Remember Mike Greenwell? He was an outfielder with some pop and gap power who played 12 seasons with the Boston Red Sox before retiring after the 1996 season. Well, now he's back, and he's racing trucks:
"I retired very early," Greenwell said. "I hit .297 my final year and I had 20 offers to go back and play the next year."But I wanted to go racing. I literally quit baseball so I could go racing."
Greenwell, who hit .303 with 1,400 hits and 130 homers in his dozen years with the Red Sox, wasted no time switching gears. He returned to his home state of Florida and jumped into the Saturday night scene, racing at the grassroots stock car level.
He wasn't bad, either, winning 37 races and the 2000 speedweeks championship at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway. But he wanted to test his skills against the best, and his longtime friendship with Truck Series driver Todd Bodine opened the door for him.
Yet another reason why we watch sports. Good luck, Gator.
