PAWTUCKET — PawSox infielder Jeff Natale was activated from the disabled list Wednesday, leaving his "other" career behind.

For now.

The 26-year-old was back in the Pawtucket lineup after a stint on DL with an oblique strain. During his hiatus, Natale filled in as color commentator for two games on the team's broadcast when PawSox play-by-play man Dan Hoard was out with a bout of laryngitis. Knowing his personality, Pawtucket's other broadcaster, Steve Hyder, asked Natale if he wanted to help out.

"It was a great experience," he said. "One day Dan Hoard was sick, so I answered the bell. It was a good time. It was just two guys talking about baseball. It was relaxing and a different way to watch the game. It was a fun experience."

A self-proclaimed wise-guy and someone who can get under teammates' skin, Natale was an instant natural on the air. The Connecticut native graduated from Trinity College with a political science degree, but his strong communication skills helped during his tenure in the booth. He was emotional and admitted he was quite surprised by his energy while doing color commentating.

"I was pretty impressed with the way he hit the ground running," said Hyder, a seasoned broadcaster of 20 years. "From the very first inning he was offering insight and offering strategy. He took it serious, which was kind of nice. He did a great job."

After Hyder learned his partner was out with a broadcaster's worst nightmare, he asked PawSox manager Ron Johnson if it would be OK if Natale helped out in the booth. Both Johnson and PawSox team president Mike Tamburro gave Natale the go-ahead.

"He was excited about it. It was as if he had been doing it for awhile. He made it a lot of fun," said Hyder. "He's a good guy to be around and he's a leader. He didn't want to be a homer and be overly critical, but I thought he did a nice job critiquing the way certain guys approached at-bats. With no experience at all, it's something if he's interested, and he works at it, he would be pretty good."

A Hamden, Conn., native, Natale is in his fifth professional season after he was selected by the Red Sox as their 32nd round pick (978th overall) in the 2005 draft. Natale was limited to 48 games in 2008 due to a fractured forearm he suffered after being hit by a pitch. Unlike other former players, managers and general managers who take jobs in the media after their careers are over, Natale is still playing. And, he didn't shy away from being critical of his teammates.

"That was the toughest thing about it. We had just been talking about (broadcaster) Dennis Eckersley is kind of negative about a lot of the Boston Red Sox guys, and you never want to be negative about the team, but there are certain instances you need to tell what's going on with the play. Sometimes it's negative and you have to take the good with the bad. I tried to be positive about all my teammates, and thank God they were playing and couldn't listen. I didn't get too much ribbing about it."

Because Natale has an outgoing personality, Hyder and Hoard decided to ask him to be part of their pregame show in a segment called "At Bat with Nat." A few years ago the PawSox' broadcast team had a similar segment with former Pawtucket utility man Bobby Scales called "Weighing in With Scales" and it worked out well, so Natale would be a perfect fit this time around.

Natale asks his teammates "stupid questions" once a week in a pregame interview and then it is aired during a game.

Natale is proud of his New England roots. Now that he's been a part of the Red Sox family for five years, he is always asked who he grew up rooting for — the Red Sox or Yankees.

"That's a good question. I get that one every interview I do. I wasn't really either, I was on the fence," he said. "My grandfather was a big Yankee fan growing up, so I watched a lot of games with him and I grew up loving Derek Jeter. But I wasn't necessarily a Yankees fan and once I got to college all my friends were Red Sox fans, so I took a liking to them in college. Obviously getting drafted by them made me a fan. They pay the bills, so I have to be."

While he hopes baseball will continue to pay those bills for a long time, he now knows what he wants to do once his playing days are over. He wouldn't mind following in the footsteps of other New Englanders turned major leaguers turned broadcasters such as Jerry Remy and Lou Merloni.

"It would be amazing. If I got the opportunity to, I would jump at it in a second after my playing career is done," he said. "Just the little taste I got, it's been awesome. It would be a thrill for me, but it's not something I had thought about. Hopefully I'll be able to play for a lot longer and not have to worry about."

jmcdonal@projo.com