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Mike Greenwell

Mike Greenwell. I never really liked the nickname they came up for him. I think it's stupid to make up a nickname for a guy who already has a cool name. Greenwell. Well maybe I just think it's cool because he was my FAVORITE PLAYER OF ALL TIME! Yikes. touchy, ain't I?

I always felt bad for him, what with his slow starts in April, when Boston is still very cold. he's a southern boy; too bad he didn't get his job with the Marlins. TOO BAD THEY WEREN'T A TEAM YET! So Mike was star-crossed. Ted Wiliams said that Greenwell had a beautiful swing; I wish I could remember the words exactly, but the only folks I know the Kid complementing lately are Greenwell, Will Clark, and Tony Gwynn. Illustrious company.

This picture to the side here looks to me like Mike is yanking one down the right-field line. It's easy to find pix of him swinging; he was as religious a first-ball swinger as many others are first-ball takers. Pitchers are usually trying to get ahead of the hitter right away, right? and Mike wanted to make them pay. He did a lot! In 1988, he was second to José Canseco in AL MVP ballotting. He had crazy good stats! He hit 22 dingers that year, a total that he would never reach again, as he started focusing on his average instead. Or goofed up his swing. or something. His strikeouts are remarkably low, though you'd expect that of a first-ball swinger. Not many BB's or SO's. At least he had a good BB:SO ratio - 1.26 for his career. But the most painful thing he did (and he did it a lot; if he had fixed this, he might still be playing today) was Grounding Out to Second Base Argh! That was the offensive weapon he used to pluck my heartstrings. That and his Game-Winning RBI. He holds the AL record for GWRBI! I think he had 19 in 1988? I can't remember. But anyway...about three years after he set the record, it was no longer considered an official statistic. So Mike will live forever in the record books for that, and also, for the time being, for the 9 RBI he had in one game in '96, a major league record! YEAH!

I'd always snap right to Greenie's line in the box scores when I had missed a game. My ups and downs partially matched his and partially the whole team's. I was extremely sad to see him go. Stupid Duquettt. Yeah I misspelled his name. too bad. jerk! he dumped my heroes!

This picture below looks more like Mike smoking a single through the hole on the left side. I dunno, what do you think? The main reason that I loved Mike Greenwell was because he was all about the team. He wanted the team to win, so he HUSTLED! I was all about hustle in high school, so I was all about Greenwell. (Roger had a tremendous work ethic, as well.) But Greenwell was also out there every day - playing the field, running the basepaths, hitting behind the runner...and he was a leader in the clubhouse - helping to bring about new clubhouse rules, which treated the rookies with more respect. You should look at the record! When Mike was playing, they won more! I wish I could find the stats published somewhere, but he was totally the swizzle-stick in the Sox' drink. So now he's retired and living in Florida with his family.

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