Shorebird of the Week – July 24, 2008

Brian Valichka is the picture of concentration as he gets ready for a recent game.
Sporting a special red, white, and blue uniform, one of Brian's first games in Delmarva was this Flag Day game against Lakewood.

After each season a recycling process occurs in minor league baseball as organizations prune their minor league rosters, weeding out the suspects and keeping the prospects. One of the casualties after the 2007 season in the Texas Rangers organization was catcher Brian Valichka. After three seasons with the Rangers farm teams in Arizona, Spokane, Clinton (Iowa), and Bakersfield, the 2005 19th round pick from the University of Delaware (who played his high school ball in Frederick, Maryland) was released. This despite his best season of the three he played in the Rangers chain, hitting .274/1/27 in 71 games (230 at-bats) with the advanced-class A Bakersfield Blaze of the California League.

Unlike most of these ballplayers who were cast aside, Brian latched on with the Orioles organization and originally played this season with the Bowie Baysox. But going just 1-for-15 in a 7 game trial there convinced the Orioles that maybe Bowie was a little bit too high of a level for him, and at one time Valichka was penciled into the Aberdeen roster. Injuries here at Delmarva created an opening though and Brian has stepped in admirably.

Brian has made it into 22 games since joining the Shorebirds June 12th and is averaging a hit for each one. Considering he’s had 66 at-bats, the .333 average is tops among the regular players and a .913 OPS is nothing to shake a stick at either. With a .245 career mark entering the season Brian is outperforming expectations and surely has been a shot in the arm for a team which has seen three of its five catchers who have been on the roster this season spend time on the disabled list. (Knocking on wood, Valichka and Wally Crancer are the two exceptions.)

Before season’s end Brian will turn 25 – only two Shorebirds are older. This season he got a second chance to make it in baseball and with a little luck he’ll be someplace in the Orioles organization in 2009. You can’t hold the job he’s done for Delmarva against him so we’ll see what happens.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.