Greg Vaughn

Gregory Lamont Vaughn (born July 3, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for the Milwaukee Brewers (1989–96), San Diego Padres (1996–98), Cincinnati Reds (1999), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2000–02) and Colorado Rockies (2003). He was born in Sacramento, California, where he attended Kennedy High School. He then played baseball at the University of Miami. He is the cousin of fellow former Major Leaguer Mo Vaughn.

Career

Vaughn was selected by the Brewers in the first round (4th pick) of the 1986 amateur draft. A slugger whose batting average dropped below .250 as often as rising above it, he compensated with excellent power. He had three seasons with at least 100 runs batted in, and four with 30 or more home runs – including the legendary 1998 season, when he hit 50 to finish 4th in the major leagues behind Ken Griffey, Jr., Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire, who set the home run record that season. In 1999, he became the only player in major league history to be traded after a 50-homer season when the Padres traded him to the Cincinnati Reds. Vaughn's arrival in Cincinnati caused a bit of a controversy with club ownership and their no facial hair policy. Vaughn styled a goatee that he really didn't want to remove. Fans urged owner Marge Schott to lift the long-standing policy ^[1] that had been in place since 1967 which she eventually did. On the field, he hit 45 homers and became the second player in major league history to hit 40 or more homers in consecutive seasons with two different teams (one year after Andrés Galarraga became the first).

Throughout his career, Vaughn batted .242 with 355 home runs, 1072 RBI, 1017 runs, 1475 hits, 284 doubles, 23 triples and 121 stolen bases in 1731 games.

Vaughn became eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. 75% of the vote was necessary for induction, and 5% was necessary to stay on the ballot. He received zero votes and dropped off the ballot.

Personal

Vaughn's son, Cory Vaughn, attended and played baseball at San Diego State University under Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn between 2008 and 2010. Following his junior season in which he batted .378 with 9 home runs and 55 RBI in 47 games, Vaughn was drafted in the 4th round (122nd overall) of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft by the New York Mets. After signing with the Mets he was assigned to the short-season Brooklyn Cyclones where he finished the season ranked 1st in slugging percentage, 1st in OPS (on-base + slugging), 2nd in home runs, and 2nd in RBI.

See also

• 50 home run club
• List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders

References

Notes

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Simply-Baseball-Notebook.com: Baseball is Fun Again for Vaughn