Shawn Green Under Fire For Putting His Religion Before His Team

[NATO AIR]

well you know what, to hell with the critics. I'm proud this guy is putting his faith before his team. (i despise the dodgers anyway, they need to go back to brooklyn then i will cheer for them)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6073795/


Green's critics need to back off, respect decision

‘Team first’ doesn't always apply in personal matters, especially with religion
Dodgers outfielder Shawn Green will sit out Saturday's game against the Giants to observe Yom Kippur.

COMMENTARY
By Michael Ventre
NBCSports.com contributor

Updated: 6:13 p.m. ET Sept. 22, 2004I was raised a Catholic. But today I don’t consider myself a devout Catholic, or even a practicing one. Yet when Good Friday rolls around, I still try not to eat meat. It’s an old habit, an observance of a tradition, a nod to a beautiful religion that still has its hooks in me many years after my first holy communion. Oh, I’ve stumbled occasionally, absent-mindedly wolfing down a cheesesteak and then saying “Oops.” But generally, I try to follow the rules, even though I don’t endorse the entire rule book.

Many of my Jewish friends have a similar approach to their religion. They may not live according to the letter of the law as set down in the Torah. But their faith is still important to them. It remains a vital part of who they are. So they try.

Everyone embraces their faith in varying degrees, which is why it’s utter nonsense for anyone to tell Shawn Green whether he should or should not play for the Dodgers on Friday night and Saturday afternoon during Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and their holiest time of the year.

No one can climb into Green’s head and determine to what extent he believes in God. No one can go back in time and count the number of services he has attended, or the number of prayers he has offered, and conclude that he is therefore in the 60th percentile of religious persons in the United States and thus eligible to skip a day or two of work.

But I will say this: If his religion is important to him, then he should put that above baseball and sit out both games.

Green has announced through a Dodgers’ spokesman that he will play Friday night and sit out Saturday afternoon’s game. Remember the story of King Solomon, who told two women to cut the baby in half, knowing that the real mother could never allow such a thing and would reveal herself? Maybe Green is hoping the Dodgers will have a similar response to his decision by saying, “Go ahead and take both games off.” Of course, the difference is King Solomon didn’t lead the Giants by a shaky 1.5 games in late September.

Still, Green should do what he believes is right. He should follow his conscience, not the standings. While the latter is a pure numbers game, the former is a judgment call.

There is no doubt that the timing of Yom Kippur this year is hardly ideal for the Dodgers. Because the holiday is observed according to the Hebrew calendar, it doesn’t always occur during the baseball season. And if you know anything about the Dodgers’ fortunes in recent years — they haven’t appeared in the postseason since 1996 — you’ll understand that it’s rarely an issue. If there were a freakish perfect storm of religious observances and somehow Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Christmas, Ramadan and Buddha’s Birthday all took place in late September, the Dodgers ordinarily would not be affected.

But the timing here is only important in a baseball sense, and that is far down the list of priorities. The issue is an individual’s beliefs, and those can only be determined by the individual, not by outsiders or even others of the same faith. In 1934, Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Tigers skipped a game during a pennant race in observance of Yom Kippur. In 1965, Sandy Koufax missed Game 1 of the World Series for the same reason. Those decisions were personal and private, even though they were held up to public scrutiny because of the circumstances.

Greenberg and Koufax made the right choices, because they were right for them.

I understand the “team first” attitude of the jock-minded in our culture. If an athlete doesn’t make himself available, he’s letting the other guys down. He’s putting his own needs ahead of the club. In many cases, that’s true. But applying it to every situation is a misguided knee-jerk response. And using it in a particular case where a player’s religious beliefs are involved is insulting.

If Shawn Green wants to worship God his way, and it happens to cause him to miss one or possibly two big baseball games, then so be it.

And not that it’s even important for this argument, but if Green did happen to miss both games against the Giants, it probably wouldn’t matter. The Dodgers’ lead in the NL West is evaporating because of their pitching. Jeff Weaver got rocked against the Padres Wednesday night. Hideo Nomo is finished. Kaz Ishii is unreliable. Edwin Jackson isn’t ready. Jose Lima and Odalis Perez are inconsistent.

This is a playoff hopeful that not only doesn’t have an ace, it doesn’t have a king, a queen or a jack of spades. In a way, the brouhaha over Green and Yom Kippur serves as a convenient smokescreen to the larger baseball problem. Maybe if the Dodgers gag over the weekend in San Francisco and give up the division lead, their fans will have a high-profile target for their gripes.

The Dodgers still won’t have an ace, but at least they’ll have a scapegoat.

Among Jews, though, Green’s adherence to his religion is far more important than wins and losses in the standings. By observing Yom Kippur — however he deems fitting and appropriate — he will crystallize the notion that devotion to sports is trivial when compared to devotion to faith. While others continue to eat, drink and breathe sports, Shawn Green will be fasting.

In a case like this, Green has the final say on the matter.

Michael Ventre writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.

 

[insein]

The thing is if Green was some backup bench player then this wouldnt even be an issue. Baseball is so full of shit its uncanny.

 

[dmp]

There are those who feel ANY reference or display of 'religion' does not belong in Pro-Sports. I remember years ago some asshats SUED? or otherwise complained about NFL Players meeting for prayer after games; on field.

(sigh).

 

[NATO AIR]

yea that was so pathetic. prayer brings these folks together to be a better team and stronger people. even in the NBA they have team prayers before games and even the Muslim players will join in.