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Mike Greenwell

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Mike Greenwell
Greenwell with the Boston Red Sox in 1986
Left fielder
Born: (1963-07-18)July 18, 1963
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died: October 9, 2025(2025-10-09) (aged 62)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 5, 1985, for the Boston Red Sox
NPB: May 3, 1997, for the Hanshin Tigers
Last appearance
MLB: September 28, 1996, for the Boston Red Sox
NPB: May 11, 1997, for the Hanshin Tigers
MLB statistics
Batting average.303
Home runs130
Runs batted in726
NPB statistics
Batting average.231
Home runs0
Runs batted in5
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Michael Lewis Greenwell (July 18, 1963 – October 9, 2025) was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire MLB career with the Boston Red Sox (1985–1996). He played seven games for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan (1997), before retiring. Greenwell was nicknamed "the Gator". He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.[2] He was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987.[3] Greenwell finished as the runner-up for the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1988 after batting .325 along with career highs of 22 home runs and 119 runs batted in (RBIs).[4][5]

Early life

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Greenwell was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 18, 1963, to Leonard and Martha Greenwell.[1] When he was five years old, his family relocated to Fort Myers, Florida. He attended North Fort Myers High School, where he played both baseball and football.[1]

Baseball career

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Major League Baseball

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Greenwell was drafted in the third round of the 1982 Major League Baseball Draft by the Red Sox, and was signed on June 9, 1982.[6] Since 1940, Boston's left fielders had included Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice—all MVP winners, regular triple crown candidates, and eventual members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. While not reaching those levels, Greenwell provided a solid and reliable presence in the team's lineup for several seasons.[7] He also served as the team's player representative for a time.[8]

Greenwell finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987.[3] On September 14, 1988, Greenwell hit for the cycle,[9] becoming the 17th player to do so in Red Sox franchise history.[10] During the 1988 season, Greenwell batted .325 on average with 192 hits and second in the league in on-base percentage (OBP).[1] The hits were a career high, as were his 22 home runs, 39 doubles, and 119 RBIs.[5] He set the American League record for most game-winning RBIs in a single season with 23;[11] the game-winning RBI has since been discontinued as an official statistic.[12] Greenwell was runner-up for the 1988 American League MVP Award to Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics.[1] Canseco had the first 40 home run, 40 stolen base season in baseball history;[1] years later, his admission of steroid use led Greenwell to ask, "Where's my MVP?"[4]

On September 2, 1996, the Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 9–8 in 10 innings at the Kingdome, with Greenwell driving in all nine runs for the Sox,[13] a record for most runs driven in by one player accounting for all of that team's runs in a single game.[14] He was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2008.[15]

Career MLB statistics

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G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH HBP FLD%
1269 4623 657 1400 275 38 130 726 80 43 460 364 .303 .368 .463 2141 3 39 .981
Source:[6]

"The Gator"

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Greenwell received his nickname during spring training in Winter Haven. He had captured an alligator, taped its mouth shut, and put it in Ellis Burks' locker.[7]

Nippon Professional Baseball

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Greenwell signed with the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1997.[16] His career in the major leagues heightened expectations from Japanese fans, but he left the team during spring training and returned to the United States; he had suffered a herniated disc when diving for a ball.[17] He did not return to Japan until late April.[18] He played his first game on May 3, and hit an RBI triple in that game despite having missed spring training.[19] However, Greenwell suddenly announced his retirement after appearing in just seven games; he had fractured his right foot with a foul tip, and the injury would have prevented him from playing for at least four weeks.[20][21]

Coaching

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In 2001, Greenwell was hired during the offseason as a player-coach for the Cincinnati Reds' Double-A affiliate in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[22] Greenwell was also the interim hitting coach for the Reds in 2001, filling in when Ken Griffey Sr. was given a medical leave of absence.[23][24]

Racing career

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Mike Greenwell
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish69th (2006)
First race2006 City of Mansfield 250 (Mansfield)
Last race2006 O'Reilly 200 (Memphis)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Upon his retirement from baseball, Greenwell began driving late model stock cars at New Smyrna Speedway, winning the 2000 Speedweeks track championship.[25] In May 2006, he made his Craftsman Truck Series debut at Mansfield Motorsports Park for Green Light Racing, starting 20th and finishing 26th. In 2010, Greenwell gave up racing.[7]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCTC Pts Ref
2006 Green Light Racing 08 Chevy DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY CLT MFD
26 		DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM
33 		IRP NSH BRI NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 69th 149 [26]
[27]

Personal life and death

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In 2022, Mike Greenwell was appointed by Florida governor Ron DeSantis to serve the remaining term of county commissioner Franklin B. Mann after Mann had died.[28] Greenwell was reelected for a full term in 2024, defeating Amanda Cochran in the Republican primary and Kizzie Fowler in the general election.[29]

Greenwell operated several businesses, including Big League Builders, a general construction company. Greenwell owned an 890-acre (3.6 km2) ranch in Alva, Florida, which, as a developer and county commissioner, he rezoned in 2023 for land development to include new housing and commercial units.[30] He owned an amusement park in Cape Coral, Florida called Mike Greenwell's Bat-A-Ball & Family Fun Park, which opened in 1992. The park is now currently under different ownership and was renamed Gator Mike's in honor of Greenwell.[31]

Greenwell's wife Tracy was a nurse, and they had two sons, both of whom Greenwell coached.[7][32] Bo was drafted as an outfielder in the sixth round of the 2007 MLB Draft; he spent eight years in the minor leagues in the farm systems of the Cleveland Indians (2007–2013) and the Red Sox (2014).[33][34][35] First baseman Garrett started at Santa Fe College in 2011 before transferring to Oral Roberts University in 2013.[36] Greenwell was the uncle of Joey Terdoslavich,[37] who played for the Atlanta Braves (2013–2015).[38]

In mid-August 2025, Greenwell announced that he had been diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer.[39] He died two months later on October 9 at the age of 62.[40][41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Wancho, Joseph (June 18, 2020). "Mike Greenwell". sabr.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
  2. ^ "Sortable Player Stats". Major League Baseball. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Greenwell Makes List of Hall Nominees". Boston Pastime. January 8, 2002. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Greenwell makes case for '88 MVP". ESPN. February 17, 2005. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Jennings, Chad (May 22, 2020). "Greatness beneath the wall: The 10 best left-field seasons in Red Sox history". The Athletic. Retrieved October 13, 2025. His 22 home runs, 39 doubles, 119 RBIs and 192 hits were all career highs.
  6. ^ a b "Mike Greenwell Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Grossfeld, Stan (June 29, 2010). "Bo knows". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016.
  8. ^ "GREENWELL FINDS ANOTHER NICHE AS TEAM LEADER". Hartford Courant. December 6, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  9. ^ "Boston Red Sox 4, Baltimore Orioles 3", Retrosheet, September 14, 1988
  10. ^ Smith, Christopher (June 17, 2015). "List of the 20 Boston Red Sox players who have hit for the cycle starting with Brock Holt". masslive.com. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  11. ^ "Game Winning Runs Batted In Records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
  12. ^ Granillo, Larry (February 16, 2012). "Wezen-Ball: The Drawbacks and Demise of a Stat". Baseball Prospectus. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  13. ^ "Boston Red Sox 9, Seattle Mariners 8", Retrosheet, September 2, 1996
  14. ^ "RBI Records / Runs Batted in Records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  15. ^ Dzen, Gary (February 25, 2008). "Eight selected to Red Sox Hall of Fame". Boston.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  16. ^ "Greenwell Is Going To Play in Japan". New York Times. December 18, 1996. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  17. ^ Miller, Glenn (February 26, 1997). "Injured Greenwell comes back home". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. Retrieved January 6, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Greenwell's Back". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. May 1, 1997. Retrieved January 6, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Greenwell triples in Japanese debut". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Associated Press. May 4, 1997. Retrieved January 6, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Dorsey, David (May 15, 1997). "Greenwell calls it a career". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. Retrieved January 6, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Struggling Greenwell calls it quits". South Coast Today. May 15, 1997. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  22. ^ "Greenwell will attempt comeback". reds.enquirer.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  23. ^ "Greenwell Promoted". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. June 19, 2001. Retrieved January 6, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Griffey Sr. gets acupuncture". Lubbock Avalanche Journal. Associated Press. July 3, 2001. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  25. ^ "Former Boston OF Greenwell slated for NASCAR trucks debut". USA Today. Associated Press. May 23, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  26. ^ "Mike Greenwell NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results at Mansfield". DriverAverages.com. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
  27. ^ "Mike Greenwell NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results at Memphis". DriverAverages.com. Retrieved October 10, 2025.
  28. ^ "Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Michael Greenwell to the Lee County Board of County Commissioners". Executive Office of the Governor. July 22, 2022. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  29. ^ "2024 Candidates". Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  30. ^ "Lee County commissioner's Alva land rezoned for major development". Wink News. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  31. ^ Haddad, CJ (October 9, 2025). "Commissioner Mike Greenwell mourned". capecoralbreeze.com. Cape Coral Breeze. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
  32. ^ Krasner, Steven (1998). "No diamond, but Greenwell's life still a gem". Providence Journal. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  33. ^ "Bo Greenwell Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  34. ^ Lauber, Scott (March 2, 2014). "Family reunion: Carl Yastrzemski in Red Sox camp, may get to watch grandson play for Orioles". Boston Herald. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  35. ^ Dorsey, David (March 27, 2014). "Red Sox fans know the Greenwell name". The News-Press. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  36. ^ "Garrett Greenwell Profile and Statistics". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  37. ^ Laurilla, David (May 24, 2013). "Q&A: Joey Terdoslavich, Future Braves Basher". Fangraphs. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  38. ^ "Joey Terdoslavich". baseball-reference.com. Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 9, 2025.
  39. ^ Healey, Emma (August 18, 2025). "Former Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell diagnosed with cancer". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 18, 2025.
  40. ^ Curtis, James (October 10, 2025). "Red Sox Hall of Famer and Lee County Commissioner Mike Greenwell dies after battle with cancer". WBBH. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  41. ^ Browne, Ian (October 9, 2025). "Red Sox OF Greenwell, 'unbelievable teammate and unbelievable friend,' dies at 62". MLB.com. Retrieved October 13, 2025.

Further reading

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Achievements
Preceded by Hitting for the cycle
September 14, 1988 		Succeeded by
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