Blue Jays’ Green Finally Makes the Connection : Baseball: Ex-Tustin star phoned home with bad news in the spring, but he since has been called up to the major leagues.

Shawn Green pecked hastily at the hotel room telephone buttons in mid-March while trying to maintain his composure. Green had news to share--and it wasn’t good.

The former Tustin High outfielder was heading back to the minor leagues, having failed to impress the Toronto Blue Jays’ brass enough during spring training. His bags were packed and his name printed on a one-way airline ticket to Syracuse, N.Y., home of the Blue Jays’ triple-A affiliate.

Green expressed his disappointment to his father, Ira, during a phone conversation. And while they had shared more upbeat moments, both believed the demotion was only temporary.

They figured correctly.

Green was yanked from batting practice in Syracuse on June 9 and told to rush to the airport. Although Green already was running late, he knew what he had to do first: phone home.

“He says to me, ‘Dad, I’ve got good news and bad news,” Ira said. “The bad news is that my hitting streak was snapped (at 15 games). The good news is that I’m going to Toronto--tomorrow.

“He’s very even-keeled, but I could tell in his voice how excited he was. We both were.”

Green’s rapid ascent through Toronto’s minor league system was punctuated by his most recent promotion. Now the hard part begins for the former No. 1 draft pick: staying put.

“I always believed they would call me up whenever they thought I was ready,” Green said, “but I didn’t think it would happen for a while.”

Ira thought otherwise.

“It really didn’t come as a surprise to me,” he said. “Actually, I think he kind of forced them to bring him up.”

At the very least, Green’s torrid play at Syracuse gave Toronto management a friendly nudge.

Green, 21, seemingly turned ballparks in the International League into his private batting-practice fields, causing fits for opposing pitchers and managers at every stop on the circuit. The competition was as pleased to see Green move up as he was--maybe even more.

A left-handed hitter, Green batted .381 (86 for 226) with eight home runs and 37 runs batted in during 55 games at Syracuse. His smooth batting stroke prompts comparisons with Blue Jay All-Star first baseman John Olerud. He is also fleet, as his 46 runs, 16 doubles and 12 stolen bases attest.

Since arriving in Toronto, Green has played in five of six games. Although Manager Cito Gaston has not specified his role, Green said he expects to platoon in left field with Mike Huff.

Green has been the Blue Jays’ starting left fielder in four games and is batting .133 (two for 15). He singled for the first time Monday night in a game against Cleveland, and followed that milestone the next evening with double No. 1, also coming against the Indians.

Toronto brought up Green briefly last season when the rosters were expanded in September. Green, however, knew that move was designed just to provide him with a taste of the big leagues. This time, Green is determined to enjoy the full helping.

“Being here and playing has been great,” Green said. “I was a little nervous at first, but I’m starting to get comfortable at the plate again.”

His superiors have noticed, too.

Blue Jay bullpen coach Dennis Holmberg, Green’s manager in Class A at Dunedin, Fla., said Green’s strides are evident.

“Shawn is a very talented ballplayer who has moved very fast at a young age,” Holmberg said. “You watch him and he reminds you of Olerud with that real nice swing.

“He can hit, throw and run. He’s only been up for a few days, so he hasn’t hit for a lot of power yet, but we think he’s going to start to come into some power.”

This promise prompted the Blue Jays to choose Green with their first selection (No. 16 overall) in the 1991 free-agent amateur draft after his standout career at Tustin. Green set the Southern Section record for hits in a career with 147. He batted .479 as a senior and was selected The Times Orange County player of the year.

His talent did not go unnoticed in the college ranks, either.

Green was set to begin classes at Stanford when the Blue Jays granted themselves an 11th-hour reprieve of sorts by offering a reported $700,000 signing bonus as part of a package worth $1.45 million--then almost unheard of.

At the time, Toronto’s offer was the third-largest signing bonus in baseball history. With the thought of all that green , Green decided to don blue.

Had Green set foot in Psych 101 or any other class at Stanford or another four-year college, he would not have been able to sign until after his junior year, in which he would have again been eligible for the draft.

“That (bonus) was big back then,” Ira said. “But now it’s not something that’s that unusual.”

From the outset, the Blue Jays knew it was money well spent.

So impressed were the Blue Jays with Green that they started him halfway up their minor league system at Dunedin, not rookie ball or on one of their other two lower Class-A teams.

He made management look good by hitting .273 with one homer, 49 RBIs and 22 stolen bases during his first season in pro ball. Last season, Green hit .283 with four homers and 34 RBIs at Toronto’s double-A affiliate in Knoxville, Tenn.

Throughout his time in the minors, Green has attended classes at Stanford during the off-season. An honors student at Tustin who had a 4.6 grade-point average, Green has already completed 102 units. A Stanford official said 130-180 units are needed to earn an undergraduate degree.

Green plans to finish his Stanford course work, but at the moment he’s occupied with his lessons at SkyDome.

“I’ve got a great opportunity here,” Green said, “and I have to take advantage of my chance.”

Shawn Green as a Professional

Year Team Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI 1992 Dunedin-1 .273 114 417 44 114 21 3 1 49 1993 Knoxville-2 .283 99 360 40 102 14 2 4 34 Toronto .000 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1994 Syracuse-3 .381 55 226 46 86 16 1 8 37 Toronto .133 6 15 1 2 1 0 0 0

Key: 1--Class A; 2--Double A; 3--Triple A. Source: Toronto Blue Jays