Ten years ago the Dodgers’ Shawn Green made history [Web links]

It was 10 years ago today, Shawn Green taught the band to play -- no, wait, may I reintroduce to you possibly the single greatest offensive day by a player in major league history?

Green was a struggling disappointment 10 years ago, that sweet swing suddenly vanished without explanation. He had been booed in his last home game.

But then came May 23, 2002 in Milwaukee. And by the end of the day, Green was rewriting the record books.

He hit a record-tying four home runs, went six for six, scored six times and set a major league record with 19 total bases. The Miller Park crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“That was phenomenal,” first baseman Eric Karros told The Times’ Mike DiGiovanna then. “The funny thing is, four days ago everyone was ready to write him off, and he got booed in L.A. That’s why you can’t overreact to one game, one series, one week, even one month. People who don’t really know the game sometimes have a tendency to do that.”

Eric Stephen revisits Green’s big day at True Blue LA, and Chris Jaffe takes a detailed look at the Hardball Times.

And happy anniversary to Green, who still lives in Orange County, does community-relations work for the Dodgers and has co-written “The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 MPH.”

Also on the Web:

-- They are starting to believe out there. Both ESPN and CBS Sports now rank the Dodgers as the No. 1 team in baseball.

-- Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown looks at the unexpected detours taken early this season by Los Angeles’ two clubs.

-- Andre Ethier tells The Times’ Bill Shaikin he doesn’t plan on setting a deadline on contract negotiations with the Dodgers prior to his potentially becoming a free agent this off-season.

-- ESPN’s Mark Simon tries a mathematical approach in trying to figure out why Ted Lilly is 5-0 this season.

-- The Times’ Andrew Blankstein has more details about that fan beating Sunday at Dodger Stadium, and they’re not good.

-- CBS Sports’ Scott Miller said that at a time the Dodgers should be most vulnerable, they continue to tear it up.

-- Matt Kemp is on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated with some guy named Magic Johnson.

-- And while we’re on photos, James Loney is engaged and has photos to announce it.

-- Mike Petriello writes at MSTI that the Dodgers’ six-game streak of having scored six or more runs is bordering on historic.

-- At the quarter pole in the season, ESPN’s Jayson Stark thinks that Don Mattingly is the leading candidate for National League manager of the year, but that the Mets’ David Wright has overtaken Matt Kemp in the MVP race.

-- Jon Weisman said the Dodgers’ current thrill ride has just about rendered him speechless, or maybe wordless.

-- Robert Timm thinks the Dodgers’ unexpected play will actually put more pressure on GM Ned Colletti to make a bold move at the trading deadline.