Orsulak

On February 10, 2004, ADRIANAORSULAK (nee Venditti), beloved wife of Joseph M. Orsulak, devoted mother of Joseph and Michael Orsulak, loving daughter of Olga Caicedo, dear sister of Sandra Uptagrafft and Angelo Venditti, dear daughter-in-law of Joseph and Diane Orsulak A Funeral Service will be held in the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26A), on Thursday at 1 P.M. Interment Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Memorial contributions to Stella Maris Hospice, 2300 Dulaney Valley Rd., Timonium, MD 21093 will be appreciated

When you call former Oriole right fielder Joe Orsulak's cell phone, he answers with a cheery, "Joe Oh. Leave a message." The New Jersey native, who lives in Cockeysville, began his pro baseball career when he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1980, and played for the Orioles for five seasons, from 1988 to 1992. Fans with a long memory will recall Orsulak's two firsts when the Orioles played the Cleveland Indians before a crowd of 44,568 that inaugurated Camden Yards on Opening Day in 1992.

He is as constant as the season in which he hits -- cool in the spring, but hot in the summer.Every year, Joe Orsulak emerges from spring training with a cold bat and the deceiving appearance that he will never be a full-time player with the Orioles.And, every year, along about June, the outfielder starts to splatter hits all over ballparks, and the manager can't get him out of the lineup."He's the same old 'Slak this season," manager Johnny Oates said. "There isn't anything new you can say about him."

On February 10, 2004, ADRIANAORSULAK (nee Venditti), beloved wife of Joseph M. Orsulak, devoted mother of Joseph and Michael Orsulak, loving daughter of Olga Caicedo, dear sister of Sandra Uptagrafft and Angelo Venditti, dear daughter-in-law of Joseph and Diane Orsulak A Funeral Service will be held in the family owned Ruck Towson Funeral Home, Inc., 1050 York Road (beltway exit 26A), on Thursday at 1 P.M. Interment Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends on Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Memorial contributions to Stella Maris Hospice, 2300 Dulaney Valley Rd., Timonium, MD 21093 will be appreciated

Adriana Orsulak, the wife of former Orioles right fielder Joe Orsulak and a homemaker, died yesterday of brain cancer at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Cockeysville resident was 39. Born Adriana Venditti in Cali, Colombia, and raised in Venezuela, she married Mr. Orsulak in 1988 after moving to Tampa, Fla. The couple had met in 1983 in Valencia, Venezuela, while Mr. Orsulak was playing winter-league baseball. She was then a 19-year-old student. "She was a great mother who cared about her kids more than anything.

NEW YORK -- Outfielder Joe Orsulak returned to a somber New York Mets clubhouse yesterday after spending the past five days at home with his wife, Adrianna, who has a malignant brain tumor.Adrianna Orsulak, 29, will undergo further tests before doctors determine her course of treatment."If she needed me home I'd be there," Orsulak told a small group of reporters before the game. "All I can do is go to work and take care of business. It's a tough time. We just have to deal with it."We have a positive attitude.

Joe Orsulak's professional life has a cyclical nature, with the same pattern evolving every year. In the spring he is forgotten but not gone, as the Orioles seek outfield solutions that never feature him prominently. By September, he is back among the team's leading hitters and most dependable players.This year, for instance, the Orioles figured Dwight Evans and Randy Milligan would be big parts of their new, improved outfield. Orsulak? Well, manager Frank Robinson told him in April he'd be a part-timer, maybe start once a week.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- For most of this season, Jolting Joe Orsulak and the Orioles followed the same pattern."We haven't had a lot of consistency," said the outfielder, who has generally been just that since midway through 1988, his first season with the club. "We've been up and down."Mostly the latter.But suddenly, despite their ineptness against Milwaukee, the Orioles are taking on a look of respectability. They have come up with a set of five starters who, at the very least, can challenge hitters.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The 1992 Elias Baseball Analyst portrays Joe Orsulak's arm as a howitzer responsible for one of the greatest outfield explosions in the history of the game.We're truly sorry about this.But Joe, it just ain't so.Indeed, if Orsulak's arm truly commanded respect, he never would have compiled the 22 outfield assists that made his '91 season such a statistical freak.Statistics are the lifeblood of baseball, and heaven knows we all love the Analyst. But this is an example of numbers gone haywire.

When Chito Martinez became the final player to hit a home run at Memorial Stadium last Oct. 5, it wasn't the harbinger he hoped it would be.It was his 13th home run in a half season after being recalled from the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, giving him reason to hope the momentum would carry into this season.It didn't.Unable to regain his batting stroke, Martinez shared time with Joe Orsulak and David Segui in right field.Orsulak's bat soon became hot, and when he sprained his left thumb 11 days ago in Kansas City, he was batting .307.

Adriana Orsulak, the wife of former Orioles right fielder Joe Orsulak and a homemaker, died yesterday of brain cancer at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Cockeysville resident was 39. Born Adriana Venditti in Cali, Colombia, and raised in Venezuela, she married Mr. Orsulak in 1988 after moving to Tampa, Fla. The couple had met in 1983 in Valencia, Venezuela, while Mr. Orsulak was playing winter-league baseball. She was then a 19-year-old student. "She was a great mother who cared about her kids more than anything.

Joe Orsulak has never been one to draw attention to himself.Many Orioles fans remember him as the workmanlike outfielder who dived after balls and the unheralded hitter who batted nearly .290 year after year, though he was often overlooked during his career.That's one of the reasons Orsulak, 36, relishes his new role as assistant coach at Loyola High School."I'm not in it for the accolades or the publicity," Orsulak said. "For me, the pleasure I gain out of it is to watch someone do something that I taught them, to watch them learn it and perform it and to watch them do well."

Joe Orsulak came home yesterday. In a perfect world, he'd be staying there.The former Oriole still lives in Cockeysville during the off-season with his wife and two sons, plus he still has his 80-acre farm in Harford County. And he's still on the move, playing for his third team since leaving Baltimore after the 1992 season.Orsulak, who turned 35 after Opening Day, accompanied the Montreal Expos for the first interleague game played at Camden Yards. He wasn't in the starting lineup against right-hander Shawn Boskie, even with manager Felipe Alou able to employ an extra bat because of the designated hitter.

His wife has an inoperable brain tumor. His younger son twice has undergone open-heart surgery. But every day is a good day, Joe Orsulak says.Every day is one more day that his wife can share with their two sons, one more day that she can smile, one more day that she can enjoy life."

Complaining to management, engaging in idle boasting or revealing his innermost feelings has never been Joe Orsulak's way. In the end, a grown man swinging a bat, running down fly balls and knowing when to try for the extra base becomes all so elementary. Fun and games.Something far more important now draws the total attention of Joe Orsulak but, again, he's not asking others to empathize or sympathize. He always knew his wife, from the first time he saw her, when she was senorita Adrianna Venditti, of Valencia, Venezuela, was something special in looks and quality of character.

NEW YORK -- Outfielder Joe Orsulak returned to a somber New York Mets clubhouse yesterday after spending the past five days at home with his wife, Adrianna, who has a malignant brain tumor.Adrianna Orsulak, 29, will undergo further tests before doctors determine her course of treatment."If she needed me home I'd be there," Orsulak told a small group of reporters before the game. "All I can do is go to work and take care of business. It's a tough time. We just have to deal with it."We have a positive attitude.

BOSTON -- Left fielder Joe Orsulak threw out Boston Red Sox rookie Phil Plantier at the plate in the first inning to set a Baltimore Orioles record for outfield assists in a season.Plantier was trying to score from first base on a double by Mo Vaughn, but Orsulak made a long one-hop throw from the left field corner for his 18th assist of the year.That assist dropped Chuck Diering out of the club record book 37 years after he piled up 17 assists in the Orioles' inaugural season of 1954."I'm really proud of that," Orsulak said.

Outfielder Joe Orsulak and relief pitcher Mike Flanagan filed for free agency yesterday, but both players figure to be in limbo until after the Nov. 17 expansion draft.A very large free-agent field is beginning to take shape. The 33 players who filed yesterday brought the total to 59, including such stars as Mark McGwire, Ruben Sierra and Barry Bonds.Orsulak has made it clear that he would like to remain with the Orioles, but he and agent Ron Shapiro are preparing for a long and uncertain winter.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The first time New York Mets manager Dallas Green said it, people were taken somewhat aback. When asked in January who might play first base for the Mets and who might bat leadoff, one of the first answers to both questions was Joe Orsulak.Joe Orsulak?Orsulak used to lead off, back in Pittsburgh in the mid-'80s, when he started his major-league career before going to Baltimore for five seasons. And he has played first base -- exactly four times, that is.But in his first season with the Mets, Orsulak served mainly as a platoon outfielder, a starter against right-handed pitchers.

Let's forget about Ruben Sierra, OK? On the Good Ship Eli, the idea is to sell, not buy. Sure, the Orioles want Sierra -- if he'd sign one of their precious Triple-A contracts. "Aw, shucks," The Big E would say before unloading the team for some ungodly sum. "What the heck."The Chito Martinez-Luis Mercedes experiment in right field is rooted in the club's state of paralysis, but it's not as outrageous a proposition as many fans believe. Martinez could provide desperately needed left-handed power, and Mercedes was good enough to be protected in the expansion draft.