Beyond the Game: Brewers catcher Marteen Maldonado

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- If it is every kid's dream to be a professional baseball player, then every kid wants his parents to see him make it to the top. Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado worked long and hard to make his dream come true.

When Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy went down with injuries for a period of time over the past two seasons, Maldonado was called up. He stepped up and proved himself a valuable backup and spot starter. Though he wasn't in the lineup for the Brewers Opening Day win against the Colorado Rockies, it was Maldonado's first Opening Day in the Major Leagues.

To say that Jeanette Valdes is a baseball mom is an understatement. It is one thing to go to your youngster's games, but it's quite another to own the team!

It took 26-year-old Maldonado eight long years to catch on as a Big Leaguer. His mother will never forget the day her son was called up while the Brewers were making their run to the National League Championship in 2011.

Janelise Marquez is the other important lady in Maldonado's life. She is his wife, and nothing made the kindergarten teacher in Puerto Rico happier than watching her man and her mother-in-law share in his first Opening Day experience.

Martin Maldonado is a native of Puerto Rico, having been born in Naguabo in 1986. He was drafted back in 2004 out of high school by the Anaheim Angels in the 27th round of the First-Year Player Draft. The Brewers acquired Maldonado as a free agent in January of 2007 after the Angels released him.

He joined the Brewers farm system and began the 2007 season with the Class-A West Virginia Power. He played for two affiliates in 2008, three of them in 2009, three again in 2010, two in 2011 and just one (Class-AAA Nashville) in 2012 before getting recalled.