Michael Lewis Greenwell (born July 18, 1963) is an American former
left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB) who played his entire MLB career with the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
(1985–1996). He played seven games for the
Hanshin Tigers
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...
in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
(1997), before retiring. Greenwell was nicknamed "The Gator". He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was fourth in
Rookie of the Year voting in 1987. Greenwell was a leading contender for the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
MVP
MVP most commonly refers to:
* Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition
* Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering
MVP may also refer to:
...
award in 1988, but lost to
Jose Canseco
José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established hims ...
, who had the first
40 home run, 40 stolen base season in baseball history. Greenwell
hit .325 with 22 home runs and 119
RBIs in 1988, setting career highs in all three categories.
Early life
Greenwell was born in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
. When he was five years old, his family relocated to
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,395; it was estimated to have grown to 95,949 in 2022, making it the List o ...
. He attended
North Fort Myers High School, where he played both baseball and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
.
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. Throughout his Red Sox career, Greenwell suffered under the weight of lofty expectations for a Boston left fielder, as since 1940 the position had been occupied by
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...
,
Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Michael Yastrzemski Sr. ( ; born August 22, 1939), nicknamed "Yaz", is an American former professional baseball player who played his entire career with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He started his career primarily as a ...
and
Jim Rice
James Edward Rice (born March 8, 1953) is an American former professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Rice played his entire 16-year MLB career for the Boston Red Sox. In 2009, Rice was ...
— all
MVP
MVP most commonly refers to:
* Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition
* Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering
MVP may also refer to:
...
winners, regular
triple crown candidates, and eventual members of the
Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...
. Although his play rarely reached the level of his predecessors, he provided a solid and reliable presence in the team's
lineup for several seasons. Well respected, he also served as the team's player representative for a time.
[ Greenwell was runner-up for the 1988 American League MVP Award to ]Jose Canseco
José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established hims ...
of the Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
; years later, Canseco's admission of steroid
A steroid is an organic compound with four fused compound, fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration.
Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes t ...
use led Greenwell to ask, "Where's my MVP?"
On September 14, 1988, Greenwell hit for the cycle
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization ...
, becoming the 17th player to do so in Red Sox franchise history. On September 2, 1996, the Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
9–8 in 10 innings at the Kingdome
The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...
, with Greenwell driving in all nine runs for the Sox, a record for most runs driven in by one player accounting for all of that team's runs in a single game. He also holds the American League record for most game-winning RBI
A game-winning RBI (GWRBI) is a statistic that was used in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1980 to 1988. Building upon the run batted in (RBI) statistic, the ''game-winning'' RBI was defined in MLB rules as "the RBI that gives a club the lead it ...
s in a single season, with 23 in 1988; the game-winning RBI has since been discontinued as an official statistic. Greenwell was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame
The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of selected former Boston Red Sox players, coaches and managers, and non-uniformed personnel. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, ...
in 2008.
Career MLB statistics
"The Gator"
Greenwell received his nickname during spring training in Winter Haven. He had captured an alligator
An alligator, or colloquially gator, is a large reptile in the genus ''Alligator'' of the Family (biology), family Alligatoridae in the Order (biology), order Crocodilia. The two Extant taxon, extant species are the American alligator (''A. mis ...
, taped its mouth shut, and put it in Ellis Burks
Ellis Rena Burks (born September 11, 1964) is an American former outfielder. Burks played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 18 seasons from 1987 to 2004 with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, and Cle ...
' locker.
Nippon Professional Baseball
Greenwell signed with the Hanshin Tigers
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team playing in the Central League. The team is based in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, next to their main stadium, Hanshin Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers are owned by Hanshin Electric Railway Co., ...
of Nippon Professional Baseball
is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball".
The roots of the league ...
in 1997. His career in the major leagues heightened expectations from Japanese fans, but he left the team during spring training
Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
and returned to the United States; he had suffered a herniated disc
A disc herniation or spinal disc herniation is an injury to the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, ...
when diving for a ball. He did not return to Japan until late April. He played his first game on May 3, and hit an RBI triple
Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble":
Sports
* Triple (baseball), a three-base hit
* A basketball three-point field goal
* A figure skating jump with three rotations
* In bowling terms, three strikes in a row
* I ...
in that game despite having missed spring training. 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.
Coaching
In 2001, Greenwell was hired during the offseason as a player-coach
A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...
for the Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
' Double-A affiliate in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. 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.
Racing career
Upon his retirement from baseball, Greenwell began driving late model
Late Model stock car racing, also known as late model racing and late models, refers to a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other primarily on oval tracks. This type of racing was early-on ...
stock car
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses. It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It originated in the southe ...
s at New Smyrna Speedway
New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt Oval track racing, oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller trac ...
, winning the 2000 Speedweeks
Daytona Speedweek presented by AdventHealth is a series of racing events that take place during January and February at Daytona International Speedway. Traditionally leading up to the Daytona 500, in 2021 it concluded with the 2021 O'Reilly Auto ...
track championship. In May 2006, he made his Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...
debut at Mansfield Motorsports Park
Mansfield Motor Speedway (formerly Mansfield Motorsports Park and Mansfield Motorsports Speedway) was a Dirt track racing, dirt track located in Mansfield, Ohio, United States. Former NASCAR driver Matt Tifft purchased the facility in 2025, wi ...
for Green Light Racing
SS-Green Light Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet Camaro SS for multiple drivers and the No. 14 primari ...
, starting 20th and finishing 26th. In 2010, Greenwell gave up racing.
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
Personal life
In 2022, Mike Greenwell was appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis
Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...
to serve the remaining term of County Commissioner Franklin B. Mann after he died. He was subsequently reelected for a full term in 2024, defeating Amanda Cochran in the Republican primary and Kizzie Fowler in the general.
Greenwell operates several businesses, including "Big League Builders", a general construction company. Greenwell owns an ranch in Alva, Florida, which, as a developer and county commissioner himself, he has rezoned in 2023 for land development to include new housing and commercial units. He owned an amusement park in Cape Coral, Florida
Cape Coral is a city in Lee County, Florida, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico. Founded in 1957, the city's population had grown to 194,016 as of the 2020 census, a 26% increase from 154,309 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-most p ...
, called "Mike Greenwell's Bat-A-Ball & Family Fun Park", which opened in February 1992. He recently sold the park, which is now known as Gator Mike's.
Greenwell's wife Tracy is a nurse, and they have two sons, both of whom Greenwell coached.[ Bo was drafted as an outfielder in the sixth round of the ]2007 MLB Draft
The 2007 Major League Baseball draft, was an annual choosing of high school and college baseball players, held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the first 25 rounds and was scheduled to be broadcast "l ...
; he spent a total of eight years in the minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
, in the farm system
In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...
s of the Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
(2007–2013) and the Red Sox (2014). First baseman Garrett started at Santa Fe College
Santa Fe College is a public college in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida College System and offers both associate and baccalaureate degree programs. Established in 1965 by the Florida Legislature as Santa Fe Junior ...
in 2011 before transferring to Oral Roberts University
Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a Private university, private Evangelicalism, evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian preacher Oral ...
in 2013. Greenwell is the uncle of Joey Terdoslavich, who played for the Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...
(2013–2015).
See also
*
* List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle
In baseball, completing hitting for the cycle, the cycle is the accomplishment of hit (baseball), hitting a single (baseball), single, a double (baseball), double, a triple (baseball), triple, and a home run in the same game. In terms of freque ...
References
Further reading
*
Mike Greenwell profile
at SawxHeads.com via Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
External links
*
*
*
Mike Greenwell's Bat-A-Ball & Family Fun Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwell, Mike
1963 births
American expatriate baseball players in Japan
American League All-Stars
Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky
Boston Red Sox players
Cincinnati Reds coaches
Elmira Pioneers players
Hanshin Tigers players
Living people
Major League Baseball left fielders
NASCAR drivers
Pawtucket Red Sox players
Sportspeople from Fort Myers, Florida
Winston-Salem Spirits players
Silver Slugger Award winners
Racing drivers from Florida
Racing drivers from Louisville, Kentucky
20th-century American sportsmen