With the Boston Red Sox, Vaughn had been a good slugger and, despite his weight, a good fielder. But with the Angels, he was plagued with injuries, including missing the entire 2001 season. He had just turned 34: He should have had at least a couple of good years left. But, between his age, his weight, and his injury, he was already a big question mark.
When the trade was made, the Angels' closer, Troy Percival, took an unnecessary shot at him: "We may miss Mo's bat, but we won't miss his leadership. Darin Erstad is our leader." Mo lost his cool, and launched a foul-mouthed fusillade against the Angels: "They ain't done shit in this game... They ain't got no flags hanging at friggin' Edison Field, so the hell with them."
Mo always hit well against the Yankees, and you'd think his game-winning home run against them in an Interleague game on June 16, 2002 would have endeared him to the Flushing Faithful. But his rising weight and his injuries kept him from being productive, and Met fans booed him. 2002 turned out to be the Mets' 1st losing season since 1996, and their never-finished Mike Piazza Era renaissance was over.
Vaughn last played for them, or for anybody else, on May 2, 2003. He was also later outed as a steroid user. However, he has done good work since retiring, rehabilitating urban housing in New York and Boston.
Appier? In his 1st season with the Angels, he helped them win the World Series. Now, there was "a friggin' flag at Edison Field," or Angel Stadium of Anaheim as it's now known.
Just 16 days before this trade, the Mets made one with the Cleveland Indians to get Roberto Alomar. He got old in a hurry, and was terribly booed at Shea in 2002 and 2003. But the Mets weren't going anywhere anyway, and they didn't give much up to get him, so I can't make a separate entry for that bad trade.
*
December 27, 2001 was a Thursday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL was in midweek. There were 8 games in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 98-88 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 105-89 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Detroit Pistons, 87-78 at the TD Waterhouse Center in Orlando.
* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Miami Heat, 91-86 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 93-90 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Allen Iverson scored 38 points for the Sixers, Nick Van Exel 33 for the Nugs.
* The Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 89-86 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors, 100-93 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).
* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 125-111 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.
There were 6 games in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders lost to the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and their metro-area rivals, the Los Angeles Kings, played to a 2-2 tie at the Staples Center. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day. On a Thursday.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames, 4-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
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