Shawn Green-Cedar Herald Index

Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder. Green was a first-round draft pick and a two-time major league All-Star. He drove in 100 runs four times and scored 100 runs four times, hit 40 or more home runs three times, led the league in doubles, extra base hits, and total bases, won both a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award, and set the Dodgers single-season record in home runs. Green was also in the top five in the league in home runs, RBIs, intentional walks, and MVP voting.

Green holds or is tied for the following major league records: most home runs in a game (four), most extra base hits in a game (five), most total bases in a game (19), most runs scored in a game (six), most home runs in two consecutive games (five), most home runs in three consecutive games (seven), and most consecutive home runs (four). He hit his four home runs and five extra base hits, totaling 19 total bases, in one game against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 23, . Green broke the record of 18 total bases (four home runs and double) set by Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves (vs. Brooklyn Dodgers) in .

Shawn Green

At the time of his retirement, he was one of only four active players with at least 300 home runs, 1,000 runs and RBIs, 400 doubles, a .280 batting average, and 150 stolen bases. The others were Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., and Gary Sheffield, each of whom was at least two years older than Green, with at least 1,400 more at bats (though the other three had considerably more home runs and, for Bonds, far more doubles and runs scored too).

Shawn Green

Early and personal life

Green was born in Des Plaines, Illinois, and is Jewish, and his family moved to New Jersey when he was one year old, and later to San Jose, California, and finally to Tustin, California when he was 12 years old. His father, Ira, played forward in basketball at DePaul University for the Blue Demons during the 1960s, graduating in 1966, and his mother is the former Judy Schneider. Green was one of the best-known Jewish major league ballplayers, and the most prominent one with the New York Mets since Art Shamsky played right field for the 1969 World Series champion Mets. Of Jewish major leaguers, only Hank Greenberg, with 331 home runs and 1,276 RBIs, has more major league home runs and RBIs than Green. Green opted to miss games on Yom Kippur, even when his team was in the middle of a playoff race. While Green is often likened to Hank Greenberg, Green's grandfather in fact shortened the family name from Greenberg to Green, for "business reasons." Green was arguably the best Jewish baseball player since Sandy Koufax, although his stats (especially his home runs) declined in his last years. Green retired on February 28, 2008.

Shawn Green

Green has a residence in the Orange County, California city of Irvine, which neighbors his old Tustin hometown. In 2002, he married Lindsay Bear in a mixed Jewish and Christian ceremony. The couple have two daughters.

High school

He attended Tustin High School in Tustin, California, where he tied the California Interscholastic Federation record with 147 hits during his high school career. He was a 1st team selection to the 1991 USA Today All-USA high school team, while ranking 3rd in his class academically.

College and the baseball draft

In , Green won a baseball scholarship to Stanford University, where he became a brother of the Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.

Green was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays as their 1st round pick (16th overall) in the 1991 amateur draft. The Blue Jays drafted him using a compensation pick from the San Francisco Giants, to whom they had lost Bud Black via free agency. Green ultimately struck a deal with the Blue Jays. They agreed that Green would play in the minor leagues during the summer, but go back to the university in the off-season.

Green received one of the highest signing bonuses at that time ($725,000; ($ today)), a portion of which he donated to the Metropolitan Toronto Housing Authority Breakfast Club (which provides breakfast for kids who would otherwise go to school hungry).