Mike Greenwell

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox baseball biography

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987.<ref name="pastime">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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).<ref name="espn">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="athletic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life

Greenwell was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 18, 1963, to Leonard and Martha Greenwell.<ref name="sabr"/> 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.<ref name="sabr">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Baseball career

Major League Baseball

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.<ref name=br>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=boknows/> He also served as the team's player representative for a time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Greenwell finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987.<ref name="pastime"/> On September 14, 1988, Greenwell hit for the cycle,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> becoming the 17th player to do so in Red Sox franchise history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the 1988 season, Greenwell batted .325 on average with 192 hits and second in the league in on-base percentage (OBP).<ref name="sabr"/> The hits were a career high, as were his 22 home runs, 39 doubles, and 119 RBIs.<ref name="athletic"/> He set the American League record for most game-winning RBIs in a single season with 23;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the game-winning RBI has since been discontinued as an official statistic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Greenwell was runner-up for the 1988 American League MVP Award to Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics.<ref name="sabr"/> Canseco had the first 40 home run, 40 stolen base season in baseball history;<ref name="sabr"/> years later, his admission of steroid use led Greenwell to ask, "Where's my MVP?"<ref name="espn"/>

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,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> a record for most runs driven in by one player accounting for all of that team's runs in a single game.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career MLB statistics

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:<ref name=br/>

"The Gator"

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.<ref name=boknows>Template:Cite news</ref>

Nippon Professional Baseball

Greenwell signed with the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball in 1997.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He did not return to Japan until late April.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He played his first game on May 3, and hit an RBI triple in that game despite having missed spring training.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Coaching

In 2001, Greenwell was hired during the offseason as a player-coach for the Cincinnati Reds' Double-A affiliate in Chattanooga, Tennessee.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Racing career

Template:Infobox NASCAR driver Upon his retirement from baseball, Greenwell began driving late model stock cars at New Smyrna Speedway, winning the 2000 Speedweeks track championship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="boknows"/>

Motorsports career results

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 Template:Tooltip Pts Ref
2006 Green Light Racing 08 Chevy DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY CLT MFD
Template:Small 		DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM
Template:Small 		IRP NSH BRI NHA LVS TAL MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 69th 149 citation CitationClass=web

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Personal life and death

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Greenwell was reelected for a full term in 2024, defeating Amanda Cochran in the Republican primary and Kizzie Fowler in the general election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Greenwell operated several businesses, including Big League Builders, a general construction company. Greenwell owned an Template:Convert 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Greenwell's wife Tracy was a nurse, and they had two sons, both of whom Greenwell coached.<ref name=boknows/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> First baseman Garrett started at Santa Fe College in 2011 before transferring to Oral Roberts University in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Greenwell was the uncle of Joey Terdoslavich,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> who played for the Atlanta Braves (2013–2015).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In mid-August 2025, Greenwell announced that he had been diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He died two months later on October 9 at the age of 62.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="MLB-obit">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Further reading

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