Dodgers’ first baseman Shawn Green is sitting on the fence on whether he will play against the SF Giants at this Saturday’s game, which takes place smack in the middle of Yom Kippur. With only 13 games left in the season, we understand his ambivalence.
“I’m not talking about it yet,” Green, who’s Jewish, said Sunday after his two-run, ninth-inning homer that put Los Angeles over Colorado 7-6. “I don’t want the media making a big deal out of it.”
Asked again later if he had decided, Green responded: “I just don’t want to talk about it yet.” Green didn’t play on Yom Kippur in 2001, but this year the Dodgers are barely ahead of the Giants for the NL West pennant.
Sure, these are important games, but Green could look for guidance in the precedent set by his teammate, Sandy Koufax, who refused to pitch in the 1965 World Series opener against Minnesota because it was played on Yom Kippur.
This is obviously Green’s personal decision, but if he wants the media to stay out of it, he’s dreaming. Jewish sports fans: where do you fall?
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Being an Angeleno, I want the home team to do well (and crush Barry Bonds’ dreams of a championship). And Shawn Green is instrumental to the Dodgers’ success. But it’s his call where he draws the line in following the traditions of his faith. We all make compromises in how we recognize our customs. Yeah, he’s dreaming if he thinks the media may stay out of it. But his is a good stance to take nonetheless.