Vaughn Refuses to Sit for Pain

Angel first baseman Mo Vaughn broke the middle finger on his right hand in the first month of the 1996 season, an injury that caused so much discomfort, “I couldn’t shake anyone’s hand all year,” Vaughn said.

Know how many games Vaughn missed in 1996? One.

Not only did he play in 161 games, he had the best season of his eight-year career, hitting .326 with 44 home runs and 143 runs batted in for the Boston Red Sox.

“That was the biggest example I could set,” Vaughn said, when asked how playing through pain translates to leadership. “I knew I could go to someone else in that clubhouse and ask why they weren’t playing. That’s a measure of mine. We used to have bets in Boston on who could play the most games.”

Don Baylor took the same approach when he led the 1979 Angels to the American League West championship. Despite an inflamed tendon in his wrist, a separated shoulder, a pulled hamstring, a jammed thumb and three cortisone shots, Baylor played in all 162 games that season, hitting .296 with 36 homers and 139 RBIs and winning league most-valuable-player honors.

The Angels had no shortage of grit before Vaughn’s arrival--Manager Terry Collins needs a crowbar to pry players such as Darin Erstad, Gary DiSarcina and Dave Hollins out of the lineup--but Vaughn will add even more to that blue-collar image.

The son of a high school football coach, Vaughn played an entire high school football season with a broken ankle, he’s played through the broken finger and several hamstring injuries, and in 1997, he returned to the lineup 16 days after surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee.

How does Vaughn determine when to ask for a day off?

“When I can’t walk,” he said. “It’s my job to come out and play. There has to be something broken for me to sit. I’m not looking for any free passes.”