The York Revolution announced Monday that former Revs outfielder Val Majewski has earned a spring training invite with the Texas Rangers.

After batting .317 with 11 home runs and earning an All-Star nod with the Revs last season, Majewski signed with the Rangers on July 25 and batted a team-leading .333 to go along with five homers in 35 games at Triple-A Round Rock.

After Round Rock had been eliminated from the Pacific Coast League playoffs, Revs manager Andy Etchebarren called Majewski to see if he would be interested in returing to York for the postseason. At the time, Majewski had said he wasn’t sure if would be able to make the move.

“I didn’t know what the procedure was because the Rangers still had my contract. I said I would do it if the Rangers are OK with it,” Majewski had said in September.

The Rangers ended up granting the release to Majewski, who had said it wouldn’t hurt his chances of a spring training tryout with the club in 2012.

“I would have become a free agent 14 or 15 days after the World Series (ended) if I hadn’t already signed back with Texas. Instead I become a free agent early, which allows me to sign here,” he had said.

Although his postseason numbers weren’t as impressive as the regular season (.188 average with a homer and 14 RBIs in nine playoff games), Majewski still helped York win a second consecutive Atlantic League championship.

Majewski, 30, appeared in the majors for nine games in 2004 with the Baltimore Orioles, going 2-for-3 (.154) with an RBI. The Rutgers product has played in affiliated ball in each of his nine professional seasons.

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Heading into its post-season showdown with the Lancaster Barnstormers, the York Revolution unveiled a mighty weapon on Wednesday.

The Revs announced that outfielder Val Majewski rejoined the club on Wednesday. Majewski had been picked up by the Texas Rangers on July 25 and assigned to Class AAA Round Rock.

He went on to finish with a team-leading .333 batting average with Round Rock to go along with five home runs and 33 RBIs in 35 games.

Round Rock’s season wrapped up on Sept. 10, and Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren has been in discussions since that point to bring Majewski back to York.

“We were on a trip home, my wife and I, and Etch gave me a call and asked me if I was interested in playing here,” Majewski said. “I didn’t know what the procedure was because the Rangers still had my contract. I said I would do it if the Rangers are OK with it.”

The Rangers ended up giving Majewski his release. But Majewski, 30, said it shouldn’t hurt his chances of a spring training tryout with the club next year.

“I would have become a free agent 14 or 15 days after the World Series ends if I hadn’t already signed back with Texas. Instead I become a free agent early, which allows me to sign here,” he said.

According to Revs’ director of baseball operations Michael Kirk, players signed by an affiliated club during the season are allowed to later rejoin their Atlantic League team. The pickup will provide a major boost to a York lineup that already looked solid.

At the time of Majewski’s departure with the Revs in July, he was leading the team with 48 RBIs and tied for the team lead with 63 runs scored, to go along with a .317 batting average. His 11 home runs ranked second on the team. He played in 71 out of a possible 73 games.

Now back with York, Majewski will get the opportunity to win his first championship in his eight-year pro career – he was a freshman on the Rutgers’ baseball team when the Scarlet Knights won the Big East Conference in 2000.

“It’s only been six or seven weeks since I’ve been gone. Some of the faces are still the same, some are new. But I’ve introduced myself and I’m ready to go,” Majewski said.

To make room for Majewski on the roster, the Revs placed left-handed reliever Ronnie Morales on the inactive list.

Morales is 2-2 with a 3.81 ERA in a league record 70 appearances this season. He has held opponents scoreless in his last five appearances. The Revs bullpen should be OK, though. It’s likely Kris Regas will fill the role of a left-handed reliever. Regas is scoreless through four appearances thus far since joining York earlier in the month.

Plus, York also saw the return of former starter Matt DeSalvo last week when he picked up the save in a 2-1 win over Southern Maryland despite allowing a run on two hits. It marked his first appearance in a month since recovering from a tear to his right pectoral muscle. The right-hander is 6-3 with a 3.89 ERA 18 starts and five relief appearances this season for York. So, if healthy, he could be a big arm for the Revs’ bullpen.

York will host Lancaster on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the best-of-5 Atlantic League Freedom Division Championship Series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

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Now in his eighth season as a pro baseball player, Val Majewski has learned it’s about more than just putting up good numbers when it comes to finding a job with an affiliated club

Even as he was tearing up the Atlantic League with the York Revolution (.317, 11 homers, 48 RBIs, 71 games), the 30-year-old Majewski continued to keep in close contact with those involved in the minor leagues.

He went about it much like a person does in search of employment. He placed phone calls and he sent emails.

“Throughout the season I let teams know if there’s a need, I’m available. It doesn’t always work out. But it doesn’t hurt that they’re on top of it. The worst that they can say is ‘No, sorry.’ But at least I tried,” Majewski said during an interview by phone last week.

One of those teams was the Texas Rangers. And Majewski’s persistence in keeping in touch with the club eventually paid off in late July, when the Rangers’ Class AAA Round Rock
affiliate was in need of an everyday position player because Chris Davis had been called up to the big leagues.

The Rangers picked up Majewski and sent him to Round Rock, where the outfielder-first baseman was plugged into the lineup immediately.

Majewski picked up where he left off with York. Starting out as Round Rock’s No. 8-hitter in his first week with the club, Majewski batted .440 with four doubles, two homers, 10 RBIs and five runs scored.

Majewski’s impressive numbers have moved him up in the lineup. He has batted cleanup in the majority of Round Rock’s games over the past week.

Though he has cooled off a bit, Majewski is batting a team-leading .369 with two homers
and 17 RBIs in 17 games through Sunday. He is making a good case to get called back up the majors for the first time since 2004, when he had two hits and an RBI in nine games with the Baltimore Orioles.

However, Majewski is in a tough spot when it comes to his chances of that hap´
pening. At this point in the season, major league teams that are playoff-bound, such as the Texas Rangers, are more reluctant to call up a prospect just to check out the talent
level of a player.

When the Rangers picked up Majewski in late July, Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren liked Majewski’s chances of getting called up the majors.

“You never know, one injury to an outfielder and he’s the best guy they got, he might get a chance to go to the big leagues,” Etchebarren had said.

Though no one wants a player to get injured, at least the Rangers know they have a hot bat waiting to help if needed.

 

Here’s an update on former Revs’ players who were signed this season by an affiliated club. All numbers are through Saturday:

Chris Cody, RHP: Cody is 1-0 with 4.09 ERA in two starts at Class AA Mississippi (Braves).
John VanBenschoten, RHP: VanBenschoten is 1-4 with a 7.52 ERA in five starts at Class AAA Tucson (Padres).

Scott Rice, LHP: Rice is 3-3 with 2.08 ERA in 25 relief appearances at Class AA Chattanooga (Dodgers).

Mike DeMark, RHP: DeMark is 0-2 with a 2.05 ERA in 24 relief appearances at Class AA Mobile (Diamondbacks).

Jason Botts, 1B/DH/OF: Botts is batting .268 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 59 games at Class AAA Buffalo (Mets).

Chad Thall, LHP: Thall retired in late May after struggling at Class AA Montgomery (Rays), going 1-2 with a  5.74 ERA in seven relief appearances.

Andy Gonzalez, SS: Gonzalez’s .306 batting average in 44 games at Class AA Huntsville (Brewers) earned him a callup to Class AAA Nashville, where he is batting .250 through 15 games.

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Seemingly after every home game at Sovereign Bank Stadium, the toddler son of York Revolution outfielder Val Majewski would run into the clubhouse screaming “Etch!”

He would dart straight for the office of Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren, where the skipper would treat the youngster with a ring-pop.

“I’m gonna miss that little guy,” Etchebarren said Monday night.

Etchebarren is also going to miss the elder Majewski, who signed a contract with the Texas Rangers’ organization on Monday afternoon.

Majewski leaves York leading the team with 48 RBIs and tied for the team lead with 63 runs scored, to go along with a .317 batting average. His 11 home runs rank second on the team. He played in 71 out of a possible 73 games.

The Rangers assigned Majewski to Class AAA Round Rock.

“I’m happy for (Majewski) because he’s going to Triple-A to Round Rock,” Etchebarren said. “You never know, one injury to an outfielder and he’s the best guy they got, he might get a chance to go to the big leagues. I’m happy for him.”

This marks the fourth consecutive season Majewski has returned to a Major League organization from the Atlantic League.

In 2008, the outfielder/first baseman went from the Newark Bears to the Houston Astros and in 2009 from the Camden Riversharks to the Los Angeles Angels. After coming to York to begin last season, Majewski jumped to the Oakland Athletics’ system, where he finished the year, before accepting the deal with Texas on Monday afternoon.

Majewski’s production in the first half of this season got him selected to the Atlantic League All-Star Game.

Majewski, 30, is in his ninth professional season after being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the third round (76th overall) of the 2002 draft. He reached the Major Leagues with Baltimore in 2004.

Majewski is the fifth Revolution player to have his contract purchased by an MLB organization during this season and the seventh since the beginning of 2011 spring training.

With Majewski’s departure, York has just three outfielders on the roster: Scott Grimes, James Shanks and Chris Walker. Etchebarren said Monday night he has already signed an outfielder and expects him to be in Bridgeport, where York plays next after finishing off a three-game series at Lancaster on Tuesday.

As for remaining ring-pops stored away in his desk, Etchebarren has plans for those, too.

“I’m meeting with Majewski (on Tuesday) and I’m gonna give them all to (Majewski’s son),” Etchebarren said.

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Corey Thurman has been on some big stages in his baseball career.

But the butterflies were still fluttering inside the right-hander in the Atlantic League All-Star Game at Sovereign Bank Stadium on Wednesday night.

The fans greeted the York Revolution starting pitcher with cheers when he took the mound to start for the Freedom Division team. But things didn’t start off as well as Thurman would’ve liked. The former major leaguer fired three straight balls to begin the game.

“It was just something I had to figure out in my head. I just said ‘Forget it, just go with it. Quit letting the nerves get to you,’” Thurman said after the game.

Thurman fired his next pitch over the plate for a strike, and once he got that, he didn’t look back, tossing scoreless first and second innings for the Freedom Division team, striking out one and giving up just one hit.

“Once I got the strike I was like ‘OK, now I’m ready, let’s go to work,’” Thurman said.

Thurman set the pace for the rest of the Freedom Division pitchers, as he and six other pitchers combined to shut out the Liberty Division squad, 7-0.

The game seemed like it would be a pitching duel through the first three innings until York’s Val Majewski smacked a solo homer to right field in the bottom of the fourth off Liberty Division pitcher Nic Green (Southern Maryland).

The homer marked the first run of the game and it brought Sovereign Bank Stadium’s sold-out record crowd of 8,053 fans to their feet to cheer for their hometown star.

The attendance is the second-largest in Atlantic League All-Star Game history, finishing just behind Somerset, which set the mark in 2008 with 8,290 fans.

Majewski finished 2-for-4 on the night, with two runs and an RBI. He likely would’ve taken home the game’s Most Valuable Player award had it not been for his Freedom Division teammate, Michael Hernandez (Somerset).

Hernandez had a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the fifth and added an RBI triple in the seventh for his second hit of the night, which helped him earn the MVP award.

For some reason, Hernandez seems to have no problem in York. In his two seasons in the Atlantic League, Hernandez is batting .429 with five homers and 15 RBIs in 13 games at Sovereign Bank Stadium.

“I couldn’t tell you why,” Hernandez said. “I know I feel comfortable in the box here. I see the ball pretty good. It’s a real nice place.”

Revs’ manager Andy Etchebarren, who managed the Freedom Division team, said he wasn’t surprised by Hernandez’s performance.

“He really hits well here. I told him that I tried to trade for him but they wouldn’t let me bring him here,” Etchebarren said.

Revs’ catcher Octavio Martinez, outfielder James Shanks and infielders Eric Eymann and Vince Harrison started the game alongside Majewski.

Shanks finished 1-for-3 while Harrison, Eymann and Martinez went a collective 0-for-6.

Revolution starting pitcher Matt DeSalvo, who was selected to the game, did not see action. Etchebarren said he wanted to rest DeSalvo because his throwing arm is a bit sore, which is understandable considering the right-hander has tossed a league-leading 962/3 innings.

Though Majewski didn’t take home the MVP award, it still proved to be a good night for the Revs’ outfielder. Competing in the Atlantic League All-Star Home Run Derby before the game, Majewski was part of the winning derby team despite only hitting one homer to right field.

“I’ve been in all-star games before. I’ve been in (derby contests) before. I wanted to put on a good show. Unfortunately, the home run derby, I disappointed myself and the fans,” Majewski said. “But as far as the game, we put on a good show and having the home team win was awesome.”

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The team of Val Majewski, Alex Tucci and Jason Seitz won the Atlantic League All-Star Home Run Derby, which was held before Wednesday’s game.

Majewski had one home run to right field, York Catholic High School graduate Alex Tucci had two homers to right field and Seitz, of Susquehanna League’s Hallam team, had two homers over the left-field wall.

Former Revs’ player Matt Esquivel won the individual home run derby with four homers.

As a result of Majewski’s team winning the team derby competition, the York Revolution will donate $500 to Seitz’s preferred charity (Crispus Attucks) and give Tucci a college savings bond.

“To get two is pretty cool, man,” Seitz said afterwards. “(Windsor’s) Rick (Thompson) had three (homers) and he’s one of our big home run hitters. It was cool to be the only righty to get them out over the wall.”

Grimes, Kuhn honored: Fans gave a standing ovation to York City resident Voni Grimes when he was honored before the game for his contributions to the York community.

Fans also gave a standing ovation to former Dover High School football standout and current National Football League fullback John Kuhn when he threw out the game’s ceremonial first pitch.

Kuhn, who won Super Bowl XLV with the Green Bay Packers last season, said he appreciated the support when he spoke with the media about his appearance during the game.

“This is my first real big public appearance this offseason,” he said. “After winning the Super Bowl you’re gonna be pretty popular. I’m just happy to get all the support that I have. The fans here in York are really spectacular and I’m appreciative of it.”

Big money raised: An auction of the game jerseys, which were sponsored by Orthopaedic Spine Specialists, raised $13,000, which was donated to the United Way of York County.

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