The Cal 100: No. 89 -- Andrew Vaughn
We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.
No. 89: Andrew Vaughn
Cal Sports Connection: From 2017 through '19, Vaughn batted .374 for Cal and landed on the All-Pac-12 team three times
Claim to Fame: Vaughn batted .402 and won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top player as a sophomore in 2018 and was the No. 3 pick in the professional draft a year later
Andrew Vaughn, 25 years old and just shifting his professional baseball career into gear, already has done enough to earn a spot on our list.
We’re presuming he could be somewhat higher than No. 89 when his days on the diamond are complete. Even so, his credentials so far — especially those he developed in three seasons at Cal — are compelling.
Cal slugger Andrew Vaughn
Photo by Robert Edwards, KLC fotos
Vaughn, who grew up in Santa Rosa an hour north of the Berkeley campus, had a Cal baseball career that measures up nicely against any. He hasn’t won a major league MVP award, as fellow Cal alums Jackie Jensen and Jeff Kent did, but his college performance was dazzling.
As a sophomore in 2018, the right-handed hitting first baseman batted .402, tied Cal’s single-season record with 23 home runs and had 63 RBIs in 54 games. He set a program record with an .819 slugging percentage, struck out just 18 times, ranked fourth nationally with a .531 on-base percentage and failed to reach base in only two of the Bears’ 54 games.
His .992 fielding percentage landed him on the All-Pac-12 Defensive team, but there were bigger honors: Pac-12 Player of the Year, the Perfect Game/Rawlings National Player of the Year and the Golden Spikes Award as the top player in college baseball -- a first for a Cal player.
His junior season, in which wary pitchers issued him 60 walks, nonetheless earned Vaughn first-team All-Pac-12 honors for a third straight season and consensus All-America status for a second year in a row — something no previous Cal player had achieved.
Vaughn finished his college career with a .374 batting average (No. 4 all-time at Cal), 50 home runs (tied for No. 2), 163 RBIs (No. 4) and a .688 slugging percentage (No. 2).
Andrew Vaughn
Photo by Rick Scuteri, USA Today
Convinced he was a professional hitter, the Chicago White Sox selected Vaughn No. 3 in the 2019 draft — the earliest a Cal player has been chosen since the San Francisco Giants took pitcher William Frost No. 1 in 1966. After six minor-league seasons, Frost was out of baseball, having never made it to the bigs.
Vaughn's opportunity to gain traction in the minor leagues was disrupted by COVID-19 but he is now playing his third MLB season. He has proved to be unexpectedly versatile, providing help defensively at five different positions -- including brief stints at second and third base -- plus designated hitter, after being exclusively a first baseman at Cal.
In his second season with the White Sox in 2022, Vaughn batted .271 with 28 doubles, 17 home runs and 76 RBIs. This season, though games on Wednesday, Vaughn was the club’s leader in at-bats, doubles, walks and RBIs. But the White Sox have been a disappointment, 12 games under .500 and 13-25.
Cover photo of Andrew Vaughn by Robert Edwards, KLC fotos
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo