O’Leary Makes Himself at Home Against Angels

Count Troy O’Leary among the visiting players who have gorged on Angel pitching of late.

The Red Sox left fielder--who graduated from Cypress High--had a .243 career average (18 for 74) at Anaheim. But that rose to .290 after this past weekend series as O’Leary had nine hits in 19 at-bats as Boston took three of the four games.

On Sunday O’Leary delivered three hits, including his team-leading 22nd home run, scored twice and drove in two runs in Boston’s 9-3 victory, helping Red Sox starter Pedro Martinez get his 100th career win. In the series he had two home runs, a double, and five RBIs. He is on a 10-game hitting streak.

The left-handed hitting O’Leary, now in his fifth major league season after spending six years in the minors, insists he’s not doing anything special.

“I did have some adrenaline going, being in front of my family and high school friends,” O’Leary said. “But I’m just being patient at the plate now, seeing more pitches. And if you see a good pitch to hit, then you hit it.”

It sounds simple, but O’Leary has been putting the theory to good use. Since the All-Star break, he has reached base safely in 19 of 23 games. And he’s had at least one hit in 34 of his last 39 games; 10 of those hits have been home runs.

“He is a very good player on both sides of the lines,” Boston Manager Jimy Williams said. “He can hit, run and play defense. I think he’s at a point now where he feels good about himself as a player. He likes to be in the key situations, and it seems he always hits the ball hard.”

Williams said O’Leary, who was drafted by Milwaukee in 1987 and was claimed off the waiver list by Boston in 1995, was considered a platoon player until 1997.

“One day he went to [hitting coach] Jim Rice and said ‘tell Skip I can hit lefties.’ So I gave him the opportunity to play everyday,” Williams said. “He took that opportunity and ran with it.”

Rice, an outstanding Red Sox outfielder in the 1970s and ‘80s, did not take any credit.

“Troy was ready,” Rice said. “And Jimy had the confidence in him to give Troy the chance. Troy is a very good player, and he’s only going to get better.”

O’Leary, who turned 30 last week, is also getting stronger. His home run total of 22 is one short of his career high set last year. With 76 RBIs, it’s likely he will surpass his career high of 83.

O’Leary is also generous. For Sunday’s game, he purchased a luxury box for 24 friends and family members.

That’s cutting back from previous visits, though.

“The first time I played here I had to come up with 50 tickets,” O’Leary said. “I finally learned how to say no.”