Tony DeMarco

Milton Bradley has found the perfect landing place — specifically, the cleanup spot in the game’s most potent offense. What started as an under-the-radar effective season for the mercurial slugger suddenly has become one that is impossible to ignore — mostly, but not all, for the right reasons.

The right lies in the numbers. Texas Rangers hitters are making the top of the American League leader boards their own personal gathering space — none more so lately than Bradley, who is on pace for a career year, and it isn’t even close.

Through Thursday, Bradley led the league in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Bradley’s lead in on-base percentage was commanding — .454 to .427 for runner-up J.D. Drew. And the closest AL hitter to Bradley’s .629 slugging percentage was teammate Josh Hamilton at a distant .583.

Bradley also topped the league in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage), and was tied for the league lead in walks. And his June already has included a co-AL Player of the Week honor for hitting five home runs, driving in nine, going 11-for-23 with 29 total bases, and compiling an eye-opening .647 on-base percentage with the help of nine walks.

Bradley’s 14 homers are only five shy of his career best. His 45 RBIs are only 22 shy of his best season total. And he has done it all while coming back quickly from major knee surgery last fall. When asked to name Bradley’s biggest asset at the plate, Rangers hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo stressed the mental over the mechanical.

“Milton is fearless,’’ Jaramillo said. “He plays with great passion. He is very determined, and that’s the attitude he brings to the team. He has such a great eye at the plate. He thinks there is no pitcher who can get him out. That carries over to the other guys.’’

That’s at least part of the reason why the Rangers are leading the majors in runs scored, their names littered across the league leaders. Hamilton leads the world in RBIs and the league in home runs. The top four in the AL in runs scored are the first four names Rangers manager Ron Washington writes on his daily lineup card — Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Hamilton and Bradley. The first three also are 1-2-3 in the league in hits.

In short, hitting cleanup in that foursome — and living for a couple months in the shadow of Hamilton and his remarkable turnaround story — has become Bradley’s new-found comfort zone.

“Milton has been a key here,’’ Jaramillo said. “He’s the type of person who I wish we had nine like him on the field. The guys here love him and respect him. He plays hard. He works hard. People don’t know what Milton is about.’’

That’s because of a string of incidents in Bradley’s checkered past that offers reason for confusion: Suspensions for bottle and ball-throwing incidents, a confrontation with manager Eric Wedge in 2004 that led to his departure from Cleveland, and last September’s unfortunate torn ACL injury while being restrained from umpire Mike Winters. And now we have the latest — which occurred Wednesday night following the Rangers’ 11-5 rout in Kansas City.

According to reports, Bradley headed up four flights of stairs toward the Royals’ broadcast booth to confront television announcer Ryan Lefebvre, who had made comments during the game that Bradley considered derogatory.

But that meeting never occurred, as a security guard questioned Bradley and Rangers general manager Jon Daniels eventually led him away. Washington, Daniels and Lefebvre later met to discuss the situation, but there was no meeting between Bradley and Lefebvre.

On Thursday, Bradley calmly discussed the situation with reporters, voicing objection to negative perceptions of him, and saying he simply wanted to talk to Lefebvre. The club said it will take no disciplinary action, and the incident apparently will end there -- at least the Rangers hope so, as they are united in sticking behind Bradley.

“He gets mad because he makes an out. People see that, and it comes out wrong sometimes,’’ Jaramillo said. “We see it in a good way. He’s very competitive. Some people take that the wrong way. He wants to win. He’s been a great team player.’’

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