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Shawn Green — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Toronto Blue Jays (1993–1999)

Green made his Major League debut on September 28 as the second-youngest player in the Major Leagues. Though he did not play in the 1993 World Series, he was awarded a World Series ring. He appeared in just seventeen games in 1993 and 1994.

In 1995, his full rookie season, Green started in 97 games, hitting fifteen home runs and batting .288. Green set Blue Jays rookie records in doubles (31), hit streak (14), extra base hits (50), and slugging percentage (.509). He came in fifth in voting for the American League Rookie of the Year.

His 1996 and 1997 seasons were similar, in that Green was given limited at-bats, wasn't trusted to hit left-handed pitching, and produced only sporadically. Green was, however, more aggressive on the base paths in 1997 than in any previous year, stealing 14 bases while being caught only three times.

In 1998, Green was granted an everyday spot in the line-up and he delivered by becoming the first Blue Jay to become a member of the 30–30 club, in which he hit over 30 home runs and stole 30 or more bases in the same season. He also became the tenth Major Leaguer to hit 35 or more home runs and steal 35 or more bases in a season, joining among others Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, and Alex Rodriguez. Green had never hit more than eighteen home runs in a season (major or minor leagues). He finished the season batting .278 with 35 home runs, 100 RBIs, and 35 stolen bases (a career best).

In 1999, Green proved his new-found power was no fluke. On April 22, he hit a 449-foot (137 m) home run into SkyDome's fifth deck, putting him in prestigious company with José Canseco, Mark McGwire, and Joe Carter. By the All-Star break, he had hit 25 home runs and knocked in 70 runs, earning him not only his first All-Star appearance, but also a chance to compete in the Home Run Derby at Fenway Park. Green hit only two home runs, however, and was eliminated in the first round. He finished the season batting .309 (a career best), with 42 home runs (5th in the league), 134 runs (2nd in the league, and a career best), 123 RBIs, and a .588 slugging percentage (fifth best in the league). Green also led the league in doubles (45), extra-base hits (87), and total bases (361). He hit a home run in every 14.6 at-bats. After the season, he was awarded a Gold Glove Award for his defense, and a Silver Slugger Award for his offense, and came in ninth in the voting for MVP.

In the off-season, Green expressed a desire to sign as a free agent with a team closer to his California roots after the 2000 season. The Blue Jays, facing the rising contract demands of Green and slugger teammate Carlos Delgado, decided not to leave the decision of which player to pursue until mid-way through the season. On November 8, 1999, Green was traded with Jorge Nuñez to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Pedro Borbón Jr. and Raúl Mondesí. Green quickly signed an extension with Los Angeles, agreeing to an $84 million ($157,000,000 today)/six-year deal that included a $4 million ($7,478,000 today) signing bonus.

Los Angeles Dodgers (2000–2004)

With a lot of pressure riding on his now well-paid shoulders, Green struggled at times in 2000, his first season with Los Angeles. Still, he led the league in games played (with 162), and was fifth in the league in doubles with 44 (the second-highest total in Dodgers history), while driving in 99 runs. He also had one of the longest consecutive games on-base streaks in baseball history, at 53; five behind Duke Snider's modern day National League (NL) record. He hit home runs in five straight games; the only other Dodgers to achieve this feat are Roy Campanella (1950), Matt Kemp (2010), Adrián González (2014–15), Joc Pederson (2015) and Shohei Ohtani (2025). He hit .329 in late innings of close games.

Green had a career year in 2001, batting .297 (.331 with runners in scoring position) with a .598 slugging percentage (a career best), 49 home runs (a career best), 121 runs (7th in the league), 125 RBIs (a career best), 370 total bases (5th in the league), and 20 stolen bases. His 49 home runs set a Dodgers single-season record (a record which stood until Shohei Ohtani hit his 50th home run of the season on September 19, 2024), but only tied for fourth in the league, behind Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Luis González. For the fourth straight year he stole 20 or more bases, and batted .331 with runners in scoring position. Green came in sixth in voting for league MVP.

Green made headlines for two decisions that he made during the 2001 season. On September 26, he stood by his word and sat out a game for the first time in 415 games, to honor the most significant holiday on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. He also made a second notable decision on September 26, donating his day's pay of $75,000 ($136,000 in 2025) to a charity for survivors of the New York 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Green started off slowly in 2002, but turned things around with a record-setting power display. On May 23, the turning point of his season, he had one of the best single game performances ever. He hit a Major League record-tying four home runs and a record-tying five extra-base hits (he hit a double in addition to the home runs) against the Milwaukee Brewers, and had 19 total bases, breaking Joe Adcock's 1954 Major League record by one, while matching the major league record of six runs scored in one game. This record has since been matched by Nick Kurtz in 2025. No other major league player had six hits, five runs, and as many as four extra-base hits in a game again until Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers in 2009. He hit a fifth home run during the following game to tie the Major League two-game home run record (five), and then hit two more the game after to break the Major League three-game record (seven). Green also broke the NL record with nine home runs in that calendar week. He was voted to the All-Star team, and finished the season with a .285 average, .385 On-base percentage (a career best), 42 home runs (third in the league), 114 RBIs (fourth in the league), 114 runs (fourth in the league), 93 walks (a career best), 22 intentional walks (fifth in the league), and 20 stolen bases. He hit .333 with runners in scoring position and two out. Green came in 5th in voting for league MVP.

In 2003, Green struggled with his power and RBI production. He had problems with tendinitis in his left shoulder, which limited him to a 19 home runs and 85 RBIs as he batted .280. Still, he was second in the league in doubles (with 49; a career best).

Green's power improved in 2004, as he hit 28 home runs and collected 86 RBIs, while batting .266, leading the Dodgers to the 2004 playoffs. Green moved to first base for much of the season. He hit three home runs in the post-season, in just 16 at bats.

Green was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks on January 11, 2005. He waived his no-trade clause for a three-year extension from the team for $32 million. The trade was part of a three-team trade which sent Green and cash to the Diamondbacks, in exchange for catcher Dioner Navarro and three minor leaguers.

New York Mets (2006–07)

Green's second at-bat as a Met was an RBI single off Cardinals' pitcher Jason Marquis, another Jewish ball player.

Overall, in 2006 Green had his worst offensive year in a decade. He hit only 15 home runs, with 66 RBI, four stolen bases, a .432 slugging percentage, and a .277 batting average. Green's fifteen home runs matched his second-lowest total since becoming a full-time player. His 73 runs scored was also a significant drop-off from the 134 runs he scored in his outstanding 1999 season with Toronto. One bright point was that his .799 OPS against lefties was the tenth-best in the league for lefty batters. Curiously, while he had the ninth-highest ground ball/fly ball ratio in the league (2.17), he also tied with Barry Bonds for the longest average home run in the NL in 2006 (407 ft). His 470-foot (140 m) home run against the Mets on April 11 was the ninth-longest in the NL for the year, and only two longer home runs were hit in the AL. He also had another bright point—he struck out only 15.5% of the time, his best career year through 2006. He faded as the season progressed, dropping 65 points—and batting .240—after the All Star break.

After the season ended, Green was 18th of all active players in doubles (and younger than all those ahead of him), and in the top thirty of all active players in home runs, runs, total bases, and extra base hits. He was also in the top 100 of all players ever lifetime in home runs.

2006 marked only the second post-season appearance of Green's career. In the 2006 playoffs, Green tied for the team lead with three doubles, and hit .313, second best on the team (as the Mets hit only .250).

On February 13, 2007, the Mets declined a $10 million mutual option on Green's contract, that would have kept him in New York through the 2008 season. He got a $2 million buyout instead. The report came amid retirement rumors. Green commented on them, saying: "There's been no decision on the future at all as far as I'm concerned. I'm planning on playing and seeing how things go...."

In the fifth inning of the May 25, 2007, game against the Florida Marlins, Green suffered a chip fracture of the first metatarsal bone in his right foot when he fouled a ball off of it. Green at the time of the injury was batting .314, tenth-best in the NL, and .341 against right-handers, with five home runs, 22 RBIs, twelve doubles, and four stolen bases. On May 29, Green was placed on the 15-day disabled list; his first time on the DL in his career. The bone was expected to fully heal in six weeks, but he was activated well before then; on June 11 he was back in the lineup, though the bone was not completely healed, and went 2–for–4 with a run batted in and a stolen base.

On June 24, Green started at first base for the first time since 2006, when he was a member of the Diamondbacks.