Special to ESPN.com
 
 DENVER -- With a decision that could make him his generation's 
Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax, Shawn Green, the star right 
fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, said Tuesday night that he 
will sit out his team's Sept. 26 game against San Francisco in 
observance of Yom Kippur. 

The game could very well help determine the playoff chances of 
the Dodgers, who entered Wednesday's games three games behind 
Arizona in the National League West and two games behind the 
wild-card leading Cubs. Green said that while the timing was 
unfortunate, it was not a major factor in his decision.
 
"It's something I feel is an important thing to do," Green said, 
"partly as a representative of the Jewish community, and as far 
as my being a role model in sports for Jewish kids, to basically 
say that baseball, or anything, isn't bigger than your religion 
and your roots."
 
Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, lasts from 
sundown on the 26th until sundown on the 27th. The Dodgers do not 
play on the 27th but face the Giants at 7:10 p.m. in Los Angeles 
on the 26th.
 
"I totally support (the decision), as I think anyone would," 
Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said. "This is about family and 
religion and I'm not one to stand in the way of that." 
The Dodgers' cleanup hitter and best all-around player,
Green is hitting .294 with 42 home runs and 109 RBI.
 
Green's decision comes 36 years after Koufax, the a star pitcher 
for the Dodgers, chose not to pitch the opening game of the 1965 
World Series in observance of Yom Kippur. Greenberg, raised 
Orthodox in the Bronx and later a slugger for the Detroit Tigers, 
sat out Yom Kippur after Detroit had all but clinched the 1934 
American League pennant. Those two players' placement of faith 
before baseball helped make them heroes to generations of Jews.
 
Green said that he would not have played the past several years 
on Yom Kippur, either, but the holiday always fell after the 
season had ended.
He acknowledged that sitting out what could be a pivotal game 
the last week of the season against his team's arch rival -- the 
Giants are in second place in the NL West, 1½ games ahead of Los 
Angeles -- could bring some negative public reaction, 
particularly considering he makes a $12,166,667 salary this
season, or slightly more than $75,000 for each of the 
Dodgers' 162 games.
 
"I wouldn't say I'm concerned about it. It's just something that 
people are going to have to understand," Green said. Should a 
Los Angeles loss wind up costing his team a chance at the 
postseason, he added, "I guess I'll have to look back at the 
couple of games that I didn't get hits and be upset about
those."
 
In an interesting twist, assuming Green doesn't get injured 
before Sept. 26, his streak of playing what is currently 401 
consecutive games, the longest active streak in the major 
leagues, will end voluntarily.
 
Green said he has not yet decided whether to attend Yom Kippur 
services, in part because of the attention his presence would 
draw. (Greenberg, for example, was met by his congregation with 
a mid-prayer standing ovation.)
Green claims not to be particularly religious -- he rarely went 
to services while growing up in Tustin, Calif., outside Los 
Angeles, though he didn't go to school on Yom Kippur. 
He was not Bar Mitzvahed.
 
While blossoming as a young star with the Blue Jays in the 
mid-1990s, Green's success became a source of pride among Jews 
nationwide, with Jewish organizations in many visiting cities 
inviting him to speak at various functions. (Complete strangers 
also sent him several marriage proposals and countless 
Bar Mitzvah invitations.) He described his appreciation for
his Jewish heritage as a "slow awakening," and after the 1999 
season he encouraged his trade to Los Angeles in part because 
of its large Jewish population.
 
While Green considered his decision personal, he has come to 
embrace what his actions could mean to the Jewish community. 
He is by far the most prominent of the approximately half-dozen 
Jewish players currently in Major League Baseball.
 
"I'm not really into making statements. That's not the purpose," 
Green said. "I just feel it's the right thing to do. I just feel 
that the position I'm in, it's important to set a good example."
 
Alan Schwarz is the Senior Writer for Baseball America