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Photo: AP
Green on the field
Photo: AP

Green ready to play in front of Jewish fans

Baseball star Shawn Green was traded to the Mets. Now he can't wait to play in front of New York Jews

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.

 

Observing Yom Kippur

In 2004, Green sat out a pennant race game for the Los Angeles Dodgers in observance of Kol Nidre, the start of Yom Kippur. 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 USD 6,312,156 US for Evan MacLane, a 23-year-old left-hander at Triple-A. Green has USD 13,248,634 remaining on his contract.  

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.24.06, 12:47
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