If Kyle Gaedele ever makes it to the major leagues, he won't be the first in his family to get there. But he'll be the tallest.

A recent signee of the Madison Mallards who will play for the Northwoods League team at Warner Park next summer, Gaedele is the great-nephew of Eddie Gaedel, the principal character in what is regarded as the greatest 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. Not surprisingly, pitcher Bob Cain of the Detroit Tigers walked Gaedel on four consecutive balls.

The publicity stunt was orchestrated by Bill Veeck, who during his time as owner of the Browns once had fans hold up placards to advise the manager what move to make next. Later, with the White Sox, he heralded the exploding scoreboard and the shower in the bleachers at old Comiskey Park.

Kyle has a slightly bigger frame than his great uncle - he's a 6-foot-4, 220-pound outfielder who is a sophomore at Valparaiso University - and uses the family's traditional spelling of the name, which Eddie changed for entertainment purposes, as he believed it would have a better chance of being pronounced correctly.

Kyle never had a chance to meet Eddie, who died in 1961, but he's grateful to be associated with such a memorable event.

"I'm honored," said Gaedele, whose great-uncle's game-used bat hangs above his family's fireplace. "My dad has memories playing just a little bit of baseball with him. But it's cool to have some background with someone who played in the major leagues."

Gaedele's connection certainly has drawn more attention than the typical Mallards signing; the MLB Network recently interviewed Kyle and members of his family for a piece.

But Mallards general manager Vern Stenman knows that Gaedele wouldn't have been able to get that exposure without his exceptional ability.

"He's a guy that you look at as a potential five-tool player," Stenman said. "He's got that size and that strength but he also can run really well. He played every game last summer so that's an exciting thing for him to have that kind of 'gamer' mentality - the guy that wants to be out there and in the lineup everyday and contribute."

Gaedele was an honorable mention All-State selection as a senior at Rolling Meadows High School in Arlington Heights, Ill. He was a 32nd-round draft pick by the Tampa Rays in 2008, but declined their offer so he could start his collegiate career at Valparaiso.

In his freshman season, Gaedele hit three homers and 18 RBIs. 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.

Gaedele knows his upcoming season with the Mallards will definitely present some challenges, but he's excited about this new opportunity.

"I've heard great things," Gaedele said. "A couple of my teammates played in the Northwoods (League) the past three years and they just said Madison's the most fun place to play - great crowd, great view, great atmosphere. I'm expecting really good competition. It's not going to be easy but I'm also expecting it to be really fun."

On the trail of champions

The Mallards also have signed two top prospects from LSU, the reigning NCAA baseball champions.

Catcher Wes Luquette and outfielder Trey Watkins were both freshmen last year for the Tigers, but neither saw action.

Javier Sanchez, a former Mallards player and now an assistant coach at LSU, urged both Luquette and Watkins to consider playing summer ball in Madison. Likewise, former Mallards player Chris Malzuski recruited Gaedele out of high school when he coached at Valparaiso.

Stenman said these connections serve as extremely valuable resources for the Mallards.

"(They) have an understanding of how much of a privilege it is to play summer baseball in Madison," Stenman said. "If you already have that understanding coming in, it makes that sales job a lot easier for these kids to get excited about coming in and taking advantage of the opportunity. So we work pretty hard to maintain those relationships with people like that and continue to build new ones over time."

Over the past few years, the Mallards have acquired several players with College World Series experience, from schools like Fresno State and Virginia.

There is a downside to this practice, in that the players report to Madison until after their college teams have been eliminated from the postseason, and at worst that translates to missing a few weeks.

But Stenman says that acquiring players with this special experience often invigorates the team.

"For the players that are already here, it gives them a connection to the big stage in college baseball," Stenman said. "It's also exciting for those players coming in from other places because not every summer college town in the country draws 6,000 fans a night.

"I think when you come into Madison, the environment that we create here allows those guys to keep that edge and perform well for us."

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