Vaughn Hates Days Like This

Mike Scioscia told Mo Vaughn late Monday night he would not start Tuesday against the Rangers. The manager might as well have told Vaughn he had to hit the rest of the season with one hand tied behind his back.

“He looked at me like I had four heads,” Scioscia said. “It’s a day off, plain and simple. It’s my call. He did not ask for a day off. He said he didn’t need a day off.”

Vaughn never does. He could break a finger and not ask out of the lineup. Actually, Vaughn did break the middle finger on his right hand in the first month of 1996, an injury that was so painful Vaughn couldn’t shake anyone’s hand all season. Vaughn played 161 games that year.

“I wanted to play 162 games,” said Vaughn, the only Angel to start all of the team’s first 100 games. “That’s part of the challenge. You hear so many guys say, ‘I’m tired, I need a day off.’ Days off don’t do anything for me.”

Except make him mad.

“I tried to fight it,” Vaughn said. “I came in early [Tuesday] and tried to talk him out of it. He wouldn’t listen to me.”

Scioscia knows Vaughn has been on a mission to play 162 games, but he figures a day off on a 91-degree evening in late July will be good for Vaughn in the long run.

“Being an everyday player,” Scioscia said, “does not mean you have to play 162 games.”

*

Vaughn has been lobbying the Angels on Mike Stanley’s behalf, hoping to get Scioscia and General Manager Bill Stoneman interested in the veteran first baseman/designated hitter who was designated for assignment by the Red Sox over the weekend.

Stanley, 37, was batting .222 with 10 homers and 28 RBIs in 57 games but hadn’t homered since May 30. Several Boston players criticized Red Sox GM Dan Duquette for cutting Stanley, who was one of the team’s most respected players, a clutch hitter who batted .356 in 20 postseason games.

“I relayed his professionalism to the people here,” said Vaughn, a teammate of Stanley’s for three years. “As a person and player, he’s going to bring a lot to any team.”

The Angels have been looking to add some pop, preferably from the right side, to their bench, and Stanley, who will be a free agent once he clears waivers, might be considered. A trade for Oriole utility player Jeff Conine is another possibility.

*

The five-infielder alignment worked again for Scioscia on Monday night, when the Angels snuffed out a Ranger rally in the 10th inning to extend a game they won, 6-5, in 12 innings. Scioscia said he would consider a six-infielder alignment if the situation seemed right.

“If the other team had Tony Gwynn batting, or a spray hitter, I’d try it,” Scioscia said.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS

(5-5, 5.08 ERA)

vs.

RANGERS’ MATT PERISHO

(2-3, 6.22 ERA)

The Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, 5:30 PDT.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090)

* Update--Darin Erstad tied a major league record for putouts by an outfielder with 12 in Monday’s victory over the Rangers, a momentous occasion the Angel left fielder said he celebrated “by sleeping.” . . . Shortstop Benji Gil will rejoin the team tonight after returning to Anaheim to be with his wife, Carly, for the birth of their first child, a son, Monday night. . . . Reliever Kent Mercker threw a simulated game Monday and could begin a minor league rehab assignment this weekend. . . . Schoeneweis will be making his first start since going on the disabled list because of a strained rib-cage muscle June 17. Justin Baughman was sent to triple-A Edmonton to make room for Schoeneweis.