Trot Nixon - Red Sox Great
Indians right fielder Trot Nixon tips his helmet to the crowd at Fenway Park. (Elise Amendola/AP)
We all love Trot Nixon. He played the game hard, the way it should be played (at least from the fan’s perspective) and had many memorable moments through the years. Fights, walk-off playoff wins and amazing catches, all done while seemingly wearing the exact same hat.
Trot was a true Red Sox, drafted by them, made his way through the entire farm system, played for them for 7 years (99-06) and even won a championship with the team. Heck, we called the guy the ‘future of the Red Sox’ for about 5 years before he finally had the career year we were all expecting in 2004.
I think my favorite Trot Nixon moment has to be the walk-off home run in one of the best playoff games I’ve ever seen. Down 2-0 to Oakland, Nixon helped the Sox make a comeback to win game 3 and eventually the series in 2003. This was the game where the As ran their way right out of the game, with the interference call at third and Eric Byrnes missing the plate for 2 outs that should have been runs. This all set up Nixon, with a man on second, to hit the home run that won the game and turned the tide so we could take it all the way to game 7 in New York (redeemed the year later in 2004).
Let me be one of many who this week will be saying, Thank You Trot Nixon.
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