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Russell Eugene Nixon
Boston Red Sox
Catcher
Born: February 19, 1935, Cleves, OH
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1953 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1957-1960; Boston Red Sox 1960-1965; Minnesota Twins 1966-1967; Boston Red Sox 1968
As a Manager: Cincinnati Reds 1982-1983; Atlanta Braves 1988-1990
Died: November 9, 2016, Las Vegas, NV (age 81)
For 12 seasons in the majors, Russ Nixon served one of two roles during his 906 games - back-up catcher or left-handed pinch-hitter. His Appearances summary on his Baseball Reference page is very clean, showing 722 appearances behind the plate and 235 pinch-hitting appearances with nary a cameo at any other position. His best season came during his first full year in the majors, with the Indians in 1958, when he batted .301 with career highs in home runs (9) and RBIs (46). Nixon was a lifetime .268 batter with 27 home runs and 266 RBIs, and he was in the top ten for catcher's fielding percentage in the American League twice (1958, 1960).
Building the Set
December 25, 2020 from Belvedere, IL - Card #206
This is one of 32 cards (mostly commons) I received from Jenna and our sons on Christmas morning, as I was asked to do some surrogate shopping on their behalf and I gladly obliged. I generally went hunting for first series cards, but this is one of several later series cards that snuck into my eBay cart. This Nixon card was only $1 and it's one of 11 cards I added from eBay seller mavmil from Belvedere, Illinois.
The Card / Red Sox Team Set
I'm noticing quite a few of these 1965 Topps card feature a generous amount of blue sky, and this Nixon card is no exception. This is a colorful card that would be a good overall representation of the aesthetic of the 1965 Topps set. On the back, Topps plays up Nixon's pinch-hitting skills. He was a .265 (58 for 219) career pinch-hitter, with a home run and 19 RBIs. His record-tying two pinch-hits in an inning came on May 4, 1962 in an eventual 13-6 win over the White Sox. The Red Sox scored 12 runs in the 5th inning with Nixon singling off Ray Herbert (#399) and then later in the inning singling off Frank Baumann (#161). Carl Yastrzemski (#385) had a single and a double and 4 RBIs in the inning.
1965 Season
Nixon appeared in 59 games for the Red Sox, batting .270 with 11 RBIs. He made the club's opening day roster and was used only four times in April and May, going 0 for 4 as a pinch-hitter. The Red Sox waived him and when he went unclaimed Nixon accepted a demotion to Triple-A Toronto. In 31 games with the Maple Leafs, he hit .323 and earned a promotion back to the Red Sox in late June. Nixon started 30 games behind the plate, sharing catching duties with Bob Tillman (#222) and Mike Ryan (#573).
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First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #133
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (17): 1958-1969, 1983-1984, 1988-1990
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1994 Fleer ProCards #883
77 - Nixon non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/26/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #161 Frank Baumann - Chicago Cubs
Next Card: #163 John Briggs - Philadelphia Phillies
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