Mets get Shawn Green

[metsmarathon]

if we had druids on the team, they could help with building the new stadium... or decorating the old parking lot with big giant stones. how cool would that be?

[Benjamin Grimm]

And yet none of us were pleased when we thought that David Wright might be a disciple of the liquid feces guy.

[Guest Edgy DC]

No one knows who they were. Or what... they were doing. But their legacy remains... hewn... into the living rock... of Stonehenge.

Green excited to play for Jewish fans

New Met says that's one reason he waived no-trade clause

Updated: 9:15 p.m. ET Aug 23, 2006

NEW YORK - Shawn Green is looking forward to playing in front of the large population of Jewish fans in New York.

Traded Tuesday to the Mets by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the outfielder planned to be at Shea Stadium on Thursday for New York’s series finale against St. Louis. The Mets haven’t had a prominent Jewish player since Art Shamsky in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“I’m excited about it. It’s something that has always intrigued me,” Green said Wednesday during a conference call. “Playing in L.A., there’s obviously a large population there, but New York is head and shoulders the largest in the country.”

New York’s Jewish population was about 1.75 million in the 2000 census, followed by Miami at roughly 535,000 and Los Angeles at approximately 490,000.

In 2004, Green sat out a pennant race game for the Los Angeles Dodgers in observance of Kol Nidre, the start of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. He played the following day while Yom Kippur was concluding.

In 2001, he observed Yom Kippur and ended a streak of 415 consecutive games played.

“It’s definitely something that will be an interesting experience for me, a fun experience,” Green said of coming to New York. “I’m looking forward to being a part of the Jewish community there.”

Arizona dealt the 33-year-old Green to New York along with $6,312,156 for Evan MacLane, a 23-year-old left-hander at Triple-A. Green has $13,248,634 remaining on his contract.

A two-time All-Star, Green is hitting .283 with 11 home runs and 51 RBIs. He waived his no-trade clause to accept the trade.

“I just talked about it a lot with my wife, and we both felt like there’s a lot of positives coming there,” Green said during the conference call from the Phoenix area. “We both enjoyed coming to New York the times I’ve played there for a few days.”

He figures to cut into the playing time of Lastings Milledge and Ricky Ledee in right. Endy Chavez has filled in as the left fielder while Cliff Floyd is sidelined with an Achilles’ tendon injury.

Green said watching the Mets earlier this season, he concluded New York had “this intangible.” He has played previously with several Mets, including Carlos Delgado, Orlando Hernandez, Paul Lo Duca, Guillermo Mota, Duaner Sanchez and Chris Woodward.

“They have this quiet confidence and have fun and energy,” he said. “You see that in teams that go far into the playoffs and win world championships. I think a lot of people in baseball have been looking at the Mets as a team that has that characteristic.”

He said the possible trade, which had been rumored for weeks, had weighed on him.

“In my gut I guess I thought it was going to happen,” he said. “But it was seeming like at any time it could fall apart. Especially with some of the pitching injuries that the Mets had, I assumed that I wouldn’t be as high on the priority list at that point, but fortunately it sounds like both Pedro (Martinez) and (Tom) Glavine are in good shape.”

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Centerfield]

="KC"]I still say hoping a team gets a player, or being happy because the player is here based on race, religion, and/or ethnicity is nonsense. Play ball.

Viewpoints like this are easy when players of your particular race, religion or ethnicity are a dime a dozen. There will always be a white protestant player on the Mets. There always has been.

For minorities, having someone represent your race/religion/ethnicity on your baseball team is significant. He can be a positive image to contrast some of the more negative stereotypes floating around about a particular group. He can also be a tremendous role model to young kids. A young Jewish kid can look at Shawn Green and dream of making the major leagues.

Now, you might ask, why couldn't that kid look at Carlos Beltran, or David Wright? Sure he could. And he does, but there are tons of ignorant folks out there that tell him he won't make it because he's Jewish. And Jews are supposed to be lawyers, not ballplayers. These are the same folks that still think blacks aren't smart enough to play quarterback, or that Asians don't play sports. (One of my brother's coaches once confessed to me that he never thought he'd see the day his number 3 hitter was a chinese [sic] kid.) And that's why you root for Shawn Green, or Donovan McNabb, or Ichiro Suzuki. And if one of these guys ends up on your team, it makes it just a bit more special.

Of course, as a fan, I always want the player that will help my team the most...whatever color he may be. But I also hope some Korean American kid comes up and hits 40 dingers for the Mets someday. Then maybe my son won't have to hear some of the things I did.

[MFS62]

Nicely put, CF.

Thanks.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

You're clearly of mixed feelings on this one.

[duan]

while this is a nice debate and one which I understand, I'd really, really like to talk about the lineup.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Hey! How about that lineup?

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think Green's probably going to initially slot in comfortably to Cliff's spot, sixth in the lineup. Michael Tucker behind David Wright has been illy ill.

[Benjamin Grimm]

It'll probably be a few hours before we find out what roster move the Mets make to accomodate Green.

And don't they also have to activate a pitcher to fill in for Glavine's next start?

I think the handwriting's on the wall for Ricky Ledee.

Or does Milledge go to Norfolk instead?

Who would we rather have on the playoff roster? Ledee or Milledge?

[seawolf17]

For some reason, I don't think we'll see Floyd back this year. And I'm okay with that; I like Endy Chavez in the eight-spot.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd prefer to go into the playoffs with Floyd than without him.

[seawolf17]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Who would we rather have on the playoff roster? Ledee or Milledge?

Milledge. I don't think Ledee gives you anything that you don't already have with Michael Tucker, and I'd rather Tucker than Ledee.

[seawolf17]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I'd prefer to go into the playoffs with Floyd than without him.

I'm not saying I don't want Floyd in the lineup, but I'm saying I'd rather have a healthy Chavez in the lineup than a limping, ineffective Floyd.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Ledee just don't got it: I think he's outtahere.

I'd be very surprised if Green hits anywhere but 6th, though he might be cool in No. 2 on Lo Duca's offdays.

I think it'd be cool to play Milledge and Chavie as a platoon in left: Milledge could use the Xperience and I think he should be a member of the PS roster, if only to have as a wild-card World Series DH.

[Guest KC]

I'm not equipped for a debate on ethnic pride, I'd only make an ass out of
myself. I just find it a little annoying that if presented with a list of let's say
three players and someone says, "I want player X, we need a nice jewish
boy on the team" - my reaction is that's just plain silly. Maybe I've already
made an ass out of myself, but it's not like ya'll don't know I gotta be me.

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: You're clearly of mixed feelings on this one.

What's the mix?
I stated a few posts ago that I agreed with KC that this stuff doesn't matter between the lines. I was complimenting CF on a well written description of his feelings about the other side of the issue.

Yes, when I was a kid and rooted for Brooklyn, I looked with pride at Sandy Koufax. And probably for at least some of the reasons CF mentioned. And I guess I still take notice of Jewish ballplayers for some of those reasons. But race/religion/whatever is certainly not the reason I want my GM making player acquisition decisions. Maybe watching Joe Guinsberg on the 1962 Mets proved that to me.

KC's right, you shouldn't let those things interfere with the game on the field.

Later

[Centerfield]

Of course that is silly. But I don't think anyone here is guilty of that. I think they see that Green is a good, useful player who also happens to be Jewish. And they see the last part as an added bonus, not the impetus for trading for him.

And KC, we know you're not an ass.

Avatar notwithstanding.

[metirish]

Damn I feel a great sence of pride that Pete Flynn is from Ireland,imagine how I'd feel if the Mets had a player from Ireland on the team......

[Benjamin Grimm]

I know what you mean. I hope that some day the Mets will have a player who was born in Brooklyn like I was.

[MFS62]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I know what you mean. I hope that some day the Mets will have a player who was born in Brooklyn like I was.

Either you forgot Paul LoDuca or you forgot your SC rating.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't do SC ratings.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Centerfield wrote: Of course that is silly. But I don't think anyone here is guilty of that. I think they see that Green is a good, useful player who also happens to be Jewish. And they see the last part as an added bonus, not the impetus for trading for him. And KC, we know you're not an ass. Avatar notwithstanding.

CF - as usual, you stated what I wanted to say, but much more eloquently. Thank you.

Aside from the fact that Green is Jewish is the fact that he actually honors his religion by refraining from playing on Yom Kippor. This may not mean a lot to most people, but when you're raising Jewish kids in this society, it's a big thing. When you have a kid who wants to go bike riding with friends on the Day of Atonement and you can cite an example of someone whom they admire refraining from things like that, it helps tremendously.

[Guest Iubitul]

I'm still waiting for the first Italian-English-German/American, who was born in a town along the CT coast to a firefighter father so I can have someone to identify with...

[seawolf17]

It's doofy, but I loved it when Pete Harnisch became a Met. He grew up a quick five-minute bike ride from my house. I never met him (he's got a lot of years on me), but that hometown thing meant a lot to me as a kid. It's the same kind of reason I love Jim Rice; we share a birthday.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I share a birthday with Bob Hope, and I liked that he had a celebrity-studded special on NBC every year on my birthday.

Not that I ever watched those shows, though.

He doesn't do them anymore because he's dead at the present time.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

And MK grew up rooting for Al Leiter because he was a lefthanded pitcher from New Jersey.

Commonality gives us something additional to pull for. Not all Mets are created equal (e.g. no amount of commonality would ever get me to root for Mike Stanton).

[Vic Sage]

]I'm still waiting for the first Italian-English-German/American, who was born in a town along the CT coast to a firefighter father so I can have someone to identify with...

and if one came along, you'd be his fan for life.

I liked Lee Mazzilli out of proportion to his ability, because he played in the Gil Hodges Little Leage (in Coney Island) and went to Lincoln HS (like my brothers). I like Stephon Marbury for the same reasons. And now I'll like Shawn Green.

In a society where the joke "what's the thinnest book in the word? The book of Jewish sports heroes!" is still floating around, a little counter-example is always a nice thing for my kids to see.

[Centerfield]

Iubitul wrote: I'm still waiting for the first Italian-English-German/American, who was born in a town along the CT coast to a firefighter father so I can have someone to identify with...

Of course, there are very few negative stereotypes about Italian-English-German/Americans, who were born in a town along the CT coast to a firefighter father (none that I am aware of). And therefore, it is very rare for an ignorant person to tell an Italian-English-German/American kid, who was born in a town along the CT coast to a firefighter father, that they cannot play ball. Thereby eliminating any need for said kid to cite a successful Italian-English-German/American ballplayer, who was born in a town along the CT coast to a firefighter father, in order to refute the ignorant claims.

[Theoldmole]

No ballplayer of note was born on my birthday, and I refuse to get excited about Chien-Ming Wang.