Joseph Michael Orsulak (born May 31, 1962) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player whose career spanned from 1983 to 1997, with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

, and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. Orsulak, who threw and batted left-handed, played mostly in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

, although he played some games at first base. On the basepaths, he had better than average speed, until a 1987 knee injury slowed him down. He was traded from the Pirates to the

Orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

for

Rico Rossy Elam José "Rico" Rossy Ramos (born February 16, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or parts of four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a utility infielder for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, ...

and minor-league shortstop Terry Crowley, Jr. on November 6, 1987. He led the league in outfield assists, in 1991. In 1992, he made the first out at the Orioles' new

Camden Yards The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...

ballpark, going on to lead the team that year in batting average. He elected to become a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on October 28, 1992, after five seasons with the Orioles. Despite his relatively long career (with five major league clubs), he never played in the post-season in the Majors. Orsulak played winter ball for three consecutive years with

Navegantes del Magallanes The Navegantes del Magallanes (Magellan Navigators), commonly known as Magallanes, are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in Valencia, Magallanes has won 13 LVBP championships and two (2) Caribbean Series. It wa ...

in the LVBP (Venezuelan Winter League), starting with the 1983 season, during which he met his future wife, Adriana Venditti. They married during the 1988 All-Star break and had two children, Joseph and Michael. After a long struggle with brain cancer, Adriana died in 2004. Orsulak grew up in

Parsippany–Troy Hills, New Jersey Parsippany–Troy Hills Township, commonly known as Parsippany ( ), is a township in Morris County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township’s population was 56,162, reflecting a 5.5% increase from the 53 238 enumerated a ...

, where he graduated from

Parsippany Hills High School Parsippany Hills High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade as one of the two secondary s ...

. He turned down a full scholarship to

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

in order to sign with the Pirates."Joe Orsulak tells his MLB draft story and decision to go pro."
''Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic''. Accessed July 1, 2016.

References

External links

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Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsulak, Joe 1962 births Living people Alexandria Dukes players American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from New Jersey Florida Marlins players Greenwood Pirates players Hawaii Islanders players Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Mets players Parsippany Hills High School alumni Sportspeople from Glen Ridge, New Jersey People from Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey Pittsburgh Pirates players Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey Vancouver Canadians players