| Shawn Green | |||||||||||||||
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 Green with the New York Mets in 2007 | |||||||||||||||
| Right fielder | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1972-11-10)November 10, 1972 (age 53) Des Plaines, Illinois, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| September 28, 1993, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| September 30, 2007, for the New York Mets | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .283 | ||||||||||||||
| Hits | 2,003 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 328 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 1,070 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former professionalbaseballright fielder who played for multiple teams inMajor League Baseball (MLB). Green was a first-rounddraft pick and a two-time major leagueAll-Star. Hedrove in 100runs four times and scored 100 runs four times, hit 40 or morehome runs three times, led the league indoubles,extra base hits, andtotal bases, won both aGold Glove Award and aSilver Slugger Award, and set the Dodgers then single-season record in home runs. Green also set the MLB record for most total bases in a single game, with 19, on May 23,2002 vs. theMilwaukee Brewers.[1] Green was in the top five in the league in home runs, RBIs,intentional walks, andMVP voting multiple times throughout his career.
Besides having the most total bases in a game, 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),[2] most runs scored in a game (six),[3] most home runs in two consecutive games (five), most home runs in three consecutive games (seven), and most consecutiveat bats in a game with a home run (four). Green broke the record of 18 total bases (four home runs and one double) set byJoe Adcock of theMilwaukee Braves (vs.Brooklyn Dodgers) in1954.Athletics rookieNick Kurtz matched Green’s 19 total bases (also four home runs, one double, and a single) against theHouston Astros on July 25,2025.
At the time of his retirement, he was one of only fourteen players with at least 300 home runs, 1,000 runs and RBIs, 400 doubles, a .280batting average, and 150 stolen bases; among the players in that club includedBarry Bonds andGeorge Brett.[4]
Green was born inDes Plaines, Illinois and is Jewish. His family moved to New Jersey when he was one year old, then toSan Jose, California,[5] and finally toTustin, California when he was 12 years old.[6][7][8][9][10] His father, Ira, played forward in basketball atDePaul University for theBlue Demons during the 1960s, graduating in 1966, and his mother is the former JudySchneider.[11][10]
Green was one of the best-knownJewish major league ballplayers,[12] and the most prominent one with theNew York Mets sinceArt Shamsky played right field for the1969 World Series champion Mets.[13] Of Jewish major leaguers, onlyHank Greenberg, with 331 home runs and 1,276 RBIs, has more major league home runs and RBIs than Green.[14][15]
Green opted to miss games onYom Kippur, even when his team was in the middle of a playoff race.[16][17]
While Green is often likened to Hank Greenberg, Green's grandfather in fact shortened the family name from Greenberg to Green, for "business reasons."[18][10] Green was arguably the best Jewish baseball player sinceSandy Koufax, although his stats (especially his home runs) declined in his last years.[19] Green retired on February 28, 2008.
Green has a residence in theOrange County, California city ofIrvine, which neighbors his old Tustin hometown.[20] In 2002, he married Lindsay Bear in a mixed Jewish and Christian ceremony.[21] The couple have two daughters.[22]
He attendedTustin High School inTustin, California, where he tied theCalifornia Interscholastic Federation record with 147 hits during his high school career. He was a 1st team selection to the 1991USA Today All-USA high school team,[23] while ranking 3rd in his class academically.[24]
In1991, Green won a baseball scholarship toStanford University, where he became a brother of theDelta Tau Delta International Fraternity.
Green was drafted by theToronto Blue Jays as their 1st round pick (16th overall) in the 1991 amateurdraft. The Blue Jays drafted him using a compensation pick from theSan Francisco Giants, to whom they had lostBud Black via free agency.[9] 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; ($1,674,000 today)), a portion of which he donated to theMetropolitan Toronto Housing Authority Breakfast Club (which provides breakfast for kids who would otherwise go to school hungry).[25]
In1992, Green played for theDunedin Blue Jays of theFlorida State League, and was selected to the league's all-star team.
Green spent most of1993 and1994 in the minors, where he compiled impressive numbers. In 1994, he hit .344—winning theInternational League batting title—while ranking third in runs, hits, andon-base percentage and hitting thirteen home runs with 61 RBIs for Toronto'sAAA affiliate, theSyracuse Chiefs. He was an International League all-star, was voted theInternational League Rookie of the Year, and was also voted the International League's Best Batting Prospect, Best Outfield Arm, and Most Exciting Player inBaseball America's Tools of the Trade poll. In addition, he won the R. Howard Webster Award as the Chief's MVP, and was the Blue Jays' Minor League Player of the Year. Green then hit .306 in the 1994–1995Venezuelan Winter League.
Green made his Major League debut on September 28 as the second-youngest player in the Major Leagues.[9] Though he did not play in the1993 World Series, he was awarded aWorld Series ring. He appeared in just seventeen games in1993 and1994.[9]
In 1995, his full rookie season, Green started in 97 games, hitting fifteen home runs and batting .288.[9] Green set Blue Jays rookie records in doubles (31), hit streak (14), extra base hits (50), andslugging percentage (.509). He came in fifth in voting for theAmerican LeagueRookie of the Year.[9]
His1996 and1997 seasons were similar, in that Green was given limited at bats, wasn't trusted to hit left-handedpitching, and produced only sporadically. Green was, however, more aggressive on the base paths in 1997 than in any previous year, stealing fourteen bases while being caught only three times.[9]
In 1998, Green was granted an everyday spot in the line-up and he delivered by becoming the first Blue Jay to become a member of the30–30 club, in which he hit over 30 home runs and stole 30 or more bases in the same season. He also became the tenth Major Leaguer to hit 35 or more home runs and steal 35 or more bases in a season, joining among othersWillie Mays,Barry Bonds, andAlex Rodriguez. Green had never hit more than eighteen home runs in a season (major or minor leagues).[9] He finished the season batting .278 with 35 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 35 stolen bases (a career best).[9]
In1999, Green proved his new-found power was no fluke. On April 22, he hit a 449-foot (137 m) home run intoSkyDome's fifth deck, putting him in prestigious company withJosé Canseco,Mark McGwire, andJoe Carter. By theAll-Star break, he had hit 25 home runs and knocked in 70 runs, earning him not only his first All-Star appearance, but also a chance to compete in theHome Run Derby atFenway Park. Green hit only two home runs, however, and was eliminated in the first round. He finished the season batting .309 (a career best), with 42 home runs (5th in the league), 134 runs (2nd in the league, and a career best), 123 RBIs, and a .588 slugging percentage (5th best in the league).[9] Green also led the league in doubles (45), extra-base hits (87), and total bases (361).[9] He hit a home run in every 14.6 at-bats. After the season, he was awarded a Gold Glove Award for his defense, and a Silver Slugger Award for his offense, and came in ninth in the voting for MVP.[9]
In the off-season, Green expressed a desire to sign as afree agent with a team closer to his California roots after the2000 season. The Blue Jays, facing the rising contract demands of Green and slugger teammateCarlos Delgado, decided not to leave the decision of which player to pursue until mid-way through the season. On November 8, 1999, Green was traded with Jorge Nuñez to theLos Angeles Dodgers forPedro Borbón Jr. andRaúl Mondesí.[9] Green quickly signed an extension with Los Angeles, agreeing to an $84 million ($153,000,000 today)/6-year deal that included a $4 million ($7,304,000 today) signing bonus.
With a lot of pressure riding on his now well-paid shoulders, Green struggled at times in 2000, his first season with Los Angeles. Still, he led the league in games played (with 162), and was fifth in the league in doubles with 44 (the second-highest total in Dodgers history), while driving in 99 runs.[9] He also had one of the longest consecutive games on-base streaks in baseball history, at 53; five behindDuke Snider's modern dayNational League (NL) record. He hit home runs in five straight games; the only other Dodgers to achieve this feat areRoy Campanella (1950),Matt Kemp (2010),Adrián González (2014–15),Joc Pederson (2015) andShohei Ohtani (2025).[26] He hit .329 in late innings of close games.[9]
Green had a career year in2001, batting .297 (.331 with runners in scoring position) with a .598 slugging percentage (a career best), 49 home runs (a career best), 121 runs (7th in the league), 125 RBIs (a career best), 370 total bases (5th in the league), and 20 stolen bases.[9] His 49 home runs set a Dodgers single-season record (a record which stood untilShohei Ohtani hit his 50th home run of the season on September 19, 2024), but only tied for fourth in the league, behind Barry Bonds,Sammy Sosa, andLuis González.[9] For the fourth straight year he stole 20 or more bases, and batted .331 with runners in scoring position.[9] Green came in sixth in voting for league MVP.[9]
"I felt like it was the right thing to do ... I didn't do this to gain approval. I thought it was the right example to set for Jewish kids, a lot of whom don't like to go tosynagogue."
Green made headlines for two decisions that he made during the 2001 season. On September 26, he stood by his word and sat out a game for the first time in 415 games, to honor the most significant holiday on the Jewish calendar,Yom Kippur.[27] He also made a second notable decision on September 26, donating his day's pay of $75,000 ($133,000 in 2025) to a charity for survivors of the New York9/11 terrorist attacks.
Green started off slowly in2002, but turned things around with a record-setting power display. On May 23, the turning point of his season, he had one of the best single game performances ever. He hit a Major League record-tying four home runs and a record-tying five extra-base hits (he hit a double in addition to the home runs) against the Milwaukee Brewers, and had 19 total bases, breakingJoe Adcock's 1954 Major League record by one, while matching the major league record of six runs scored in one game. This record has since been matched byNick Kurtz in 2025. No other major league player had six hits, five runs, and as many as four extra-base hits in a game again untilIan Kinsler of theTexas Rangers in 2009.[28] He hit a 5th home run during the following game to tie the Major League 2-game home run record (5), and then hit 2 more the game after to break the Major League three-game record (seven). Green also broke the NL record with 9 home runs in that calendar week. He was voted to the All-Star team, and finished the season with a .285 average, .385On-base percentage (a career best), 42 home runs (3rd in the league), 114 RBIs (4th in the league), 114 runs (4th in the league), 93 walks (a career best), 22 intentional walks (5th in the league), and 20 stolen bases.[9] He hit .333 with runners inscoring position and two out.[9] Green came in 5th in voting for league MVP.[9]
In2003, Green struggled with his power and RBI production. He had problems withtendinitis in his left shoulder, which limited him to a 19 home runs and 85 RBIs as he batted .280.[9] Still, he was 2nd in the league in doubles (with 49; a career best).[9]
Green's power improved in2004, as he hit 28 home runs and collected 86 RBIs, while batting .266, leading the Dodgers to the 2004playoffs.[9] Green moved tofirst base for much of the season. He hit three home runs in the post-season, in just 16 at bats.[9]
Green was traded to theArizona Diamondbacks on January 11, 2005.[9] He waived his no-trade clause for a three-year extension from the team for $32 million. The trade was part of a three-team trade which sent Green and cash to the Diamondbacks, in exchange for catcherDioner Navarro and three minor leaguers.
While Green's batting average in 2005 (.286) was his best in four years, he walked fewer times (62) than he had in the prior six years, and hit fewer home runs (22) and scored fewer runs (87) than he had in all but seven of his prior seasons.[9] Green came to bat 398 times with the Diamondbacks before being traded in2006, and while his batting average and on-base percentage were near his career averages, his slugging percentage (.425) was the lowest it had been since he broke into the Majors.[9]
On August 22, 2006, Green was dealt, along with $6.5 million in cash, by theArizona Diamondbacks to the New York Mets forTriple-A 23-year-old left-handed pitcher, Evan MacLane.[9]
Green's second at bat as a Met was anRBI single off Cardinals' pitcherJason Marquis, another Jewish ball player.
Overall, in 2006 Green had his worst offensive year in a decade. He hit only fifteen home runs, with 66 RBI, four stolen bases, a .432 slugging percentage, and a .277 batting average.[9] Green's fifteen home runs matched his second-lowest total since becoming a full-time player.[9] His 73 runs scored was also a significant drop-off from the 134 runs he scored in his outstanding 1999 season with Toronto.[9] One bright point was that his .799 OPS against lefties was the tenth-best in the league for lefty batters. Curiously, while he had the ninth-highest ground ball/fly ball ratio in the league (2.17), he also tied with Barry Bonds for the longest average home run in the NL in 2006 (407 ft).[29] His 470-foot (140 m) home run against the Mets on April 11 was the ninth-longest in the NL for the year, and only two longer home runs were hit in the AL. He also had another bright point—he struck out only 15.5% of the time, his best career year through 2006.[30] He faded as the season progressed, dropping 65 points—and batting .240—after the All Star break.
After the season ended, Green was eighteenth of all active players in doubles (and younger than all those ahead of him), and in the top thirty of all active players in home runs, runs, total bases, and extra base hits. He was also in the top 100 of all players ever lifetime in home runs.
2006 marked only the second post-season appearance of Green's career. In the 2006 playoffs, Green tied for the team lead with three doubles, and hit .313, second best on the team (as the Mets hit only .250).[9]
On February 13, 2007, the Mets declined a $10 million mutualoption on Green's contract, that would have kept him in New York through the2008 season. He got a $2 millionbuyout instead.[31] The report came amid retirement rumors. Green commented on them, saying: "There's been no decision on the future at all as far as I'm concerned. I'm planning on playing and seeing how things go...."[32]
In the fifth inning of the May 25, 2007, game against theFlorida Marlins, Green suffered a chip fracture of thefirst metatarsal bone in his right foot when he fouled a ball off of it.[33] Green at the time of the injury was batting .314, tenth-best in the NL, and .341 against right-handers, with five home runs, 22 RBIs, twelve doubles, and four stolen bases. On May 29, Green was placed on the 15-daydisabled list; his first time on the DL in his career.[34] The bone was expected to fully heal in six weeks, but he was activated well before then; on June 11 he was back in the lineup, though the bone was not completely healed, and went 2–for–4 with a run batted in and a stolen base.[35]On June 24, Green started at first base for the first time since 2006, when he was a member of the Diamondbacks.
After the 2007 season, Green became a free agent.[36] He chose to retire before the start of the 2008 season as he wanted to be with his family. Green confirmed his retirement on February 28, 2008.[37]
Among all-time Jewish major league baseball players—through 2010—he was second in career home runs and RBIs (behindHank Greenberg), and tenth in batting average (behindMorrie Arnovich).[38]
In 1998, Green had fourteen assists and fivedouble plays from theoutfield. Most of Green'sinnings in the field were inright field, where he was awarded a Gold Glove Award in 1999.[9] In 2005, he did not commit an error in the outfield.[9] Green also played over 100 games at first base (mostly in 2004 and 2006), and over fifty games each incenter field andleft field.[9]
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Green became eligible for theNational Baseball Hall of Fame in2013. 75% of the vote was necessary for induction, and 5% was necessary to stay on the ballot. Of the 37 total candidates,[39] Green received 2 votes (0.4%) and was eliminated from futureBBWAA voting.[40]
Green played and coached for theIsraeli national baseball team in the2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier in September 2012.[41] He was eligible to play for Israel because he is Jewish. Under the Classic's rules, non-Israeli citizens of Jewish heritage can play for the country.[42][43] Israel lost to Spain in extra innings in the Pool Finals, missing out on a spot in the tournament.[41][44][45] During the first game of the tournament Green was the designated hitter and batted fifth, going 2 for 5 with a run scored and a strike out.[46] Green did not play in the second game.[47] During the third and final game, Green went 1-for-4 with a run batted in while leaving seven men on base.[48]
Green made acameo appearance on the series premiere of the hit showNumb3rs (2005), while he was an active Los Angeles Dodgers player, in the filmThe Core (2003) and onThe Nick Cannon Show (2002).
He founded Greenfly in 2014, a software company developing technology for sports and entertainment organizations and used by the Los Angeles Dodgers.[49]
In 2011, Green, with co-author Gordon McAlpine, publishedThe Way of Baseball, a memoir of his spiritual development through his baseball career.
Green assists several charities, including theJuvenile Diabetes Research Foundation,Special Olympics,Parkinsons Foundation, and the United Jewish Federation. He donated $250,000 of his salary each year to the Dodgers' Dream Foundation ($1.5 million over 6 years), supporting the development of 4 Dodger Dream Fields throughout LA and the purchase of books for local elementary schools and youth community programs. He also served as Spokesman for theJewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles to promote literacy.
In 2007, Green pledged to donate $180—or 10 timeschai—to theUJA-Federation of New York for every run batted in. This was also matched by the New York Mets and Steiner Sports Collectibles. Chai, which means life inHebrew, has a numerological value of 18 and the Jewish community often gives gifts in multiples of 18 as a result.[50]
· Baseball Almanac, orRetrosheet| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Topps Rookie All-Star Outfielder 1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Batters with 4 home runs in one game May 23, 2002 | Succeeded by |
