COMING HOME; MO VAUGHN RETURNS TO BOSTON FOR FIRST TIME WITH ANAHEIM.

Byline: Joe Haakenson

There will be no welcome-back parade for their hometown hero, and that's just the way Mo Vaughn wants it.

Vaughn returns to Fenway Park tonight to face the Boston Red Sox, his team in his town for eight seasons. Vaughn's dispute with Red Sox management has been well-documented, but he is still loved by the fans and particularly the children, for whom Vaughn has given his time and money with the development of the Mo Vaughn Foundation.

Vaughn, however, will not hold a pregame news conference. He refuses to make more of his return than he feels it deserves. He wants things to be as normal as possible.

``It's really no big deal to me,'' said Vaughn, who is staying in his North Easton, Mass., home this weekend. ``I'm an Anaheim Angels baseball player. That's where my heart is.

``No doubt I had good times there. But my thing is to get past the rhetoric and play the game. I've understood for a long, long time that nobody's bigger than the game. I want to get past the garbage and play the game.''

Vaughn says he's got bigger concerns. Like making sure his ankle is healthy, like swinging the bat better, like making the Angels a winner.

But there will be no way to avoid the initial response by the Fenway Park fans. Angels shortstop Gary DiSarcina grew up in Massachusetts and attended Red Sox games at Fenway as a kid.

``I wouldn't expect a real rousing ovation, but at the same time I don't expect him to get booed,'' DiSarcina said. ``He'll get a nice reception, but not like David Wells got at Yankee Stadium. Because he still lives there and has roots there, he'll get a nice little ovation.''

``I'm an opposing player coming in, so I don't expect too much,'' Vaughn said. ``It would be nice (to get an ovation), but it's not going to affect me either way.''

Vaughn said he feels he has nothing to prove to Red Sox management, their fans or his ex-teammates. He wants to win, but no more than he wants to win every game.

``I'm excited to play, but it's not a personal thing,'' he said. ``I don't have a vendetta against management. I'm very happy with the move I made.''

Vaughn seems to have a flair for the dramatic, and certainly there is no better place for him to do something big than in Fenway.

``But in all sincerity,'' Angels manager Terry Collins said, ``I don't know how much of a chance they'll give him to be dramatic. We've got to set up the opportunity. But it should be fun to watch. They'll have big crowds all weekend. It's a great baseball town.''

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PHOTO (Color) Mo Vaughn, who played eight seasons with Boston, returns to Fenway Park today.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press