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“FENWAY'S BEST PLAYERS”  |
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Trot Nixon was from Wilmington, North Carolina and attended New Hanover High School. As a senior, he was named the State "Player of the Year" in both football and baseball. In football, he broke school passing records held by former National Football League quarterbacks Sonny Jurgensen and Roman Gabriel. In baseball, as a senior, he was named the Baseball America High School "Player of the Year", in helping lead his team to the State 4A title. He finished his senior season with a .512 batting average, 12 home runs, a state-record 56 RBIs, and pitched 40 innings with a 12–0 record and a 0.40 ERA. Trot was slated to play both football and baseball at North Carolina State on a scholarship, but instead, signed with the Red Sox after being drafted in the 1st round of the 1993 Major League Baseball Draft. He split the 1994-1998 seasons between several A, AA, and AAA minor league teams, with two brief stints up in Boston in 1996 and 1998. Trot's first full season in the majors was in 1999, and quickly became a fan favorite for his scrappy, enthusiastic play. He was considered the inspiration for the expression "Boston Dirt Dogs." and was known for his steadfast dedication to his teammates. At Tiger Stadium in July, Trot hit three homers. Not since Fred Lynn's three-homer, 10-RBI game there in 1975, had a Red Sox rookie hit the trifecta. For the month of July, he led the Sox with a .393 batting average. In 2001, Trot smacked a come-from-behind grandslam to bring the Sox back against the Rays at the end of June. He smashed another tie-breaking grandslam that propelled the Sox to a 7-4 victory in Texas that August. He launched two home runs, including one more game-breaking grandslam to help lift the Sox to a come-from-behind 10-4 victory over the Devil Rays in July of 2003. In Game #3 of the ALDS he was called from the bench as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 11th. With the Red Sox facing elimination, he lined a two-run homer for a 3–1 victory, stunning the Oakland Athletics with a 3-2 series win and advancing to the ALCS against the Yankees. The Sox lost the ALCS in seven games but Trot was 8 for 24 with 3 home runs and five RBIs. He had the best year of his career in 2003, batting .306 with 28 home runs and 87 RBIs. During the 2004, Trot would be unavailable for several months due to a herniated disc and a tight thigh muscle. Upon his return, he would start in right field for the rest of the season. In the deciding game of the 2004 World Series, he would hit a two-out, two-run double off the right field wall at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in the top of the third inning to give the Sox a 3–0 lead. Those would be the last runs either team would score in that game as the Sox would sweep the Cardinals. He would go 5 for 14, with three doubles and three RBIs. Trot would also sport a mohawk haircut, one of many unconventional and bizarre things done by the self-proclaimed "Bunch of Idiots" over the course of the championship season. Following the 2006 season, Trot was not offered salary arbitration by the Red Sox and signed with the Cleveland Indians, where he played for one season. In 2007, he played for the New York Mets and briefly signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers before retiring.
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