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Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played for multiple teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). 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 three times, led the league in doubles, Extra-base hit, and total bases, won both a Gold Glove Award and a Silver 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. the Milwaukee Brewers. Green was in the top five in the league in home runs, RBIs, intentional walks, and MVP 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), 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 At bat in a game with a home run (four). Green broke the record of 18 total bases (four home runs and one double) set by Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves (vs. Brooklyn Dodgers) in 1954. Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz matched Green’s 19 total bases (also four home runs, one double, and a single) against the Houston 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 .280 batting average, and 150 stolen bases; among the players in that club included Barry Bonds and George Brett.
Green was one of the best-known major league ballplayers, "Ian Kinsler helping Jewish fans conquer Shawn Green withdrawal", Sports Illustrated, June 12, 2009, June 12, 2009 and the most prominent one with the New York Mets since Art Shamsky played right field for the 1969 World Series champion Mets. "Mets Bolster Outfield With a Trade for Green", The New York Times, 2006-08-23, accessed 2007-11-04 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. "With the glove and the bat, Jews sparkled on the diamond", New Jersey Jewish Standard, 2007-11-16, accessed 2007-11-17
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.
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. Orange Coast Magazine: "The Dodger and the Damsel" February 2002 The couple have two daughters.His father Ira owns The Baseball Academy, where local youths learn various baseball skils including dynamics of Green's swing.
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). "Shawn Green, 28; Professional baseball player with the Los Angeles Dodgers", OC Metro Business, 2001, accessed 2007-11-04
Green spent most of and in the minors, where he compiled impressive numbers. In 1994, he hit .344—winning the International League batting title—while ranking third in runs, hits, and on-base percentage and hitting thirteen home runs with 61 RBIs for Toronto's AAA affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs. He was an International League all-star, was voted the International League Rookie of the Year, and was also voted the International League's Best Batting Prospect, Best Outfield Arm, and Most Exciting Player in Baseball 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– Venezuelan Winter League.
In 1995, his full rookie season, Green started in 97 games, hitting fifteen home runs and batting .288. Green set Blue Jays rookie records in doubles (31), hit streak (14), extra base hits (50), and slugging percentage (.509). He came in fifth in voting for the American League Rookie of the Year.
His and seasons were similar, in that Green was given limited at bats, wasn't trusted to hit left-handed Pitcher, 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.
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 the 30–30 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 others Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez. Green had never hit more than eighteen home runs in a season (major or minor leagues). He finished the season batting .278 with 35 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 35 stolen bases (a career best).
In , Green proved his new-found power was no fluke. On April 22, he hit a home run into SkyDome's fifth deck, putting him in prestigious company with José Canseco, Mark McGwire, and Joe Carter. By the All-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 the Home Run Derby at Fenway 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). Green also led the league in doubles (45), extra-base hits (87), and total bases (361). 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.
In the off-season, Green expressed a desire to sign as a free agent with a team closer to his California roots after the season. The Blue Jays, facing the rising contract demands of Green and slugger teammate Carlos 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 the Los Angeles Dodgers for Pedro BorbĂłn Jr. and RaĂşl MondesĂ. Green quickly signed an extension with Los Angeles, agreeing to an $84 million ($ today)/6-year deal that included a $4 million ($ today) signing bonus.
Green had a career year in , 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. His 49 home runs set a Dodgers single-season record (a record which stood until Shohei 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, and Luis González. For the fourth straight year he stole 20 or more bases, and batted .331 with runners in scoring position. Green came in sixth in voting for league MVP.
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. 5 Towns Jewish Time He also made a second notable decision on September 26, donating his day's pay of $75,000 ($ in 2025) to a charity for survivors of the New York 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Green started off slowly in , 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, breaking Joe 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 by Nick 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 until Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers in 2009. Dallas News 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, .385 On-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. He hit .333 with runners in scoring position and two out. Green came in 5th in voting for league MVP.
In , Green struggled with his power and RBI production. He had problems with tendinitis in his left shoulder, which limited him to a 19 home runs and 85 RBIs as he batted .280. Still, he was 2nd in the league in doubles (with 49; a career best).
Green's power improved in , as he hit 28 home runs and collected 86 RBIs, while batting .266, leading the Dodgers to the 2004 playoffs. Green moved to first base for much of the season. He hit three home runs in the post-season, in just 16 at bats.
Green was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on January 11, 2005. 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 catcher Dioner Navarro and three minor leaguers.
On August 22, 2006, Green was dealt, along with $6.5 million in cash, by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the New York Mets for Triple-A 23-year-old left-handed pitcher, Evan MacLane.
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. Green's fifteen home runs matched his second-lowest total since becoming a full-time player. His 73 runs scored was also a significant drop-off from the 134 runs he scored in his outstanding 1999 season with Toronto. 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). Google Search His 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. 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).
In the fifth inning of the May 25, 2007, game against the Florida Marlins, Green suffered a chip fracture of the first metatarsal bone in his right foot when he fouled a ball off of it. "Shawn Green out with foot injury", UPI, 2007-05-26, accessed 2007-11-04 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-day disabled list; his first time on the DL in his career. 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. "Mets' Green returns after injury" , North Jersey Media Group, 2007-06-12, accessed 2007-11-04 On June 24, Green started at first base for the first time since 2006, when he was a member of the Diamondbacks.
Among all-time Jewish major league baseball players—through 2010—he was second in career home runs and RBIs (behind Hank Greenberg), and tenth in batting average (behind Morrie Arnovich).
He founded Greenfly in 2014, a software company developing technology for sports and entertainment organizations and used by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 2011, Green, with co-author Gordon McAlpine, published The Way of Baseball, a memoir of his spiritual development through his baseball career.
In 2007, Green pledged to donate $180—or 10 times chai—to the UJA-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 in Hebrew, has a numerological value of 18 and the Jewish community often gives gifts in multiples of 18 as a result. "Jewish Met goes to bat for charity" , JTA, 2007-04-12, accessed 2007-11-04
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