Vaughn’s Visit to Ballet Paying Off

Mo Vaughn, hobbled by a severely sprained left ankle, hasn’t exactly been the Baryshnikov of the basepaths this season, but he’s hoping a trip to the New York City ballet will get him back on a faster track.

On the advice of Ned Bergert, the Angels’ athletic trainer, Vaughn went to Lincoln Center in New York on Friday to visit Peter Marshall, a physical therapist who specializes in treating the ankles of ballet dancers.

Marshall suggested a rigorous stretching and flexibility program to help break up the scar tissue in Vaughn’s ankle, and after three, three-a-day sessions, Vaughn was feeling so much better he predicted Sunday he would soon reclaim his first-base job.

“I’ve had enough of this designated-hitter thing--I don’t think I can take it anymore,” Vaughn said. “I think I’ll be on the field soon.”

Vaughn had been taping his ankles for every game, but Marshall suggested playing without tape, which Vaughn did for the three-game series in New York.

Rickey Henderson he isn’t, but on Garret Anderson’s sixth-inning fly ball to medium right field, Vaughn tagged up at second and reached third safely with a head-first slide.

“This trainer said my ankle was strong enough and that I need to force it to work,” said Vaughn, who suffered the injury when he fell into a dugout pursuing a foul pop-up in the Angels’ season opener.

“He started bending it and stretching it and was working so hard he was sweating. It’s very painful, but it’s helping.”