Longtime Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell died on Thursday after a lengthy thyroid cancer battle, the team announced.

He was 62.

“‘The Gator’ spent his entire career in a Red Sox uniform and was a beloved fixture of Fenway and Fort Myers,” the Red Sox posted on X. “He gave so much to Lee County and Sox Nation. We send our love to the Greenwell family.”

Greenwell spent all of his 12 MLB seasons with Boston after being drafted by the franchise in the third round of of the 1982 amateur draft.

He debuted in 1985 and played a role on the 1986 ALCS-winning team, but really made his mark on Red Sox Nation in 1988, slashing .325/.416/.531 and setting what would be career-bests with with 22 homers, 119 RBIs, 39 doubles and 16 stolen bases.

The season earned him his first All-Star nod at the age of 24 and he finished second to Jose Canseco for AL MVP honors.

He became a staple of the Boston lineup until he retired following the 1996 season at 32.

He spent his post-MLB career in the Fort Myers area, at one point operating an amusement park/batting cage facility in Cape Coral. In 2022, he was elected Lee County commissioner, a role he was re-elected to in 2024.