Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell of Louisville, Kentucky passed away on Thursday at the age of 62. The cause of death was thyroid cancer according to Brigid Kennedy of Sports Illustrated.
Greenwell played 12 seasons with the Red Sox from 1985 to 1996. He played 1124 of his 1269 career games in left field. For his games in Boston’s historic Fenway Park, he had the Green Monster right behind him.
Greenwell’s regular season career statistics
In 4623 at bats, and 5166 plate appearances, Greenwell batted .295 with 130 home runs and 726 runs batted in. He scored 657 runs, and had 1400 hits, 275 doubles, 38 triples, 80 stolen bases, 460 walks, 2141 total bases, three sacrifice bunts, 41 sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .368, and a slugging percentage of .463. Greenwell hit for the cycle in a 4-3 Red Sox win over the Baltimore Orioles on September 14, 1988.
Two-time American League All-Star
Greenwell was an American League All-Star twice. The first time came in 1988 and the second time came in 1989.
In 1988, Greenwell batted .325 with 22 home runs and 119 runs batted in. During 158 games, 590 at bats, and 693 plate appearances, he scored 86 runs, and had 192 hits, 39 doubles, eight triples, 16 stolen bases, 87 walks, 313 total bases, seven sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .416, and a slugging percentage of .531. Greenwell had season highs in 1988 in hits, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, stolen bases, walks, on base percentage, and total bases. He also tied a career-high in sacrifice flies as he also had seven sacrifice flies in 1991. Also in 1988, Greenwell won the American League Silver Slugger Award for the outfield, and was second in thee American League Most Valuable Player voting. Greenwell was only behind Oakland Athletics outfielder Jose Canseco of La Habana, Cuba.
In 1989, Greenwell batted .308 with 14 home runs and 95 runs batted in. During 145 games, 578 at bats, and 641 plate appearances, he scored a career-high 87 runs, and had 178 hits, 36 doubles, 13 stolen bases, 56 walks, 256 total bases, four sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .370 and a slugging percentage of .443.
Struggled in the postseason
Greenwell only batted .146 in 48 postseason at bats. He had seven hits during that time of which two hits were extra base hits (one double and one home run).
Other notable tidbits
Greenwell played one season in Japan following his Major League Baseball career. He was with Hanshin Tigers of the Nippon Professional Baseball League in 1997. Greenwell was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2008.
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