Appleton West grad Danny Jansen called up to major leagues with Blue Jays

Ricardo Arguello | Post Crescent

BUFFALO - Danny Jansen has made "The Show."

Jansen, a 2013 graduate of Appleton West who has been a standout minor league player in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system the past few years, was called up to the Blue Jays on Saturday night.

Jansen has been playing all season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He left Saturday's game early after being told of his promotion to the majors. He was ranked as the No. 3 prospect in the Toronto organization in MLB Pipeline’s midseason rankings.

Twitter was abuzz with the news and a post by Jansen's father Steve confirmed on Facebook that Danny had been called up to the Blue Jays.

"I knew that one day I'd be saying this that Danny Jansen just got called up to the Big Leagues!! God that sounds good," Steve Jansen said. "Good luck to you son and keep hitting them where they aint!"

Jansen, 23, was batting .275 for the Bisons with 12 home runs and 58 RBI. He played for the United States team in the All-Star Futures Game last month in Washington D.C. and hit a home run.

"It's like something I've never felt before, it was an amazing feeling," Jansen told Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. ""It really sunk in when I called my parents and got to talk to them, some tears came out, everyone's happy, everyone's excited about it, and my brother actually lives in Kansas City, so it's a pretty awesome moment."

Jansen didn't play in Toronto's afternoon game against Tampa Bay on Sunday. The Blue Jays embark on a road trip to Kansas City starting Monday.

Kimberly baseball coach Ryan McGinnis, who helped lead the Papermakers to a fifth consecutive trip to the WIAA state spring baseball tournament this past June, remembers his team playing against Jansen in high school.

"Great kid. The words that I would use to describe him when he was in high school and coaching against him would have been 'very mature' in how he carried himself," McGinnis said. "He has a very good skill set and he's very grounded. And he really seemed like a real quality kid and as I got to know his older brother that played a few years before him at Appleton West (Matt) - they're just a great family Really well-grounded family. Danny has a good head on his shoulders as well as Matt.

"Really exciting to see him doing so well."

McGinnis added that Jansen's ascension to the big leagues also provides an example for youth baseball players in the Fox Valley with similar dreams.

"Definitely a feather in the cap for this area," he said. "All the people that have touched his life and I also think it provides that glimmer (of hope) to kids in this area that it can be done with the right approach and the right work ethic and some breaks along the way that everyone needs, great things happen. And Danny is certainly a great young man and that makes it extra special."

When Jansen, who was born in Elmhurst, Illinois, makes his first appearance with the Blue Jays, he will join a list of players with ties to the Appleton area to play in the majors.

Eric Hinske, a Menasha native, played for seven teams and in 1,387 big league games from 2002 to 2013. Hinske, who is the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels, played for the Blue Jays for parts of five seasons and was the American League rookie of the year with Toronto in 2002.

Dave Gassner, a Hortonville native who was Jansen’s coach at Appleton West when Jansen was drafted in the 16th round in 2013, pitched in two games for the Minnesota Twins in 2005.

Appleton North graduate Joe Hietpas played one game for the New York Mets in 2004, and Appleton West graduate and current Wisconsin Timber Rattlers manager Matt Erickson played four games with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2004.

Don Werner, an Appleton East graduate, played in the majors from 1975 to 1982. He appeared in 118 games with the Cincinnati Reds and the Texas Rangers, and in 1978 was the catcher when Reds pitcher Tom Seaver pitched a no-hitter.

Outfielder Stu Locklin, an Appleton native, played in 25 games with the Cleveland Indians over the course of two seasons in 1955 and 1956.

Menasha native Dave Koslo compiled a 92-107 record over 12 seasons as a pitcher for the New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles and Milwaukee Braves. He also had a 1-1 postseason record, including a win in the 1951 World Series for the Giants.