero will see a specialist at Washington University Medical Center. . . . The Pittsburgh Pirates reached a working agreement with the Hyundai Unicorns, one of eight teams in South Korea’s top professional league.

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Randy Johnson pitched three shutout innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 9-2, at Peoria, Ariz. . . . The Tampa Bay Devil Rays defeated the Kansas City Royals, 6-2, for their first victory against major league competition. . . .