Face of the Jewish ballplayer

Today's Record reports that when Sunday's New York Mets game was cancelled for rain, "[Shawn] Green came out of the locker room to meet with a group of 15 to 20 reporters, most from Jewish publications that had little interest in the day-to-day workings of the Mets. But they wanted to speak to Green because he is the... face of the Jewish ballplayer. " (Sunday was Shea Stadium's annual Jewish Heritage Day. Since the baseball game was postponed, tickets to the game were honored on Monday.)

Shawn Green was quoted as saying, "When it came to Yom Kippur [in L.A.], I had to do what was consistent with my own beliefs rather than what everyone else expected. As far as off-the-field stuff, there's only a few Jewish players in the game and there's a ton of Jewish fans. I do what I can and that's all I can do."

The newest New York Met also said he wants to take a prominent role in the Jewish community after the (post-)season ends, "next year I want to be in New York and kind of not just go there and play baseball. I want to be a part of their Jewish community."