Top Blue Jays Player #17: Shawn Green
Position: Right
Field
Seasons With the
Jays: 7 (1993-1999)
MLB Awards: Silver
Slugger (1999)
Gold Glove (1999)
All-Star Game
Selection: 1999
Stats: Games Played 716 Batting Average .286
Base Hits 718 Runs
Scored 402
Home Runs 119 RBIs 376
Doubles
164 Triples 15
Stolen Bases 76 Walks 206
Shawn Green was one of the
players the Jays looked upon to rejuvenate their fortunes during the late
1990s. Unfortunately, the success from earlier in the decade was never
replicated and the players started to leave one-by-one.
Green was drafted in the first
round (16th overall) in the 1991 June Amateur Draft. It was obvious
that he would be a five-tool player (hit for average and power, speed, arm
strength and fielding abilities) and would excel in the Jays lineup for many
years to come.
He appeared in three games in
1993 but when 0 for 6. In 1994, he played 14 games and only batted .091 in 33
official at-bats. Finally in 1995, he got his chance to play everyday,
appearing in 122 games. The flashes of an All-Star were provided when he batted
.288, hit 15 home runs, added 54 RBIs and finished fifth in voting for the
American League Rookie of the Year Award.
Similar stats followed for 1996
(.280, 11, 45) and 1997 (.287, 16, 53) as Toronto was starting to put together
a team that could challenge for the division title again. They had the 1996 Cy
Young Award winner in Pat Hentgen in the rotation, and added free-agent signee
from the the Boston Red Sox, Roger Clemens, for the 1997 season. Green was
joined in the line-up by first baseman Carlos Delgado, shortstop Alex Gonzalez
and outfielder Shannon Stewart.
And 1998 was the year that
Green’s power emerged as he smacked 35 home runs, added 100 RBIs and even stole
35 bases while batting .278. But it would be in 1999 that Green would have his
best year with the Blue Jays with a .309 batting average, 45 home runs, 123
RBIs, 20 stolen bases. He also set the franchise record for a hitting streak
when he recorded a hit in 28 consecutive games. He was selected to his first
All-Star Game, won a Silver Slugger Award, a Gold Glove and finished fifth in
voting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
But the hearts of Blue Jays’
fans were broken during the off-season when Green expressed the desire to
become a free agent at the end of the 2000 season and join a team closer to his
home in California. Not willing to lose Green for nothing as a free agent, the
Jays took the initiative and traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Raul
Mondesi.
For LA, Green would have two
more MVP-calibre season in 2001 and 2002 (he finished sixth and fifth in the
voting, respectively) but then his numbers started to erode. After hitting 42
homers in 2002, he dropped to 19 the following season. Although he bumped his
total to 28 in 2004, he would never again display the power he once possessed.
After leaving the Dodgers after
the 2004 season, he would play with both the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York
Mets over the next two season, finally retiring after the 2007 season. For his
career, Green would finish with a .283 batting average, 376 home runs, 1040
RBIs and 162 stolen bases.
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