Former Boston Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell died on Oct. 9, 2025 following a battle with thyroid cancer. He was 62.
Born in Louisville, Ky., Greenwell’s family moved to Fort Myers when he was 5 years old. A 1982 graduate of North Fort Myers High School, Greenwell starred in football and baseball for the Red Knights. One of the best athletes in Lee County history, Greenwell was inducted into the LCAC Hall of Fame as part of its original class of honorees in 2012.
Here’s a look back at some of Greenwell’s most memorable athletic accomplishments, from North Fort Myers to Major League Baseball.
Mike Greenwell had a swing to remember
In three varsity seasons at North Fort Myers, where he mostly played third base, Greenwell batted .459 with 32 extra-base hits, 81 RBIs, 78 stolen bases, and perhaps most amazingly, 12 strikeouts. Greenwell was a first-team selection on the News-Press All-Area baseball team in 1981 and 1982.
“He has one of the best swings I’ve ever seen,” legendary North Fort Myers baseball coach Ted Ferreira Jr. told The News-Press in May of 1982.
The next month, the Red Sox selected the left-handed-hitting Greenwell in the third round of the MLB Draft with the 72nd overall pick.
“I’m going from being a Red Knight to a Red Sox,” Greenwell said at the time.
‘Gator’ Mike Greenwell becomes a Boston mainstay
Greenwell spent three seasons in the minor leagues before making his MLB debut with the Red Sox in 1985.
He joined the big-league club on a full-time basis in 1987, bringing with him a nickname that paid homage to his Florida upbringing.
Greenwell, who caught alligators as a child in North Fort Myers, picked up the nickname ‘Gator’ after nabbing one in Winter Haven, then the spring training home of the Red Sox, taping its mouth, and placing it in the locker of teammate Ellis Burks.
Greenwell finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1987 after batting .328 with 19 home runs and 89 RBIs. The next year, he had his best season, hitting .325 with a career-best 22 home runs and 119 RBIs, finishing second to Oakland A’s slugger Jose Canseco in the American League MVP race.
Greenwell played 12 seasons in Boston, finishing with a career batting average of .303. On Sept. 2, 1996, in his final season with the Red Sox, he set an MLB record for most RBIs by a single player, accounting for all of his team’s runs when he drove in all nine runs in a 9-8 win over the Seattle Mariners. Greenwell hit a grand slam, a two-run home run, a two-run double, and an RBI single in the 10th inning of the victory.
In 2008, the Red Sox inducted Greenwell into their Hall of Fame.