Maury Ornest

Early life
Born in 1960 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Maury Ornest is the son of first-generation Canadian Jews of Eastern European descent. His father, Harry Ornest, was a sports franchise owner and entrepreneur.

Maury started playing baseball at age two and joined the Beverly Hills Little League at nine.

As of 1977, he was the youngest draft pick ever in professional baseball. Chosen by the Oakland A's but knowing he needed more seasoning, Maury entered college as a journalism student and honed his skills in the prestigious baseball program at Central Arizona College. In the winter professional baseball draft of 1978, Maury and eight teammates were selected by various Major League organizations, but Maury didn't feel ready.

He was awarded a full baseball scholarship to NCAA Division I UC Santa Barbara, where he was selected all league (Southern California Baseball Association) in his two seasons there. His batting averages were .360 and .365 while he hit 11 home runs in his junior year, setting a school record.

Career

Maury played in every game during the top university season. In June 1980, the Milwaukee Brewers chose Maury in the third round of the Major League Baseball Summer Draft. He signed his first professional contract and was given a substantial bonus. Maury played his first season in Montana, where he batted .322, finishing in the Pioneer League's top ten.

Maury’s career ended in 1983, after he sustained severe injuries while playing in the Arizona Fall League for professional major and minor league players. He batted over .300 in each of two Arizona Fall League schedules.

Maury then worked for the St. Louis Blues NHL team in sales and management under his father's ownership. Harry Ornest, Maury’s father, saved the Blues from bankruptcy in 1983, while creating a major success of an otherwise lost franchise.

Current Activities

In 1991, Maury began painting abstract images on canvas, with oil. Several of his paintings sold to individuals and dealers. His works are among the private collections of Monty Hall, Judea Pearl and many others. Maury's paintings are mostly baseball related and of oil, acrylic and a mixture of the two mediums, mostly on canvas.

He studied painting, drawing and art history at Otis Art College, "continues to travel the world experiencing art and culture and translating his imagination and dreams into unique visual art."

In 2007, Maury Ornest was commissioned to create an enormous triptych for Nevada Shakespeare Company's touring production of Romeo and Juliet, that was ultimately seen by 300,000 people in Nevada, Utah and California. The piece is titled Montagues Versus Capulets.

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