Spring brings new outlook for Troy O'Leary

After a tumultuous time in Boston, the outfielder is just a quiet veteran trying to blend in with the Rays.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 20, 2002

[Times photo: Michael Rondou] Troy O'Leary has eight hits in 29 at-bats this spring for the Rays, including two doubles.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Sometimes he is just lower legs and stocking feet protruding from a dimly-lit corner.

Barely seen. Rarely heard across the noisy room.

With his padded folding chair backed against a concrete-block wall in the Rays clubhouse, Troy O'Leary can lean back between lockers and disappear until it is time to go to work.

"I pretty much stay quiet," he said.

The Rays signed the 32-year-old outfielder to a minor-league contract in January after the Red Sox, who visit Florida Power Park today, failed to pick up his option. He has spent this spring quietly trying to win a spot on the team's roster.

"I think things have gone pretty well," O'Leary said. "But it still feels like I'm starting over again."

This isn't Boston, for sure.

It isn't the cramped home clubhouse at Fenway Park that overflowed with veteran talent. Nor is it the baseball-crazed society he lived in for the past seven years.

"Boston is Boston," O'Leary said. "I had a great time. I'm glad they gave me the opportunity to play those seven years for them. I have no grudges. I met some great guys. I have some great friends over there. I have no complaints."

So much has happened with O'Leary's former team since his departure.

New owners. New manager and general manager.

A complete change not only from the turbulence of last year, but from the not-too-long-ago days when Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn were allowed to leave.

"After those guys left things started to break up over there," O'Leary said. "You had leaders, but they weren't verbal leaders. They're leaders that show it through how they play. You had a lot of veterans on that team so you really couldn't say too much to anybody about how they did. They should know how to go about things."

Vaughn attracted attention and dispersed pressure.

"For some reason, he'd take it, he'd say it, and he'd go out the next day and have no pressure," O'Leary said. "He'd rather have it all on him rather than on us little guys worrying about it and not performing. He's going to be good in that clubhouse over in New York. He's going to take a lot of pressure off (Mike) Piazza, (Roberto) Alomar. He's going to do it. I'm telling you."

Greg Vaughn, Mo's cousin, is the closest thing the Rays have to that sort of presence in their clubhouse. But for O'Leary, his digs nowadays still have that new-car feel and smell.

"I really don't know everybody," he said. "But I'm getting more comfortable around the fellas."

Coaches and management know plenty about O'Leary, which is why they've evaluated him so closely.

"Basically what I was looking for was someone that could still swing the bat," manager Hal McRae said, "and had good legs."

O'Leary was at his best in 1999 when he hit .280 with 28 homers and 103 RBIs. He averaged 19 homers and 83 RBIs from 1996-2000.

But then the Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez to an eight-year, $160-million contract and moved him from rightfield to left -- O'Leary's position -- last spring. O'Leary's playing time was compromised and he wound up hitting .240 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs last season.

O'Leary has played in nine spring games with the Rays and batted 29 times with a .276 average, 2 doubles and 6 RBIs.

"I feel a little better with my bat," he said. "I don't know what I'm hitting, but I just want to feel comfortable. Some days I feel good and some days I don't. On occasion I work with (batting coach Milt) May and work out with Greg. I'm just getting my work in and seeing what they have to say."

General manager Chuck LaMar says O'Leary has impressed the club this spring. Whether he will make the 25-man roster out of camp depends largely on the club's needs, and whether it decides to carry four, five or six outfielders.

"Troy O'Leary is still a major-league player," LaMar said. "I don't think there's any question that he has the makeup. He knows how to play. He's a professional hitter and he would be an addition to a lot of major-league clubs.

"Whether he fits into our financial scheme of things, whether we can afford him at the end of spring training or not is yet to be seen."

Should O'Leary not fit into the Rays go-young, pay-less scheme of operating nowadays, he seems prepared to leave the game behind.

But only if no one else calls.

"If they let me go, I'll just go home," O'Leary said. "The game's been pretty good to me. We'll see. I've got two beautiful kids at home.

"I'm 32 years old, played for (nine) years. I've done all right for myself."

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