Dodgers' Green lets his hot bat speak for itself

LOS ANGELES -- One of these days, perhaps Shawn Green will feel comfortable with his newfound fame. Right now, it fits him about as well as one of Shaquille O'Neal's suits.

In the meantime, the Los Angeles Dodgers' bashful slugger keeps hitting home runs and letting the rest of baseball's power brokers soak up the media glare.

"It's a lot easier to deal with the press when you're just kind of going about your business and not doing anything great or terrible," said Green, who tied a major league record on May 23 at Milwaukee with four homers in one game -- and equaled another one Saturday night with homers in four consecutive plate appearances.

"But it's when you're at one of the extremes that you have a lot more questions to answer. I wasn't expecting as much attention as I got in Milwaukee, but it quieted down. That's how I like it."

It was a lot easier for the 29-year-old slugger to dodge the limelight during his five seasons in Toronto -- even when he was emerging as one of the game's premier home run hitters.

But once he became a Los Angeles Dodger after the 1999 season -- in a trade of All-Star right fielders that sent enigmatic Raul Mondesi to Toronto -- anonymity was no longer an option.

"For me, the hardest time dealing with the media in my career was the latter part of '99, when I was having a really good year and we were in the wild card hunt," Green said.

"I was in the spotlight a lot -- and then there were a lot of rumors that the Blue Jays were going to trade me to the Yankees, so the national media got a little more into it. That was draining for me, but I think that might even have prepared me for a big-market team."

Not a good start

After hitting 42 homers in his last season with the Blue Jays, Green hit 24 in his first season with the Dodgers.

It wasn't the kind of start fans or management expected from someone who had signed a six-year, $84 million contract. But they were willing to cut Green some slack because he was switching leagues.

One year was all he needed. Last season, Green set a Dodgers franchise record with 49 homers and became only the fifth player in history to have a 40-homer season in both leagues. His 125 RBIs were the most by a Dodger left-hander since the team moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958.

"That is one of the prettiest swings there is in the game," manager Jim Tracy said.

In Saturday night's 10-5 victory, Green homered to center field his first two times up against Anaheim lefty Scott Schoeneweis -- after homering to the opposite field his last two times up Friday against Ramon Ortiz.

"The last thing I want to think about is hitting home runs, because when I do, that's when I get into trouble," Green said. "But at the same time, I love getting into a home run groove, just like anybody else. The difference is that I've gotten into a lot more intense home run streaks and they're coming in larger bunches."

Joins elite club

Green is one of 22 players who have hit four consecutive homers over a two-day period, and the first since Barry Bonds did it May 19-20, 2001. Seattle's Mike Cameron homered in his first four plate appearances on May 2 against the Chicago White Sox.

In Milwaukee, Green became the 14th player to hit four homers in one game -- and set a major league mark with 19 total bases. He went on to break another big league record with seven home runs in a three-game span.

"I don't know if these records are starting to sink in yet," Green said. "It's been a wild ride the past few weeks. But I'm sure when I look back on the season, there are going to be a couple of things that will stay with me for the rest of my life and I'll never forget."