Being a Jewish professional baseball player drew special attention to Shawn Green.

Once his religion became common knowledge, Jewish groups often approached him to make appearances in the cities he traveled to. He was even invited to a handful of Bar Mitzvahs, and admittedly took the bait once or twice.

“Yeah, I went to a few,” Green said through a smile and a chorus of laughs.

Judaism and baseball aren’t usually connected, but Green wove the two together throughout his talk at Gifford Auditorium on Monday. Sponsored by Syracuse’s Hillel Jewish Student Union Board, the interview-style discussion provided a look into Green’s life as a Major League Baseball player, as well as his connection to his religion.

Even though the ex-baseball player, disguised in dark-washed jeans and a gray button down under a thin sport coat, hid his emotions behind witty remarks, his message shone through. Years of playing baseball didn’t just give him a set list of funny stories, but a religion that will always be a part of him.

“What I found most interesting was that growing up, he didn’t really have a connection,” said Dan Gorman, a junior sport management major, after the event. “But he found it by playing baseball and going to all the cities he played in.”

A crowd dotted with assorted baseball apparel was treated to Green’s playful recount of his career, as well as an earnest illustration of his developed spirituality.

Green, who played in 15 Major League Baseball seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets, has been a Hillel priority since last spring. Zach Goldberg, Hillel’s president, was instrumental in bringing Green to SU. Goldberg said he was initially drawn to him because of his own affection for Green as a baseball player. But putting fan-hood aside, Goldberg saw Green as a speaker that not only connects to Jewish students and baseball fans, but also to everyone at SU.

“Hillel’s mission, in short, is to provide meaningful Jewish experiences, but we try to provide experiences for all of campus, Jewish or not,” Goldberg said. “Shawn Green, being the player that he is, as well as being notable as a Jewish athlete, made him an ideal person to bring in.”

After Goldberg introduced Green with a laundry list of baseball accomplishments, including his role with the Israeli national baseball team in 2013, Sydney Lampe, a senior broadcast and digital journalism major, facilitated the discussion.

Early on, Green made light-hearted jokes about his Jewish parents. When discussing his decision to attend Stanford University or sign a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays out of high school, he played on common stereotypes that drew a rousing reaction from the audience.

“I could tell my dad wanted me to sign, but my mom wanted me to go to school — you know, Jewish mother,” Green said. “But my dad wanted the money.”

He went on to speak candidly about a lifetime career in baseball. A slew of quips highlighted a discussion that included the psyche of a professional baseball player, the managers he played for — and disliked — and his early-career nickname, “Flaco,” which means skinny in Spanish.

He even likened his experience in baseball’s infamous steroid era to the “drug scene here at Syracuse.” He made the association because those involved with it collected and talked among themselves, while others stayed on the outside.

But he put the jokes on hold when discussing his connection to Judaism. Though he wasn’t raised in a particularly religious household, he said it was his experience as a professional athlete that shaped his faith. When Green was deciding which city to play in after his tenure in Toronto dialed down in 1999, he chose between Los Angeles and New York because of the prevalence of Judaism in the two areas.

“I feel a strong connection to being Jewish because of the challenges our people have overcome throughout history,” Green said. “I feel like that’s a part of me.”

A few more questions snapped Green out of his emotional lull.

Zach Schotz, a senior sport management major, was overjoyed when he was called on to ask an audience question. After calling Green his “idol growing up,” Schotz expressed some unfinished business between him and Green. Green is known for tossing balls and equipment into the stands, but Schotz said he never was lucky enough to catch one as a young Dodgers fan.

In an attempt to make up for it, Green jovially offered Schotz his left shoe.

Although the event wasn’t exactly what junior sport management major Dan Gorman thought it would be like, he was glad he attended.

“It was a lot funnier than I thought he would be,” Gorman said. “After that, I would love to just sit down and talk to him more.”

Published on October 15, 2013 at 1:23 am

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse