Troy Franklin O'Leary (born August 4, 1969) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

who played with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

(-),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(-),

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

() and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(). Over the course of his 11 year MLB career, O'Leary posted a .274

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 127

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 591

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

in 1198

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

Early years

O'Leary was born in

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

and attended Cypress High School in

Cypress, California Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. Its population was 50,151 as of the 2020 census. History Cypress originally was nicknamed "Waterville" due to the preponderance of artesian wells in the area, but was incorporated ...

. He initially committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Oregon State as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Professional career

O'Leary was drafted by the

in the 13th-round of the 1987 MLB draft. O'Leary enjoyed an impressive season at Double-A

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, winning the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

batting title as well as being named the 1992

MVP (Player of the Year). In addition to his league leading .334 batting average, O’Leary finished the 1992 season with 5

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 79 RBI and 28

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. O'Leary made his Major League debut for the

in a home game at County Stadium on May 9, 1993 as a defensive replacement in left field against the

. Over the course of the 1993 and 1994 MLB seasons, O'Leary played in a total of 46 games for the

, batting .280 in 122 plate appearances. On April 14, 1995, O'Leary was selected off waivers by the

. In his first season with the

, O'Leary played in 112 games and finished with a .308 batting average. He was named the 1995 Red Sox Rookie of the Year. O’Leary enjoyed the best year of his career statistically in 1999. He led the Red Sox with 28 home runs in the regular season, was second on the team to

Nomar Garciaparra Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American former Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, Third ...

in RBI (103), and finished with a .280 batting average. He played in 157 of the 162 regular season games and finished with 596 at bats, leading the team in both categories. Troy also posted 84 runs (3rd on team), 167 hits (3rd on team), 36 doubles (4th on team), and a .495 slugging percentage (3rd on team). One of the greatest performances of O'Leary's career and in

postseason history took place on October 11, 1999 in the decisive game 5 of the 1999 American League Division Series versus the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. With one out in the top of the third inning and the Indians holding a 2 run lead, Boston had baserunners on second and third base, leaving first base open. Indians manager

Mike Hargrove Dudley Michael Hargrove (born October 26, 1949) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and Manager (baseball), manager. He is currently employed as an advisor with the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hargrov ...

chose to intentionally walk

, who had already homered in the first inning, to load the bases for O'Leary. O'Leary responded by sending the first pitch he saw, a Charles Nagy breaking ball, 417 feet over the right field fence for the first grand slam in Red Sox post-season history, giving Boston a 7-5 lead. When the seventh inning began, the game was tied 8-8. With John Valentin standing on second and first base open, Hargrove again chose to intentionally walk Garciaparra to get to O'Leary, this time with Paul Shuey on the mound. O'Leary responded by once again jumping on the first pitch he saw, crushing a line drive over the right field fence for a 3 run home-run. O'Leary's 7 RBI, along with 6 no-hit relief innings from Pedro Martinez, helped to seal the victory and advanced the Red Sox to the 1999 American League Championship Series against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. O'Leary would spend 2 more seasons with the

until the signing of slugger left fielder

Manny Ramirez Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican Americans (Dominican Republic), Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played wit ...

reduced O'Leary's role. O'Leary collected at least 70 RBI from - and reached double digit home run totals in each of his 7 seasons with the Red Sox. Over his 7 seasons as a member of the

, O’Leary played in a total of 962 games, collected 954 hits, 117 home runs, and batted .276. O’Leary went on to play 97 games for the

in 2002, batting .286 in 314 plate appearances. O'Leary signed with the

in 2003, batting .218 in 194 plate appearances. During game 7 of the 2003 National League Championship Series at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

, in what turned out to be the final at-bat of his Major League Baseball career, O'Leary hit a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the 7th inning off of Josh Beckett. O'Leary spent 2004 with the Samsung Lions of the

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League () and KBO Futures League ( (F ...

. In 1198 games over 11 major league seasons, O'Leary posted a .274

(1100-for-4010) with 547 runs, 234 doubles, 40 triples, 127

, 591 RBI, 334 bases on balls, .332

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

and .448

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

. He finished his career with a .985

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

playing at all three outfield positions. In 18 postseason games, he batted .217 (13-for-60) with 7 runs, 3 doubles, 3 home runs, 9 RBI and 5 walks.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oleary, Troy 1969 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Baseball players from Compton, California Beloit Brewers players Boston Red Sox players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Chicago Cubs players El Paso Diablos players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Helena Brewers players KBO League outfielders Langosteros de Cancún players Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Milwaukee Brewers players Montreal Expos players New Orleans Zephyrs players Ottawa Lynx players Samsung Lions players Stockton Ports players American expatriate baseball players in Australia 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Cypress High School alumni