Green as in Greenberg

"Everyone approaches their worship in their own way and goes about it differently. Playing one of the two is the most consistent with my beliefs as a Jewish person. I'm not orthodox. I am Jewish and I respect the customs, and I feel like this is the most consistent way for me to celebrate the holiday."

I say bullshit. The above quote is Shawn Green's rationalization for playing in one of the two crucial games that his Dodgers are playing against the Giants this Yom Kippur. What purpose does playing one game serve? Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year for Jews. From sundown Friday through sundown Saturday, observant Jews should not really be doing much of anything except going to synagogue. How can he justify playing in one game?

Most Jews will go to synagogue, many will try to fast, and some will even follow all the rules and not ride in a car, watch TV, use the internet, etc. This is fine, but Green is different. He is in the public eye. Rightly or wrongly, people look to see what he does. People are still talking about how Sandy Koufax wouldn't pitch a World Series game because it fell on Yom Kippur. He wasn't an observant Jew, but he felt that it was the right thing to do to respect the holiday. By playing in one game and not the other, Green chooses the worst possible decision. Either play in both games or play in neither. What sort of message is he sending? It is okay to duck out on your responsibility to your religion if your team is fighting for the playoffs? It is okay to miss a crucial game when you are going to pretend to be religious and that you care? If he really cared, he wouldn't even dream about playing.

Last night, Green's homerun was the difference in a 3-2 Dodgers victory. I'm sure that starting at sundown, Green fasted. Do sunflower seeds count as food?

I hope Green is spared the fate of former Rangers pitcher Edwin Correa. As a twenty year old rookie in 1986, he refused to pitch on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons because he is a Seventh Day Adventist. In 1987, the Rangers convinced him (Bobby V?) to pitch on a Saturday afternoon. He promptly threw out his shoulder and his career was pretty much over.