'The Perfect Dodger'
Bob Nightengale, Baseball Weekly
LOS ANGELES -- DODGERS CEO BOB DALY opens the
door to his extravagant Dodger Stadium suite, and it's a Who's
Who of Hollywood. There's Tom Cruise in one corner. Look, there's
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Steven Spielberg is munching on a
hot dog. Hey, isn't that the woman in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
There are nearly 40 friends,
relatives, actresses and actors churning through Daly's suite
during the Dodgers' glorious home opener at their refurbished
stadium, and after admiring the suite, lavishing praise on the
team, they all have the same thing in mind.
"Uh, Bob, is Shawn Green married?"
"Bob, you wouldn't mind
introducing me to Shawn, would you?"
"Bob, if you give me
Shawn's number, I've got the perfect girl for him."
"Bob, trust me, he would
fall in love with my daughter."
Daly laughs at all of the
requests and tries to tell them that Green, the Dodgers' right
fielder, has a serious girlfriend of 1 1/2 years. Sorry, they
won't hear of it. They want to meet Green, one of the most
eligible bachelors in all of Los Angeles.
"Most of them want me to
fix him up with their daughters," Daly says. "They ask
me, 'Is he single?' 'How old is he? Well, I've got a daughter
that age who'd be perfect for him.' You hear mothers in the
Jewish community say, 'Shawn, do we have a girl for you.'
"Hey, who can blame
them?
"He's a good-looking
young man, as nice as they come, and he's signed to a contract
worth $84 million.
"How much better can it
get?"
Well, at least Daly's friends
are being diplomatic. The workplace of attorney Jeff Moorad,
Green's agent, is flooded daily with cards, pictures and flowers
hoping to meet the 6-4, 200-pound star with the wavy black hair.
Some of the women, let's just say, aren't real bashful.
"We tell people he has a
girlfriend," Moorad says, "but as long as he's single,
the females keep calling."
And the women don't stop
there. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles not only is
flooded with requests from Jewish organizations seeking his time,
but from plenty of women who would give anything to meet him.
"Hey, you should have
seen it in Toronto," says former teammate Dan Plesac, now with the Arizona
Diamondbacks. "You would hear all of the women screaming
every night he came to bat. Everybody loved him.
"What can you say, the
guy has everything going for him. But you know what? He's not
abusing it. He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever want to meet.
You couldn't ask for a better teammate, a better friend, and
someone that everyone respects.
"When he hits homers, he
doesn't stand at home plate watching it. He didn't flip his bat.
He doesn't point his finger to the guy when he throws someone out
in the field.
"He's just a ballplayer
and is as down-to-earth as anyone you'll ever meet."
Green might have a face that
belongs in Hollywood, a chiseled body that belongs in GQ, a brain
that landed a scholarship to Stanford, and talent that could one
day belong to the Hall of Fame, but he has an ego smaller than
your local batboy's.
You wouldn't know from
talking to him that this guy is making $14 million a year. His
only black book is the one he jots notes in about that game's
opposing pitcher. And he absolutely refuses to flaunt his fame.
Away from the stadium, Green
blends anonymously into the city, a celebrity without the face
recognition ... so far. "You put a backpack on him, throw
him on campus, and he'd look just like any other student,"
Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros says. "He's just a
genuine person."
Sure, he just purchased a
$3.9 million, 6,000-square-foot home in Pacific Palisades. But
he's quick to point out that only if you squint, can you see a
sliver of the ocean. And besides, he bought it for his friends
and family to hang out in his home, even hosting a barbecue on
Opening Day after the game, although he somehow forgot to buy a
brush for his new grill.
He bought a new gray
Mercedes, complete with every luxury known to man. "Now that
was a real stretch for me," he says. But hey, it was time
for a new car anyway. His beat-up SUV was piling on the miles.
The rest of the money is all
in the bank, well, except for the $750,000 home he recently
bought his folks, Ira and Judy Green. And the $1.5 million he has
committed to local charities. And the lavish gifts he bought his
sister, Lisa, and friends and family members.
"It's almost like he's
embarrassed about the money he's making," says Ira Green, a
former high school baseball and basketball coach who now owns a
sprawling indoor batting facility. "He kind of wishes that
he wasn't one of the highest-paid players. He can't wait until
more guys pass him."
Do you know any other major
league veteran who apologizes when his socks miss the clubhouse
clothes hamper, or treats the clubhouse attendants as if they're
front-office executives?
"He's awesome,"
says Dave "Bones" Dickinson, the highly respected
Dodgers assistant clubhouse manager. "He's unbelievable the
way he treats people. He respects everyone from the top
down."
You walk around the Dodgers'
clubhouse, and everyone has their favorite stories about Green,
their new teammate who only joined the organization last
November. They'll tell you about his modesty. They'll tell you
about his politeness. And they'll tell you he almost is too good
to be true.
"This guy is a true
superstar," rookie reliever Matt Herges says.
"He could be the biggest jerk in the world and get away with
it. Instead, he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met in my
life."