TBNL: Bananaball is expanding; RIP Mike Greenwell

Today’s TBNL includes a Red Sox fan favorite passing, some positive (and not-so-positive) stats from the Yankees’ playoff run, and Bananaball is expanding.

Former Boston Red Sox left fielder Mike Greenwell has died. He was 62.

Greenwell spent parts of 12 seasons in Boston after the team selected him in the 3rd round of the 1982 Draft. The right-handed hitter batted .303/.368/.463 (121 OPS+) in 5,166 PA during his career, hitting 275 doubles and 130 home runs.

1988 proved to be the two-time All-Star’s best single season. He slashed .325/.416/.531 (160 OPS+) with 22 HR and 119 RBI on the year, winning a Silver Slugger Award and finishing second in AL MVP voting to José Canseco (who had just completed the league’s first 40/40 season).

Greenwell spent his post-playing career serving as the Lee County commissioner in his hometown of Fort Myers, Florida. He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer over the summer, which prevented him from physically attending meetings.

The Red Sox inducted him into the team Hall of Fame in 2008.

Manny Ramirez had an outstanding postseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. Ramirez played in eight games, as L.A. swept the Cubs in three games in the NLDS before losing to the Phillies in five in the NLCS. In 36 plate appearances, he went 13-for-25 with 11 walks, two doubles, and four home runs — a .520/.666/1.083 slash line.

Aaron Judge had an equally outstanding postseason for the New York Yankees this year. Judge played in seven games, three against Boston in the ALDS and four against Toronto in the ALCS. In 30 plate appearances, he went 13-for-26 with 4 walks (including one intentional), two doubles, and a homer — a .500/.581/1.273 line.

No other player has ever hit .500/.575/.675 or better in 25+ plate appearances in a single postseason.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Anthony Volpe was Jekyll and Hyde-like. Against Boston in the ALDS, he went 4-for-11 in three games with a homer and 2 RBI (.364/.364/.636). Against Toronto in the ALCS, he was 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts (.067/.067/.167; a 73.3 K%). No player has ever had such a terrible postseason series. It was an awful end to a tough season for the 24-year-old.

Blue Jays batters hit nine home runs during the four-game series. Three players finished with an OPS above 1.400 (Daulton Varsho, Ernie Clement, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.). Guerrero had nine hits and nine RBI in the series, a feat no player has ever done in a single postseason series.

New York has won 83 postseason games since 2000, the most in MLB, but only one World Series.

CPBL owners approved a proposal to lengthen the season from 120 to 144 games starting in 2027. Curiously, there do not appear to be any immediate plans to expand the six-team league. Like MLB and the KBO, the CPBL set a new attendance record this season.

San Diego has signed Taiwanese right-hander Lan-Hong Su. He’ll receive a $775,000 signing bonus that will count towards the team’s international bonus pool. The 18-year-old served as the closer for Chinese-Taipei’s U18 World Cup team last month, striking out 14 and walking 3 in five appearances. Su is the second teenage hurler from Asia to skip the draft in their home country to sign directly with an MLB team in recent weeks, after the Blue Jays agreed to a deal with Korean Seojun Moon.

The Nationals are experiencing an exodus of front office personnel following the hiring of Paul Toboni as the new president of baseball operations. Several members of the prior front office have resigned their positions, including senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek (who accepted a job with the Tigers in September), while Toboni has reportedly fired many others. Reports suggest up to 30 staffers, including scouts, data analysts, and even the team’s longtime clubhouse manager, have all been let go.

Former Yankees and Mariners catching prospect Jesús Montero was hospitalized in Venezuela following a motorcycle accident.

Pending free agent reliever Devin Williams is hoping to re-sign with the Yankees.

Free agency is drawing close, so I explored four teams that could pursue Cody Bellinger (once he opts out of the final year on his contract).

We got to experience the … ridiculousness, that is Bananaball, when the Savannah Bananas came to Fenway Park in July. We saw firsthand exactly why demand for tickets has become so high.

It seems the phenomenon is growing. Jesse Cole, the yellow tuxedo-clad MC and founder of the Bananas, announced on Thursday that 2026 would mark the inaugural season of the Banana Ball Championship League. The four existing teams — the Bananas, the Firefighters, the Party Animals, and the Texas Tailgaters — would be joined by two new clubs: the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns.

The Clowns have a storied history in the Negro Leagues. The first club to sign Hank Aaron to a professional contract existed for nearly 50 years. Cole reportedly met representatives at the Negro League Museum in Kansas City when the Bananas played there in 2022, where he learned about the Clowns’ history and “fell in love with the idea of bringing them back”. After lengthy discussions, the Museum would give him its blessing.

Cole also announced a new position on each club’s coaching staff, called the primetime coach, who will “manage only the big games,” but will be involved in social media and promotions. A pair of former Phillies players have signed on for the role with each of the new teams. Loco Beach (Orlando, FL) will have Shane Victorino on staff, while Ryan Howard will coach Indianapolis.

The new BBCL will open with an 11-game preseason tournament, with the winner guaranteed a playoff spot later in the season. Teams will then play a 50-game regular season schedule — that will take them to 45 states and several well-known stadiums — with the top three teams advancing to the postseason. The season will run from February to October.