Dodgers’ Fate Mustn’t Be Tied to Green’s Faith

Sure, in the final week of the season, the final frantic hours of a pennant race, memories may blur.

It may be forgotten how Andy Ashby and Darren Dreifort were lost for the season and four starting pitchers ended up on the disabled list at the same time. It may be forgotten how the Dodgers played the first six weeks of the season without Adrian Beltre and how Gary Sheffield and Mark Grudzielanek spent time on the disabled list. It may be forgotten how the general manager was forced to resign, disrupting focus, how Eric Karros struggled offensively for most of the season and how the manager was forced to patch together lineups and rotations.

The point?

The point is this: There is no way the decision by one man to miss one game in a 162-game schedule can cost his team a pennant, although there are the forgetful zealots who are sure to scream just that if the Dodgers lose a Sept. 26 game against the San Francisco Giants without Shawn Green and ultimately miss out on a playoff berth by one game.

Green has told the Dodgers he will not play on that date in observance of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest of Jewish holidays.

Could it prove costly to the Dodgers? Of course. Green and Sheffield have been the most consistent run producers in an inconsistent lineup.

Could it prove harmful to Green? Of course.

There are those who will insist that a six-year, $84-million contract should buy a man’s soul, as well as all that comes with it. There are those who may not let him forget it if the Dodgers fail to advance by that one-game margin, even those who may paint it in the ugly hues of anti-Semitism.

Green knows the risks, to himself and his team, but should he be asked to sacrifice beliefs that have become stronger since he came home to Los Angeles, his contention that nothing is bigger than his religion and roots, his understanding that he is a representative of the Jewish community and role model to Jewish kids--and all kids searching for an identity and something more meaningful than ESPN and MTV?

Ironic, isn’t it?

Here we are in the distasteful aftermath of the Little League World Series, shaking our heads at how far parents will go in exploiting their kids, and here’s Shawn Green providing a beacon of another kind, reviving memories of a Dodger named Sandy Koufax, the Hall of Fame pitcher who never performed on Yom Kippur when it fell within the season, or even the postseason.

Koufax even missed Game 1 of the 1965 World Series against the Minnesota Twins in observance of the holiday. Don Drysdale drew the start and was hammered, 8-2, prompting the inimitable Lefty Gomez, a pitcher who was retired but never retiring, to stick his head into the Dodger clubhouse, nod in the direction of manager Walter Alston and shout, “Hey, Alston, I bet you wish Drysdale was Jewish, too.”

Koufax started Game 2 and lost, 5-1, but the Dodgers ultimately rallied behind their pitching aces to win the Series in seven games.

For Green, Yom Kippur has never fallen on a date that would force him to miss a game, but he had told the Dodgers last year that he would observe the holiday even if the team reached the playoffs.

He was raised by parents who acknowledge they are not particularly religious but who talked to their children about their heritage and left any decisions to them. Green discussed his hope of becoming more involved in Jewish life and community when acquired by the Dodgers and again in an interview with this reporter a few weeks ago, saying while he is limited in what he can do during the season he hoped to be more active during the off-season.

While still exploring the depth of his attachments and beliefs, Green’s decision regarding the Sept. 26 game with the Giants is a statement of faith and commitment.

It will also end the longest consecutive-games-played streak in the majors, but breaking Cal Ripken Jr.’s record is a quest both unlikely and secondary to this former Stanford student’s quest to understand more about who he is and where his roots run.

Clearly, if the Dodgers advance out of the crucible of this three-team division race, it will be--to a large extent--because of what Green contributed during his playing streak. If they fail, it will not be because the streak ended of his own choice in a potentially critical September game.

Management understands, although it has no choice. If the Dodgers react negatively to Green’s decision, the public reaction might be far worse than any that Green faces.

Besides, this is the organization that broke barriers with Jackie Robinson, that respected Koufax’s decisions and that, under the ownership of Walter O’Malley, openly yearned for a Jewish player as a prospective gate attraction--both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.

Now the major leagues are increasingly peopled by players of all backgrounds and beliefs.

Shawn Green, raised in Tustin, resident of Newport Beach, role model beyond any city limits, has opted to back his beliefs when the Dodgers play their 159th game on Sept. 26.

In measuring the impact of this one , the events of the previous 158 should not be forgotten.