Val Majewski, 2005 Topps Cracker Jack #177

Congratulations are in order for Val Majewski, manager Andy Etchebarren, catcher Osvaldo Martinez, and the rest of the 2011 Atlantic League Champion York Revolution! The Revs outlasted the Lancaster Barnstormers in the divisional round and rallied from a Game One loss to take three in a row from the Long Island Ducks in wrapping up the championship. It's the second straight league title for York. Majewski played 71 games for the Revolution this year, hitting .317 with a .399 on-base percentage, 11 home runs, and 48 RBI. Val drove in runs in each of the team's three championship round wins, including a two-run home run in their Game Two victory. At age 30, it's not likely that he will make it back to the major leagues, but it's good to see him still pursuing the dream.

Val Majewski, 2005 Playoff Prestige #183

It's time once again for "Where's Kevin?", the thoroughly underwhelming spinoff to "Where's Waldo?". Shortly, I will be traveling to New Brunswick, NJ, proud hometown of Val Majewski, he of the 13-at-bat major league career. Val played college ball at Rutgers University. As coincidence would have it, the purpose of my trip is to represent my employer at a career fair at RU's New Brunswick campus. Send me good-traffic vibes and keep your fingers crossed that the hotel bed is comfortable.

Okay, sure, you're wondering where Val is now. He's right up I-83 with the York Revolution of the Atlantic Baseball League, along with fellow ex-Oriole Matt Riley. The Rutgers grad is acquitting himself well in the indy league, hitting .330 with a .392 on-base percentage, eight doubles, and 22 RBI in 29 games. Riley, however, has allowed ten runs on 15 hits and 11 walks in 14 innings of work. You win some, and you lose some.

John Maine and Val Majewski, 2005 Topps #327

As I mentioned last night, last year's Orioles Minor League Pitcher of the Year made his major league debut tonight against the White Sox. He gave up three runs (one earned) in five and two-thirds innings, striking out four, and left with a one-run lead. It was a promising beginning, and a more auspicious first try than that of John Maine. I considered a last-minute effort to attend tonight's game, but the overcast skies scared me away. If only I'd stayed away from Maine's debut.

It was July 23, 2004, and my college roommate Mikey and his girlfriend Julianne had gotten four tickets to the O's-Twins game from her father's work. I honestly don't remember much about the game. It was one of those goofy floppy hat giveaway nights, and it doesn't get much goofier than orange, black, and white camouflage with an adjustable neck string. As you can see, I turned it into a rally hat.


Not that the rally-ization of the eyesore headwear did any good. 23-year-old John Maine set the Twins down in order in the first inning, but came undone in the second. The first four runners reached in a three-run frame for Minnesota, highlighted by a two-run single from Corey Koskie. The rookie pitched out of a bit of trouble in the third but allowed four hits (including a Jacque Jones leadoff home run) in the fourth before giving way to John Parrish. His final line: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 WP. As he left the mound trailing by a 4-1 score, I probably yelled some none-too-charitable things at him. Probably something about not letting the door hit him in the butt on the way back to AAA Ottowa. It was a steamy summer night, the team was already eight games under .500, and I was young (okay, 22) and immature.

The O's couldn't dig themselves out of the hole that their brand-new starter had dug, managing just a two-run spurt in the seventh before a ninth-inning, two-run homer off of Buddy Groom gave Corey Koskie a four-RBI night. As the night wore on, Mikey and I amused ourselves by cheering for the Twins' batboy, who frequently sprinted to and from the visitor's dugout on our side of the field. Your final: Twins 7, Orioles 3. John Maine did indeed return to Ottowa, his spot start a flop. He wouldn't get a chance to improve upon his 0-1 record and 9.82 major league ERA until 2005, when he was marginally better (2-3, 6.30 in 10 games) but still nothing to write home about. Then it was off to the Mets with Jorge Julio in exchange for Kris Benson. He's gone 31-23 in three seasons since, with better-than-league-average ERAs in each campaign. His peripherals have been declining in each of those three years, but he's still carved out a better career than his shaky initial trip to the mound would have indicated.

Val Majewski, 2005 Bazooka #173

DISCLAIMER: In writing today's entry, I mean no ill will towards any blog readers with the following names: Walter, Wally, Val, Victoria, Vicky. No Walters, Wallys, Vals, Victorias, or Vickies were harmed in the writing of this piece.

I've always been curious about Val Majewski's name. Not his last name, though I believe it's pronounced My-ESS-kee. Nope, I'm talking about the "Val" portion of his name. In general, Val is not a very popular name for men; Majewski is the only Val in O's history. (In 1960, they briefly had a catcher named Valmy Thomas, for what it's worth.) A quick trip around the web tells me that the Birds' 2004 Minor League Player of the Year was born Walter Val Majewski. This briefly made me wonder why he would choose to go by Val, as I'm sure its seeming feminity left him open to teasing from children, simple-minded hecklers, and the like. But if you think about it, he didn't have a whole lot of options. "Walter" is a relic from another era, bringing to mind venerable newsmen and sour-faced character actors, but not exciting young baseballers. "Wally" sounds kind of silly, and again is a tad anachronistic. He could have used his initials, but "W.V." doesn't really roll off of the tongue, and maybe he had some sort of deep, dark grudge against the state of West Virginia. So, in an attempt to be his own man, he went with Val. That's my story, anyhow.

I actually have a friend from my college days who also goes by "Val", though her given name is Victoria. Again, this seems like an unconventional shortening, but she has her reasons. Apparently when she was younger her crueler classmates would call her "Sticky Vicky", which was of course fairly upsetting. I'm surprised that they didn't go for "Icky Vicky", but I have to admit that the word sticky conjures much more varied and grotesque interpretations. So Val it is, and I have to admit that it suits her well. She's really a fascinating person; she's studied in South Africa, traveled much of Europe, conquered horseback riding and mountain climbing, and found employ in both a Renaissance Fair(e?) and a touring theatrical group. Val has done all of these things before the age of twenty-five and pushes boldly ahead. With her enterprising attitude, blond hair, and imposing physical presence (if she's not 6' tall, she's pretty darned close), I've sometimes joked that Val is short for "Valkyrie".

I struggle to find a similar match between Val Majewski's name and his character, but then I don't really know as much about him. Though if you're wondering where he's gotten to, he (like Jay Gibbons) took a detour to the Atlantic League earlier this year. After a short stint as a Newark Bear, he grabbed a minor league deal with the Houston Astros. In 25 games at AAA Round Rock, he's hitting .275/.390/.536. Injuries played a major part in derailing his progress in the Orioles' organization, but at the age of 27 maybe he's still got some major league baseball left to play.