North St. Paul’s Louie Varland debuts at Yankee Stadium: “It was unreal”

NEW YORK — Back when his son Louie was a pitcher at Division II Concordia University in St. Paul, Wade Varland said they hoped to get just one scout out to look at him. If one scout saw him, that could unlock the doors to a world of opportunities, opening up a path for Louie to achieve his dreams.

“None of this you could possibly ever expect,” Wade Varland said Wednesday, hours after his son made his major league debut at Yankee Stadium.

An emotional week for the Varlands crescendoed on Wednesday afternoon when the 24-year-old debuted in the first game of the Twins-Yankees doubleheader. Louie Varland turned in a strong performance for the team he grew up cheering for. While it didn’t end with a win — either for Varland or the Twins — the rookie was impressive in his start against the Yankees, pitching 5 1/3 innings and allowing a pair of runs on three hits while striking out seven.

“It was unreal. It was an amazing feeling,” Louie Varland said. “I’m glad it’s over because there was a lot of anxiety.”

So much so that he said he couldn’t really feel his legs when facing the first batter, Oswaldo Cabrera, who he retired on a groundout to third. Up next: Aaron Judge, the frontrunner for American League MVP. Varland got Judge to swing through a changeup for his first career strikeout.

That ball, he said, was headed to his mother and biggest fan, Kim. Through a flood of tears, Kim Varland at one point postgame wrapped her son in a big hug and expressed her pride.

“How do you describe your kid’s dream coming true before your eyes?” Kim Varland said. “What more could you want?”

Varland’s journey — he graduated from North St. Paul High School before attending Concordia — with the Twins started when he was selected in the 15th round of the 2019 draft. He climbed quickly through the Twins’ system, putting together a season in 2021 between Class A and Class A-Advanced that earned him the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year award.

He followed it up by posting a 3.06 earned-run average between Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul this season.

But still, when Saints manager Toby Gardenhire took to a microphone on the Saints’ team bus Monday to tell the group that Varland would be promoted, he was shocked.

“It completely blindsided me,” he said. “I was not expecting it at all. It was a complete surprise.”

His parents, though, had an inkling something might be happening. Varland wasn’t listed to pitch, and Wade mentioned to Kim that he thought this might be the time. When Louie got the news, he phoned his older brother, Gus, and his girlfriend. When he tried to reach his parents, they were mid-nap.

Gus, a Dodgers prospect who pitches for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers, immediately started scouting the Yankees’ lineup and had some advice.

“(He) said, “Louie, your stuff will play great against the whole lineup except for Judge. You need to keep the slider down,’ ” Wade said.

Judge did get to Varland — though not on a slider. One of the two runs Varland gave up came on Judge’s league-leading 55th home run of the season in the fourth inning. The other came after he departed when Griffin Jax served up a two-run home run, allowing an inherited runner to score.

While that took away his opportunity for a win in his debut, nothing could take away the Varlands’ joy and pride on Wednesday.

Each time he struck out a batter, his raucous cheering section would unfurl a long blue banner that read, “Looooouu!” Varland had more than 20 people in attendance for his debut, including Gus, whom the Dodgers gave permission to attend the game. In an almost-empty Yankee Stadium, Louie said he could hear them cheering loud and clear.

“It’s like watching a movie,” Kim Varland said. “We’re just floating around. We don’t care about anything else. I’m so proud of him. He deserves this so much.”