Ladendorf goes from Maine West to the major leagues
Tyler Ladendorf remembers being a young kid from Des Plaines traveling to the South Side to watch the Chicago White Sox play baseball.
On Monday night, he was back at U.S. Cellular Field as a major-league player.
The 27-year-old Ladendorf was added to the Oakland A's expanded roster on Sept. 1. Needless to say, the 2006 Maine West High School graduate was thrilled to be back home.
"Obviously, where I come from there are just not a lot of major-league baseball players," said Ladendorf, who was not in Oakland's starting lineup Monday. "That's just the reality of it. To get where I'm at, I understand that there were so many sacrifices made by more than just me. That's why coming home to a place like this and being able to share it with everybody, it's almost more for them. It's like, 'Hey, we all made it.'"
After taking batting practice at the Cell, Ladendorf visited with family and friends in the stands and posed for multiple pictures.
"I think I have 20, 25 family members here and 50 to 100 friends," Ladendorf said. "To be honest, I just haven't been able to keep track. The messages have just kept coming in. The support has been absolutely unbelievable."
Ladendorf actually opened the season on the Athletics' 25-man roster and he played 4 games before being optioned to Class AAA Nashville. Less than a week later, he fractured his left ankle and was sidelined for almost four months.
"Just bad luck," Ladendorf said. "I hit a soft spot on the new field in Nashville. It stunk but the rehab process was great and there were no setbacks."
After missing so much time, Ladendorf could have been bypassed by the A's in September, but they obviously remembered he hit .318 in spring training while ranking second on the team with 13 RBI.
"Going into spring training, I wanted to show them what I can do," Ladendorf said. "I feel like I did that, so now it's just a matter of sticking to it. I don't feel like I need to go out and prove anything more. Spring training was the time, so now it's just a matter of coming in and accepting my role, doing a multitude of things at the drop of a hat.
"I can go out and play second base, center field, shortstop, wherever they need me. I take a lot of pride in being competitive. No matter what it is, I'm trying to win and at this level that's all that matters."
Ladendorf admittedly made a mistake last year when he tested positive for drug abuse while playing for Class AAA Sacramento. He served a 50-game suspension.
"Just being stupid, that's all it was," Ladendorf said. "It's as embarrassing as it gets, not only for me but for my family. It's their last name, too. So many people worked so hard for me to get to where I'm at, to have the opportunity I have, and you let them down when you do stuff like that. I learned from it and there's no doubt I'm a better person."