The scouts had a message for him, the catcher: not to worry about his bat, he told The San Bernardino County Sun that April.
"I don't feel any pressure because they tell me don't worry," he told The Sun. "I just play baseball. I'm a team player. If I could go through the season and we won every game without me getting a hit, I'd rather do that. No pressure at all. Most of them know I can hit."
Loeb caught well enough - and hit well enough - to turn pro that year. His pro career went on to last seven seasons. He never played well enough to make AA.
Loeb's career began that year in 1989, taken by the Blue Jays in the sixth round of the draft out of San Bernardino Valley College.
Loeb finished that year with San Bernardino as the team's MVP. He started with the Blue Jays at rookie Medicine Hat.
He got into 21 games for the rookie Blue Jays, hitting .290 over 62 at bats. He returned to Medicine Hat for 1990 for another 29 games. He hit .302.
Loeb moved to single-A Myrtle Beach for 1991 and got into a career high 97 games. He hit .213 with 10 home runs.
He played 1992 with high-A Dunedin, but briefly. He got into 4 games. He then played that fall in Australia.
Loeb returned to Dunedin over each of the next three seasons. He didn't hit higher than .238. His career ended in 1995. He got into 64 games, with a .223 average, closing out his career.
- San Bernardino County Sun, April 1, 1989: Loeb eager to catch some baseball at any time of year
Players/Coaches Featured: 2,526
Made the Majors:1,014-40.1%
Never Made Majors:1,512-59.9%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors: 421
10+ Seasons in the Minors:259
Is he related to Lisa Loeb? (Someone had to ask it)
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