Green Has Blue Jays Singing His Praises : Baseball: Club officials think so much of former Tustin High standout they started him halfway up their minor league system.

They say the step from big man on the high school diamond to minor player in professional baseball can be an intimidating one, but Shawn Green figured to make the adjustments more effectively than Mr. Goodwrench.

Green, a former Tustin High School honor student with a sweet batting stroke, already had two quarters at Stanford in the books when he showed up for his first spring training with the Toronto Blue Jays. He arrived with a level head, a level swing and the hand-eye coordination that made him a hands-down favorite to make a smooth transition.

If only he had remembered to keep his hand down.

Green was starting in right field for the Dunedin (Fla.) Blue Jays, the highest of Toronto’s three Class-A affiliates. His batting average, which had hovered around .300 for the first six weeks of the season, had slipped to .271, but he had 14 doubles, 33 runs scored, 24 runs batted in and 14 stolen bases. Then, on June 26, he tried to break up a double play and forgot that you never want to wave at the second baseman during your slide.

“I was only about five feet from second base when the second baseman threw the ball,” Green said. “He threw from way down under, below sidearm. My left hand was up, and the ball hit me in the thumb and then in the helmet.

“My thumb really swelled up, so they sent me to the doctor. It turned out to be a chip in one of the bones in the thumb.”

So Green ended up in a cast and in the first-base coaching box, where he has been waving runners to second only after the ball was safely in the outfield.

He’s expected to return to action Friday and continue climbing up a ladder that Blue Jay officials figure will lead to the majors sooner rather than later. That’s why they started Green halfway up their minor league system instead of in rookie ball or on their other two Class-A teams.

“We saw enough of him in spring training to come to the decision that he could handle that league and, so far, he’s proven us right,” said Gord Ash, Toronto assistant general manager. “It’s hard to make a predetermination before you see a kid play. But Shawn is bright and mature for his age, and he’s got the ability. We feel he’s an outstanding prospect.”

Ken Carson, general manager of the Dunedin Blue Jays, has become a fan, too.

“We don’t see most of the kids who come straight out of high school for two or three years, but Shawn hasn’t had any trouble making the adjustment,” he said. “He’s made the switch from aluminum bats to wood bats without missing a beat. And he seems to be able to handle the level of pitching up here without being intimidated.

“Before he got hurt, he was really playing outstanding baseball, both offensively and defensively. He’s been taking live batting practice for a week now, and he’s raring to go. But we’re being overly cautious as always with our guys in the minors. That’s the Blue Jay way.”

Green has trouble understanding why anyone would be the least bit surprised that he hit the ground running. After all, baseball is baseball, and the Florida State League includes a nice collection of ballparks. What more can a player ask?

“I’m having a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s a great league to play in for your first year, good pitching and good parks. Everything is first class here, our field and our clubhouse, not like some of the horror stories you hear about the minors. And they have a lot of good coaches in this organization.

“I guess they put me where they thought the competition would provide the right challenge for me. So far, it’s worked out well. It’s been a pretty smooth adjustment. The pitching has been the biggest adjustment, because these pitchers throw a lot more breaking stuff and off-speed stuff than the guys in high school did. And, of course, all the pitchers have pretty good fastballs.

“I started off hitting really well, then I went through a couple of weeks when I struggled, and my average tailed off. But right before I broke my thumb, I was starting to get my stroke back.”

In the swing of things--that’s where Green resides. When it comes to making an adjustment, the jump from the classroom at Tustin to the lecture halls of Stanford would be quite a leap.

Ho-hum, Green says.

“I enjoyed it a lot really,” he said. “It’s a good place to go to school, but I don’t think it was anything more difficult than any college freshman goes through.”

Green figured to be a top candidate for the new wave in baseball contracts--a clause that puts aside a portion of the signing bonus to be used exclusively for college tuition. That type of contract is used by teams as a bargaining tool to entice high school players who have been offered college scholarships to become professionals . . . and ensure that those players aren’t just using their scholarship offers as a bargaining tool.

But the Blue Jays knew Green was serious about his education, so they gave him a hefty signing bonus--reportedly $700,000--with no restrictions about how he spends it. They even agreed to let him arrive late for spring training if needed.

“We told Shawn we would work with him,” Ash said, noting that this sort of thing is not standard operating procedure for the Blue Jays. “Obviously, his education is very important to him.”

Green said he was happy when Toronto drafted him because of the Blue Jays’ reputation of having a first-class organization from the majors down through the minors. He also liked their spot in the American League East standings. And he was even happier after signing a contract.

“They said I could go to school in the off-season,” he said. “It wasn’t really in the contract, but it was a verbal agreement. They’ve been real easy to work with. Last year, I went to Stanford for the fall and winter quarters and wasn’t even late to spring training.

“From now on, I’m just going to play it by ear. But I want to try and get a quarter or two in every year.”

It might take longer for Green to finish his college education than his minor league education, but he’s not setting any timetables for promotions.

“I’ll let them take care of that,” he said. “I’ll just try to go out every day and play the best I can. At this point, I’m not worried about what level I’m at, I just want to be able to play every day and improve.”

Not surprisingly, Green even says the right things. But even the right stuff and the right moves can’t help a West Coast guy adjust to one thing about playing in the Florida State League: the humid weather.

“It was really tough in the beginning,” he said. “I’m kind of used to it now, but it keeps getting a little hotter every day. You never stop sweating.”

Shawn Green sweat? Now, that’s hard to believe.