O’Leary One to Remember

When Boston General Manager Dan Duquette was Milwaukee’s scouting director in 1986, he traveled with another Brewer scout to Orange County to check out Esperanza High shortstop Tom Redington, one of Southern California’s most coveted prep prospects at the time.

It’s a good thing Esperanza was playing Cypress High that day. Otherwise, the Red Sox might not have defeated Cleveland in Game 5 of the division series Monday night to earn a league championship series berth against the New York Yankees.

While Redington was being scouted, a Cypress outfielder named Troy O’Leary hit a home run, a double and leaped above the wall to rob a player of a home run. Duquette took note and had his scouts follow O’Leary that summer. The Brewers drafted O’Leary in the 13th round the next June and signed him.

O’Leary spent eight years in the Brewer organization with hardly a whiff of the big leagues and was released before the 1995 season. Duquette, named Red Sox general manager in 1994, remembered O’Leary and claimed him off waivers in 1995, and O’Leary rewarded Duquette’s faith, developing into a Red Sox starter for the past five years.

Then came Monday night. O’Leary followed an intentional walk to Nomar Garciaparra in the third inning with a grand slam that gave Boston a 7-5 lead. O’Leary then snapped an 8-8 tie in the seventh with a three-run homer, which also followed an intentional walk to Garciaparra.

“Troy O’Leary came through in the clutch at a time when players dream of performing,” Duquette said. “He not only came through once, but he came through again in a game when it really counted. I was so happy for Troy. He worked very hard to get to where he is.”

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Yankee right fielder Paul O’Neill’s status for Game 1 tonight went from questionable Monday to very probable Tuesday. An MRI test revealed a fractured rib, suffered when he ran into a Tropicana Field fence chasing a foul ball on Oct. 2, but O’Neill said Tuesday that “unless I wake up [today] and have a big setback, then everything is a go at this point.”

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Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez, who shook off the effects of a back strain to throw six hitless relief innings in Monday night’s 12-8 victory over the Indians, said he should have no problems making his Game 3 start against Roger Clemens on Saturday in Fenway Park. “It’s still a little sore, for sure, but I can work through that,” Martinez said Tuesday. . . . As expected, the Red Sox added pitcher Pat Rapp to their playoff roster and dropped reliever John Wasdin, but in a surprising move, Manager Jimy Williams opted for reliever Bryce Florie instead of knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who has unselfishly filled a variety of roles this season, from starter to middle reliever to closer.