2004 Topps Total, Carl Loadenthal

#838 Carl Loadenthal

Unlike the last four "first year" cards that I posted on here, Carl never made it to the Major Leagues. He was picked up by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent in 2003 after playing college ball at Rider University. He moved steadily up the ranks and by the end of 2006, he had reached AA. He stayed in AA for all of '07 and he started out '08 there as well before getting promoted to AAA. At the AAA level, Carl hit .278 in 240 at-bats. That was not good enough for the Braves and they released him after the season. The Mets gave him a shot in '09, but he hit just .239 in 59 games at AA before he got released.

After that, it was on to the Atlantic League and that is where this card got signed, courtesy of Paul, of Paul's Random Stuff. Carl played for Newark and York that season and I have no idea who he was playing for when Paul got the card signed. Carl hit .200 with York and .317 with Newark, but it wasn't enough to keep him in the Atlantic League. In 2010, he played for the Sussex Skyhawks of the CanAm League and he hit .315 there. It will be interesting to see where he plays in 2011.

Personally, I think Carl should take Warner Madrigal's route and become a pitcher. He made his pitching debut in college in 2001 and in two game and one inning of work, he allowed nine hits and seven earned runs. He next pitched in 2004 in the Appalachian League and he gave up six hits and five earned runs in two innings of work. He made his next mound appearance in 2006 in the Carolina League and he pitched his first scoreless inning. Sure, he gave up two hits and two walks, but none of them scored. Now, if that isn't improvement, than I don't know what is.

Happy New Year!