Where Traditions Meet

Designated hitter Shawn Green, a two-time All-Star and 15-year-major-league veteran, recalled a time in the mid-’90s when he was playing for Toronto and went to bat against Milwaukee during Rosh Hashanah. [Jesse Levis, who is Jewish] was catching. “We used to call each other ‘Yid,’” Green says. “So, I go up to the plate, I say, ‘Happy new year, Yid,’ and he said, ‘Hey, yeah, shana tova, Yid.’ And Al Clark was the umpire. He goes, ‘Happy new year, guys. Shana tova.’ “Al Clark? He goes, ‘Yeah, I’m Jewish too,’ and we’re talking. Meanwhile, strike 1. I’m kind of focused on the conversation. But it was pretty cool to have that experience. Probably the only time in baseball when three Jews were at home plate at the same time.

In 2017, when asked if Team Israel wasn’t basically just Team USA’s junior varsity team, he replied that we weren’t, adding that most of our guys couldn’t have made that team.

“Life is like a baseball game. When you think a fastball is coming, you gotta be ready to hit the curve.” — Jaja Q.