With New Swing, Vaughn Having a Monster Season

It took a year or so, but it appears Mo Vaughn has purged the Green Monster--Fenway Park’s massive but easy-to-reach left-field wall--from his system, and the Angel first baseman believes he’s a better all-around hitter because of it.

During his eight years in Boston, Vaughn evolved into an opposite-field power hitter, a left-hander who would routinely drive balls over and off the 37-foot-high left-field wall at Fenway.

A spray chart tracking his 40 home runs in 1998, his final season with the Red Sox, shows Vaughn hit roughly a third of them to left field, a third to center and a third to right.

But a spray chart of his 18 home runs this season, his second in Anaheim, shows all but one have landed between the right-field line and straight-away center, meaning Vaughn has become more of a traditional power hitter who pulls most of his home runs.

Vaughn has simply adapted to his surroundings. Quirky Fenway has the short porch in left, but straight-away right field is 380 feet, and right-center is even deeper, so Vaughn forced himself to hit the other way in Boston.

He’d often swing at pitches that were high and away or try to “inside-out” pitches on his hands to drive the ball the other way.

But Edison Field is virtually symmetrical and doesn’t favor a particular style of hitting, so Vaughn is laying off more of those high-and-away pitches and attacking more inside pitches with his natural swing instead of an inside- out stroke.

“I think it’s made me a better hitter, because I’m clearing out the inside ball better now than I ever have,” said Vaughn, who has a .318 average and a team-leading 47 runs batted in. “I used to use the wall [at Fenway] as a cushion, but now I have to go out and hit.

“In Boston, I never swung at the ball on the inner half because it’s 380 to right field, and it was an out. Now, if I get good extension on an inside pitch, it has a chance to go.

“There’s also no reason to inside-out balls in our park because it’s an out [if I hit to left-center]. And by not swinging at that ball that’s a little up and out, it made my strike zone a little smaller.”

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There was a time when Angel Manager Mike Scioscia was considered a candidate to manage the Dodgers, the team he spent 13 years with as a standout catcher, two years as a major league coach, two as a minor league catching coordinator and one as a triple-A manager.

But Scioscia said there will be no regrets, no wondering what might have been had he not severed ties with the Dodgers in 1999, when the Angels and Dodgers meet in an interleague series this weekend at Edison Field.

“There are guys on that club I played with and coaches I played with and have a lot of respect for, but I don’t know if it will feel any different managing against the Dodgers,” said Scioscia, who employs three former Dodger players--Mickey Hatcher, Alfredo Griffin and Ron Roenicke--on his staff.

“I’m excited where I am now. I’m excited to be with the Angels and helping to lay the building blocks that I hope will turn this organization into perennial contenders.”

ON DECK

* Opponents--Dodgers at Angels, three games.

* Site--Edison Field.

* Tonight--7.

* TV--Channel 5 tonight, Channel 11 Saturday, Fox Sports Net Sunday.

* Radio--KLAC (570), KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330), XPRS (1090).

* Records--Dodgers 28-22, Angels 27-26.

* Series record (1999)--Dodgers, 4-2.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ KENT BOTTENFIELD (3-5, 5.00 ERA) vs. DODGERS’ DARREN DREIFORT (3-2, 4.11 ERA)

* Update--Shortstop Kevin Stocker, who signed with the Angels on Tuesday after being released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last week, worked out at Edison Field on Thursday and will be activated tonight, but he probably won’t take over for Benji Gil for a few days. To make room for Stocker, the Angels optioned utility player Keith Luuloa to triple-A Edmonton. Gil will return to a utility role when Stocker moves into the starting lineup. Bottenfield will be no stranger to the Dodgers. The Angel right-hander spent seven years in the National League, including 1998-99 with St. Louis, and has a 4-0 career record and 4.91 earned-run average against the Dodgers. Dreifort has arguably been the Dodgers’ second-best starter behind Kevin Brown this season, but the sinker-ball specialist has five no-decisions in 10 starts. Dreifort gave up six runs in three innings in his last start, a 7-6 loss to the Phillies Saturday.

* Saturday, 1 p.m.--Brian Cooper (2-0, 3.21) vs. Carlos Perez (4-2, 5.40).

* Sunday, 1 p.m.--Jarrod Washburn (1-1, 3.70) vs. Chan Ho Park (5-4, 4.48).

* Tickets--(714) 663-9000.