RRNNGG! ... RRNNGG! ...

It's the call.

It's what every minor league baseball player desires. It's even what minor leaguers, um ... call it.

They've either gotten the call already, and are in the big leagues, or they're waiting on the call.

Sometimes, it's even used in the same sentence, the way the manager of the Atlanta Braves' Double-A franchise in Mississippi, Phillip Wellman, did recently.

“You just never knew when you're going to get the call,” Wellman said. “You play your butt off and hope the stars and the moon all line up at the right time. All you can do is put yourself into a position to get the call.”

Carl Loadenthal is waiting for his call at this very moment.

He has certainly played his hindquarters off, so much so that he was named to the Southern League All-Star team and will be the starting center fielder, batting leadoff, on the South Division squad when it meets the North Division on Monday. The game will be played at the Mississippi Braves' home park in Pearl.

“It was one of the goals I set,” said Loadenthal, a graduate of William Tennent and Rider University. “Knowing that the all-star game was going to be here I wanted to play in front of the home crowd, just be a little extra (special). It's going to be a couple days of fun and something I'm looking forward to.”

Loadenthal, the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League MVP with the Quakertown Blazers in 2002, earned an all-star berth thanks to his strong first half. He is hitting .296 with 28 stolen bases in 40 attempts. His on base percentage is .381. Earlier in the year, he had a club-record 20-game hitting streak, which was followed by hitting streaks of 13 and 11 games.

The previous owner of the longest hitting streak in Mississippi Braves history was Scott Thorman. Thorman, who had a 19-gamer during his days in Pearl, got the call in the summer of '06 and is now a platoon first baseman with the big-league club.

The call could come at any minute for anyone who, like Loadenthal, has proven himself at every minor-league outpost, which is something Loadenthal has done since signing with the Braves after a free-agent tryout camp in Baltimore four years ago.

He was an all-star with the Braves' rookie league team in Orlando, then in the Appalachian League with the low-level Class A Danville, Va., Braves. Neither of those leagues has an all-star game, though. Last year, Loadenthal won the batting title in the Carolina League while playing for the high-level Class A Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

The Braves have a tendency to stock their double-A affiliate in Mississippi with top-level prospects. It was from here that starting outfielder Jeff Francoeur and starting catcher Brian McCann got their calls, as did rookie catcher/first baseman Jarrod Saltalamacchia, whose call just came in May.

“You find out at the last second,” said Loadenthal. “They call the manager, the manager calls you into the office and the next thing you know you're on a flight somewhere. It comes up real, real quick.”

Critics will point to Loadenthal's age — he will turn 26 in December — and his relatively low slugging percentage of .334 as obstacles that will keep the call from coming.

“I think he knows he's one of those guys that needs to come out and have a good year every year and just push his way up the ladder,” said Wellman. “He's in Double-A now. If you can hit or pitch at this level then you have a pretty good chance of playing at the next level. There's always a few things to tighten up, polish up, but if you can hit here, you can do it at the next level.

“He needs to improve his arm strength a little bit and he needs to bunt more, but he's been very consistent with the bat. He needs to maintain that.”

Wellman went on to say that his center fielder's slugging percentage “is not an issue for us. That's not the type of hitter he is. It would be nice if he could shoot a few more doubles out there, but he's a guy you can hit at the top of order or the bottom and he can get on and use his speed.”

Speed, as any scout will tell you, is the one tool that plays every day, and Loadenthal's 28 steals are most definitely eye-popping.

“This year I made a point to, early in the season, get my stolen bases and try to work on a huge number,” he said. “Usually my goal is 30. Right now, I'm up to 30, so it would be nice to get 50, some kind of number that stands out, something a little different than everybody else.”

Anything it takes to hear that sound of music: RRNNGG! ... RRNNGG!