Although he never confirmed it following the Mitchell Report’s disclosures in 2007, four years after his final year in baseball, it was always clear that former Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn used performance-enhancing substances toward the end of his career. His name was listed in the study as a user of human growth hormone (HGH), although Vaughn never recognized or responded to the claims.
When he became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2009, he garnered just 1.1% of the vote and was removed off the ballot. Although his odds of joining the Hall of Fame were already slim based on his career statistics, the PED controversy couldn’t have helped.
Eighteen years after the Mitchell Report, Vaughn officially admitted to using HGH near the end of his career, while he was dealing with a knee ailment as an Anaheim Angel. HGH was not outlawed in baseball at the time, but Vaughn is the most recent addition to the roster of former Red Sox greats who used PEDs in the early 2000s.
EXCLUSIVE: Mo Vaughn revealed to The Athletic that he utilized human growth hormone to extend his career, corroborating information already published in the Mitchell Report.
Red Sox Hall of Famer Mo Vaughn finally admits to PED usage over 20 years after retirement
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz both tested positive for drugs in 2003, but this was not discovered until 2009. The main difference between Ortiz and Vaughn is that Ortiz’s career continued long after chemicals were technically prohibited in 2005, and it was only then that he began to make a case for the Hall of Fame, which he was inducted into on his first vote in 2022. Vaughn, on the other hand, never received another All-Star nod after leaving Boston, batting.267 with a.838 OPS across four seasons with the Angels and then the Mets. Fine, but not Hall of Fame-caliber.
“I tried to do everything I could. I knew I had a terrible, degenerative knee. I was injecting HGH into my knee. “Whatever I could do to help the process,” Vaughn told The Athletic.
He only played in 27 games with the Mets in his final year of baseball and batted.190 with a.652 OPS before retiring due to knee problems. Again, his admission isn’t particularly surprising, but it does leave another stain on the club, as Vaughn officially joins Ramirez and Ortiz on the roster of past Boston PED users.
