"He did not play up to his capabilities last year and was dealt by the Reds to the Yankees for Roberto Kelly last winter. His former manager Lou Piniella always expected more from him and was often at odds with the right fielder. O'Neill's home run production was cut in half from 1991, but his total of 14 was good enough to lead the Reds. He led the Reds in games and walks (a career high 70). He started hot, batting .319 with seven homers and 31 RBI over the season's first two months.
O'Neill ranked third in the National League in outfield assists with 12 and led NL outfielders with a .997 fielding percentage. He made one error in 304 chances.
Born February 26, 1963, in Columbus, Ohio, he was a pitcher in high school and was the Reds' fourth pick in the 1981 draft. In the 1990 NLCS, O'Neill batted .471."
-Tony DeMarco (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram) and Tom Pedulla (Gannett Newspapers), The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1993 Edition
"The first thing that attracts you to Paul O'Neill is the size. 6-4, 215 pounds. The second thing that attracts you is that he bats from the left side of the plate. The third thing is the numbers. Home run totals for the Cincinnati Reds: 16, 15, 16, 28 and 14.
That was in Riverfront Stadium, which doesn't put a premium on left-handed hitters like Yankee Stadium does. The Yankees were willing to trade the talented Roberto Kelly to the Reds for O'Neill because they expect those home run totals to rise in the Bronx.
Don't think that the Yankees obtained the left-handed slugger just because he hits home runs. O'Neill, a 1991 National League All-Star, comes with other attributes: a howitzer for an arm. Excellent defensive skills. An average of 148 games played over the last three seasons.
Still, it's that bat, that left-handed power, with which Paul O'Neill is going to rise or fall as a Yankee. And it's a fact that all the great Yankee teams, all the championship Yankee teams, have had one thing in common: left-handed power hitting."
-The New York Yankees Official 1993 Yearbook
INTENSITY, THY NAME IS PAUL O'NEILL
"Paul O'Neill is intense. To put it mildly.
Ever see the outfielder's face after he makes an out on a pitch he feels he should have ripped for a base hit? Or, worse, after he's been called out on strikes? It's a good thing we all can't read lips.
See that cracked batting helmet over in the corner? Or the bat the batboy had to chase halfway up the foul line to retrieve? O'Neill's.
How about the way the other Yankees shift nervously in the dugout after a particularly bad O'Neill at-bat? They know their teammate is headed back to the dugout with an attitude, and no person or piece of equipment is safe?
First base coach Frank Howard, who brings myriad baseball skills to his position after 35 years in the game as a player, manager and coach, has mastered a new one this season- the one-bounce catch of O'Neill's batting helmet after the outfielder crosses first base upon making the final out of an inning with runners on base.
And there's no guarantee of a picnic even when O'Neill gets a hit or drills a home run. Before he's back to the dugout the players already know that the bloop single should have been a line drive. The single to left should have been a double in the gap. The 350-foot homer should have gone 405.
Paul O'Neill always wants to do better.
'It's become a standing joke with the guys,' says shortstop Spike Owen, who played against O'Neill for several seasons in the National League. 'Paul comes back to the dugout and the blooper should have been a bullet. Or he should have pulled the ball better or he should have done something different. He's such a competitor.
'He makes us laugh just watching his reactions. Of course, sometimes you have to stand clear. He keeps you on your toes.'
It's just the way O'Neill is. He has strived to be his best since his boyhood in Columbus, Ohio where he was the youngest of six children, six of them boys. As his sister, Molly O'Neill, who writes for the New York Times, wrote three seasons ago when Paul was about to appear in the World Series with the Cincinnati Reds, her little brother 'has been playing baseball all of his life since he was two years old. He had to. His brothers would have used him as a base if he hadn't learned how to swing a bat.'
So Paul learned not only how to swing, but, more important, how to compete. And he grew to be 6-4. His older brothers may have carved a name for the O'Neill family in the Central-Ohio Little League, but Paul made sure the family name and its reputation in the Columbus area were etched in stone.
Until coming to the Yankees in the November trade which sent Roberto- now Bobby- Kelly to the Cincinnati Reds, O'Neill had been one of the Midwest's best-kept secrets. In six years with the Reds, O'Neill compiled a .259 batting average and averaged 16 homers and 69 RBI per season. In addition, he played a stellar rightfield and helped the Reds to the World Championship during the 1990 season when he hit .270 with 16 homers and 78 RBI.
Now he's a Yankee, a quiet midwesterner who still makes his home in his native Ohio, and fancies himself a baseball player, not a team spokesman. To say O'Neill has kept a low profile in his first season in the Bronx would be an understatement. In this town, only cockroaches keep lower profiles.
He'd prefer his actions- his sweet swing, rifle arm and good glove- do all the talking. So far in 1993, they have spoken volumes. Through the middle of June, O'Neill was hitting .324. A power surge- he had just one homer in his first 110 at-bats this season and added seven more in his next 100- had catapulted him to rank among the team's leaders in both home runs and RBI.
A good showing, but not a great one for the hard-to-please outfielder. It is also something he would prefer not to talk about.
'There are things I'm happy with and things I'm not,' he said in summing up his first half-season in PInstripes. 'I don't like to go into it in much depth. The end of the year is the time to look back. There are two halves to the season and there's always another game tomorrow. So much can change. It's silly to look back at this point.
'It's easier just to go out and play, keep your mind on the game and not on the other little things.'
One of those little things- and one of the things O'Neill hasn't liked about the 1993 season- is his role as a platoon player. Before Danny Tartabull went on the disabled list with a bruised kidney in May and Randy Velarde ended up there with a fracture in his left pelvis a week later, O'Neill had been splitting time in leftfield with the right-handed hitting Velarde.
'It didn't bother me, but it did surprise me,' said O'Neill, who had played against all pitching during spring training as he adjusted to leftfield, a new position. 'But there's no reason to fight those things. We're winning.'
When Tartubull went down, O'Neill moved over to right field and played every day- against left-handers and right-handers- and hit .312 (24-for-77) in full-time duty, dropping his batting average from .336. Against left-handers, he had nine hits in 43 at-bats (.209).
'The more you play (against lefties), it becomes just another at-bat,' he says. 'If you just do it once a week or once a month, you may bear down too much, try too hard.'
Yankees manager Buck Showalter doesn't like to use the word platoon when discussing his selective use of O'Neill. Because Showalter would occasionally use him against lefties- even before Tartabull and Velarde were injured- the manager said he didn't think it was a platoon. But if it looks like a platoon and smells like a platoon, that's exactly what it is.
Former Yankees manager Lou Piniella platooned O'Neill in right field when he managed him in Cincinnati. He said resting O'Neill against certain left-handers was the way to go.
'He can't hit all lefties, but some he can,' said Piniella, now the Seattle Mariners' manager. 'For the real tough ones, I got him out of there. If you have a good right-handed bat to give Paulie a night off from time to time, there's nothing wrong with that.'
Although he has had his problems with lefties this season, two of the most memorable hits O'Neill has gotten as a Yankee came against southpaws, and both came in a thrilling 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox on June 15. In fact, they both came in the fifth inning.
Trailing 5-0, the Yankees erupted for eight runs in that inning, sending 13 men to the plate. Mike Stanley started the comeback with a solo homer off Frank Viola. O'Neill followed with a single. Two outs later, he was still at first base. But then Pat Kelly became the first of eight consecutive Yankees to reach first base.
In the middle of all that and with the score tied at 5-5, O'Neill got up again and ripped a two-out single down the rightfield line off Red Sox reliever Joe Hesketh, like Viola, a lefty. Who knows? It could prove to be one of the hits that make the Yankees' season. That night's win raised them to nine games over .500, the furthest above that mark the team had been since the end of the 1988 season.
Even O'Neill had to be happy after that, right? Content maybe. But certainly not satisfied. And he makes no apologies for what some would consider his ultra-intense approach to the game.
'I think there has to be some intensity to go out and play well,' O'Neill says. 'It has become something of a joke with the guys. But when I get a hit or a home run, I'm happy.'
He's happy, too, but not content with the Yankees' spot in the American League East standings. To O'Neill, second place is no place and that is where the Yankees have been for much of the season.
'We're getting to a point where it's time to get it going. To get where we belong, and that's first place,' O'Neill says. 'This is the time of the year where you're starting to see who has a chance. This is what makes it fun.'
Until the Yankees win a World Championship, O'Neill will not rest. It's likely that he'll play every day, too, moving back to leftfield when Tartabull is fully healthy. Velarde is not expected back until well until July.
It's also likely that O'Neill, a seemingly carefree, smiling guy away from the field, will continue to snarl, to grimace, to flick his bat and batting helmet away in disgust following each at-bat he does not approve of. A shin pad he wears while hitting since fouling two balls off his left calf in early June has also become a handy projectile.
'It's hilarious,' says Stanley. 'He seems like he's never satisfied. I like a guy who strives to do more, but he could be a little easier on himself.'
O'Neill? Not a chance."
-Don Burke, Newark Star-Ledger, 1993 New York Yankees Scorebook & Souvenir Program
"O'Neill was obtained with first baseman Joe DeBerry from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for outfielder Roberto Kelly in November of 1992.
In 1992 he hit .246 with 14 home runs and 66 RBIs. He led the Reds in homers, games played (148) and walks (77). His walk total was a career best. He ranked second on the club in RBIs to Barry Larkin and ranked ninth in the National League in walks and fifth in intentional walks (15).
He hit .319 (7 HR, 31 RBI) over the first 49 games of the season (through June 5). He was hampered in the second half with a sore right wrist and sore hand, the result of a check swing on July 29 at San Diego that caused the damage. He hit .282 (22-for-78) over his final 20 starts.
Paul hit .225 (39-for-173, 2 HR, 26 RBIs) against left-handed pitchers and .257 (83-for-323) against right-handers. He hit .237 (6 HR, 33 RBIs) at Riverfront Stadium and .255 (8 HR, 33 RBIs) on the road. Paul hit .231 on turf and .281 on grass. He was ejected once, on July 1 at Houston by Mike Winters for arguing balls and strikes.
An excellent defensive outfielder, O'Neill led the NL in fielding percentage (.997), making just one error in 304 total chances. He had led NL right fielders in fielding in each of the last three seasons. He led the club and ranked third in the league with 12 assists.
Paul stole his six bases in nine tries and in his career has 61 stolen bases in 94 tries.
He signed a three-year contract in February 1992. The contract extends through the 1994 season.
In 1991 O'Neill led the club in home runs (28), RBIs (91), doubles (36) and walks (77) while also setting career bests in every category. He ranked second on the club in games played (152) and at-bats (532), also career bests. O'Neill ranked tied for third in the National League in doubles, tied for third in extra-base hits (64), tied for seventh in homers, seventh in homer per at-bat ratio (1:19 AB) and tied for eighth in RBI per at-bat ratio (1:5.8 AB).
Paul homered in three consecutive games, April 26-28, against the Cubs- overall he hit six home runs and drove in 14 runs against the Northsiders in 1991. He had a career game at Wrigley Field on May 11, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two homers, six RBIs, three runs scored and 12 total bases. The total base total is still a career best while the home run, runs scored and RBI totals match career bests.
He was named to the National League All-Star team as a reserve. On July 28 at St. Louis, he notched his 500th career hit, an 8th-inning double off Lee Smith. O'Neill had a two-homer against the Dodgers on August 8, and for the second time in the season, homered in three straight games, September 13-15, this time against the Astros. The circuit clout on September 14 was the third of three consecutive Cincy home runs in the 4th inning (after Mariano Duncan and Hal Morris).
For the season, O'Neill led the Reds with 13 outfield assists. He was ejected twice.
In 1990 for the World Champion Reds, he hit .270 with 16 home runs. Paul had a career best 11-game hitting streak (13-for-44,.295) from August 21- September 2. His season also included a pair of two-homer games and three four-hit games. O'Neill also hit five home runs off San Francisco's Don Robinson.
The Reds' leading hitter in the National League Championship Series against Pittsburgh, O'Neill hit .471 (8-for-17) with three doubles, a home run, four RBIs and a .824 slugging percentage. He threw out a pair of runners from right field (Sid Bream at second, Andy Van Slyke at third). He was 1-for-12 with an RBI in the World Series against Oakland. Paul combined to hit .310 (9-for-29) in postseason play.
He was the Reds' fourth-round choice in the June 1981 free agent draft. He was scouted by Gene Bennett. In his first year of professional ball O'Neill hit .315 for Billings of the rookie Pioneer League, the ninth highest batting average in the circuit. Playing for Cedar Rapids of the Class-A Midwest League in 1982, he hit .272 with eight home runs and 71 RBIs.
Paul spent the majority of the 1983 season at Tampa (High-A Florida State League) where he hit .278 in 121 games; he hit .279 in 14 games for Waterbury of the Double-A Eastern League. In 1984, O'Neill was voted by Eastern League managers as the best prospect in the league. He hit .265 with 16 homers and 76 RBIs for Vermont of the EL. He finished in the top five in doubles (31), game-winning RBIs, home runs and total bases (215), leading Vermont to a league championship.
In 1985, Paul led the AAA American Association in doubles (32), hits (155), games (137) and at-bats (509) while hitting .305 for Denver. He earned a spot on the American Association All-Star team and was voted by the loop's managers as one of the top prospects in the league.
The Topps Player of the Month for May, O'Neill made his major league debut on September 3 at St. Louis and singled on the first pitch to him from Jeff Lahti. He was on the bench for Pete Rose's record-setting 4,192nd hit.
Paul sat out most of the 1986 season with a torn ligament in his right thumb. The injury came from making a diving catch. He played in a combined 58 games, 55 at Denver and three at Cincinnati.
One of the club's top pinch hitters in 1987, O'Neill had 11 hits (5 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBIs). His RBI total was second most among National League pinch hitters to Graig Nettles and was the most by a Red pinch hitter since Jerry Lynch in 1961 (25).
Paul started the 1987 season with the Reds. His first two major league home runs were pinch-hit: on May 9 against Philadelphia (Kevin Gross) and three days later against the Mets (David Cone); they are his only pinch homers to date.
He made his professional pitching debut on June 19 at Atlanta, pitching two innings in a 16-5 loss to the Braves. He allowed three runs on two hits including a three-run homer by Ozzie Virgil. Paul registered two strikeouts, Ken Griffey, Sr., and Jeff Dedmon.
He spent July 3-18 with AAA Nashville. Upon his return to Cincinnati he started 32 games at all three outfield positions and first base. He hit .329 in his final 29 games.
In 1988, O'Neill ranked second on the club in RBIs (77) and third in home runs (18). He homered in three consecutive games against the Dodgers. Paul had his first career five-hit game on June 8 at San Diego, the only one by a Red in 1988, and on September 30 had his first career two-homer game against Atlanta (both off Rick Mahler).
O'Neill hit .276 with 15 home runs and 74 RBIs in 1989, playing in 117 games. His season started promising but was cut short due to injury.
On Opening Day against Los Angeles, Paul went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer. On June 7 against San Francisco, he hit two home runs and drove in six; included was his only grand slam to date (off Jeff Brantley). On July 20 at Montreal, Paul fractured his left thumb diving for a ball in the outfield, missing six weeks. At the time he ranked third in the National League in RBIs, sixth in home runs and eighth in both hits (118) and slugging. He returned to the team on September 1 and for the year stole a still career high 20 bases in 25 attempts.
O'Neill graduated from Brookhaven High School in Columbus (OH). He was primarily a pitcher in high school, earning All-State honors in baseball and basketball, also playing football. He played American Legion, Babe Ruth and Little League ball as a youth and grew up a Willie Mays fan.
Paul's father, Chick O'Neill, played minor-league baseball. Paul enjoys golf and music and is a Rolling Stones fan. A direct descendent of Mark Twain, he list Pete Rose's 4,192nd hit as one of the most dramatic moments he has witnessed."
-1993 New York Yankees Information Guide
Led American Association with 19 outfield assists, 1985.
Led American Association with eight double plays, 1985.
-1993 New York Yankees Information Guide
Paul Andrew O'Neill (OF) #21
Born February 25, 1963, in Columbus, Ohio, resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Height: 6-4, weight: 215. Bats left, throws left.
Married, Nevalee (12/29/84), and father of Andrew (4) and Aaron (4 months).
Major league service: 6 years, 47 days. Opening Day age: 30.
-1993 New York Yankees Information Guide
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