BY MIKE WARREN

EDITOR

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — While a team brought thousands of baseball fans from north of the U.S. border, one player attracted dozens more from across state lines.

When Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays visited Minneapolis for a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins May 26-28 at Target Field, thousands of followers made the pilgrimage from all across Canada to the Gopher State to see their national treasure. At the same time, fans from all across America’s Dairyland took the trek to the Twin Cities to watch a source of pride for Wisconsin – Marshfield’s Daulton Varsho.

“We came to support,” said Christina Schultz, after the May 27 game. Christina was there with her mom, Kathy Parilek of Antigo, husband James and their three sons – Lucas, Ben and Nathan. They’re Daulton’s cousins from Tomahawk. They stood out in the crowd, with their bright, blue t-shirts featuring Daulton’s face on the front. A group of nine other family members were sporting the same line of homemade clothing. “We all came from different parts of Wisconsin,” Christina added. “Daulton and Brooke (Dolezal) are high school sweethearts, and our three boys were in the wedding, so they got to meet Daulton early on when he was a Diamondback. When we found out the Blue Jays were coming to the Twins’ stadium we figured we had to be here,” Schultz added.

They were part of a steady stream of Varsho supporters – many from Marshfield – who made their way from Wisconsin, to catch one or more of Daulton’s games in neighboring Minnesota during the weekend series. And they weren’t the only ones logging miles to see Varsho and his teammates play.

Travis Gansauge, his wife Marie and their two sons – Jackson and Briggs – took the 745-mile, one-way trip from Regina, Saskatchewan to see all three games of the Twins’ series in Minneapolis. Travis said before the May 27 contest they love their Blue Jays in Canada, and they really like their new outfielder from Marshfield.

“We’re really excited about him,” said Gansauge. “Good left-handed bat in the lineup. We were watching him throw during batting practice in warm-ups yesterday (May 26), and he’s got an absolute cannon. So, really excited about what he brings to the outfield.” 

The catcher-turned-outfielder was traded in December from Arizona’s Diamondbacks to Toronto.

“It’s been obviously different,” Varsho told Hub City Times, prior to Toronto’s May 27 game versus the Twins in Minneapolis. “You’re playing for a whole country instead of a state or a city, but it’s been awesome,” Varsho added.

Not only did Daulton move from behind the plate to the outfield, the Varshos had to move from Arizona’s largest city to Canada’s largest city.

“Obviously it’s a different thing,” said Daulton. “You’re going to kind of a smaller New York City. Just understanding that there’s a lot of people there and obviously you’re not going to have as much room as we did in Arizona, but it’s been fun,” Varsho added. “I’m probably not going to live as close as I am this year to the stadium, but this year being really close and being able to walk to the ballpark is kind of nice, being able to not have to worry about traffic and all that stuff. But, obviously, it’s a big adjustment. You’re finding a whole new place, a whole new country, so understanding all that – it’s a big switch.”

Daulton is becoming accustomed to his new surroundings, while also getting acquainted with his new teammates, too. 

“Everybody’s been great here, been learning a lot,” Daulton says. “There’s a lot of great talent here. Been able to learn from a lot of players. It’s been a great transition and hopefully we can start winning here and putting ourselves in a spot where we can get in the playoffs.”

The Blue Jays won two of three games against the Twins, and Varsho gave his followers plenty to see. He lined a two-run home run over the right field fence in a 9-7 Toronto loss May 27, but also lost back-to-back Twins’ homers off his glove in the fifth inning, after being moved from left field to center.

“It was in my glove and then I hit the wall and it bounced out — both times,” Varsho told reporters after the game. “It’s one of those things where you live and die by it. It is what it is at the end of the day. Sometimes, you come up with it. Sometimes, you don’t.”

Daulton made up for the close calls the following day, when he leaped backwards into the center field wall to rob Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa of a base hit, helping to keep the Twins off the scoreboard in a 3-0 Toronto win.   

After getting Memorial Day off, the Blue Jays headed home to Toronto for a three-game series against Milwaukee May 30-June 1. The Brewers – and Varsho – attracted at least a few fans to the Rogers Centre. The trip was bittersweet. While the Brewers lost two of three games, Daulton picked up three hits and scored a run.  

Varsho has another series on his schedule that will hit close to home. The Blue Jays will host the Diamondbacks – the team that traded Daulton – July 14-16, in the team’s first series after the All-Star break.