In his freshman season Gaedele hit three home runs and drove in 18 runs. He spent last summer in Hannibal, Mo., in the Prospect League where he stole 30 bases and hit a league-leading five homers. He was recently ranked No. 100 on the list of top collegiate baseball players by The College Baseball Blog (www.thecollegebaseballblog.com). Gaedele is the great-nephew of Eddie Gaedel, the principal character in perhaps the most famous baseball stunt of all-time. On Aug. 19, 1951, Eddie—who stood just 3 feet, 7 inches—became the shortest player to bat in a major league game, taking a plate appearance for the St. Louis Browns while wearing the jersey number 1/8. Opposing pitcher Bob Cain of the Detroit Tigers walked Gaedel on four pitches. For those scoring at home, Eddie changed the spelling of his last name for entertainment purposes in order to have it pronounced correctly. “I’m excited that Kyle wasn’t overmatched by using a wood bat last summer in the Prospect League, which shows that he has exceptional hand strength and can really square-up the baseball,” said Thieleke. “He was drafted by the Rays on just his tools and raw ability so it’ll be fun to work with Kyle in helping make him an even better prospect once the 2011 MLB Draft rolls around.”