Article spotlights two Justins with baseball – and Henrico – connections

Two Justins with Henrico connections – one a future Hall of Fame pitcher and another whose possible path to baseball stardom was cut short by injury – were featured in an article and videos on MLB.com this week.

The piece spotlights the relationship between Justin Verlander, a Goochland native who played at Tuckahoe Little League as a youngster and later at Old Dominion University before being drafted by No. 2 in the 2004 Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers; and Justin Orenduff, a Chesapeake native who eventually starred at VCU before being drafted in the first round the same year by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The two Justins were teammates on the 2003 Team USA Collegiate National Team that advanced to the Gold Medal game of the 2003 Pan American Games and the following year faced each other in college in an epic showdown that saw Verlander outduel Orenduff in a 3-0 ODU win against VCU. In the years since their on-field rivalry, they have became good friends and last week reunited in Washington, D.C. to discuss that showdown 20 years later, their careers and their friendship.

Since being drafted, Verlander has cemented himself as an all-time great in MLB history, winning the 2006 American League Rookie of the Year Award, the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player Award, three American League Cy Young Awards as the best pitcher in the league, and two World Series titles as a member of the Houston Astros. He has a career record of 258-141 and ranks 12th in MLB history with 3,346 career strikeouts.

Orenduff’s promising pitching career was cut short by a shoulder injury he suffered in 2006 while pitching for Double-A Jacksonville, which limited his effectiveness during the remaining few seasons of his minor league career. Orenduff turned his experience into a business, founding DVS Baseball (Delivery Value System), about a decade ago to teach proper pitching mechanics that would reduce injury risk. The company works with players at all levels.

Orenduff also served as the director of baseball operations for the four-team United Shore Professional Baseball League in suburban Detroit before he and his family moved to Glen Allen last year. He now serves as a volunteer and youth coach for the Glen Allen Youth Athletic Association.

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