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IN-GAME TIDBIT: That booing you heard was from Dallas »
October 14, 2007
By JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON-- It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
Not Trot Nixon sticking it to his former team, the Boston Red Sox. At least not in October, in the American League Championship Series. but it happened. Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge signaled to Nixon to pick up a bat in the 11th inning to serve as a pinch-hitter in a game tied at 6-6.
And, like he did so many times for the Red Sox, Nixon delivered a crushing blow with a RBI single that eventually proved to be the game-winning hit as Cleveland defeated Boston, 13-6, to even the series at 1-1.
With Red Sox lefty reliever coming out of the bullpen to face Nixon, the left-handed hitter lifted a shallow liner into right-center field to score Grady Sizemore for the go-ahead run. Six more runs later, Cleveland left Boston with a victory.
''Lopez is not a comfortable at-bat for left-handers, dropping down submarine,” said Nixon. “I felt good going to the plate and was excited to finally get in there at 1:30 in the morning. It was gratifying for me because I’ve been struggling at times against left-handers, but I felt good and I saw the first pitch real well. For some reason, I felt confident in the batter’s box and if you can keep your emotions in check, in situations like that, you probably have a little better chance. I was fortunate. I didn’t hit it hard, but I hit it to where I needed to.”
When Nixon, who signed with the Indians as a free agent during the offseason, returned to Fenway this season, he received a king’s welcome, and for good reason. He spent his entire career with the Red Sox before landing in Cleveland last winter, so the fans made sure the former No. 7 knew exactly how they felt about him.
After Saturday night’s game, the fans probably think different.
“I’m the enemy coming in here,” Nixon said. “I had some great years in Boston and very grateful for that. I’m also grateful to have the opportunity to play in Cleveland, considering what happened to me during the offseason. Whether playing time has been cut or not, I feel it’s important for me to keep these guys upbeat.”
As Nixon spoke so eloquently following his late-inning heroics, Wedge – also a former Red Sox and PawSox player like Nixon – sat in the interview room with a huge smile on his face. The Cleveland skipper was probably thinking ‘My gut feeling to insert Trot worked perfectly’ and Wedge spoke highly of hid de facto captain.
“He’s taught our young players what it means to be a leader,” said Wedge. “If you’re going to be a leader, it’s strength and personality, it’s presence, you’ve got to be vocal, you’ve got to be strongest when other people are sometimes at their weakest, and you’ve got to pick people up. Trot’s season, whether he’s playing or he’s not, he’s been very consistent in that clubhouse, on that bench.”
Of course, in the home clubhouse, Nixon’s performance last night didn’t sit too well with the Red Sox.
“We were really hoping he’d make an out,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “We’re trying to have an answer for whatever they did, and both teams had used a lot of players. Under the circumstances for how many pitchers we had gone through, we were actually pretty happy to have left-on-left in that situation. I didn’t work very well.”
It did for Cleveland.
Signing Nixon was also a win-win for the Indians this season. Wedge said the one thing his young core of talented players lacked was toughness, and the presence of Nixon in the clubhouse has put the club over the top.
“He’s really given us a big boost with that this year,” said the Cleveland manager. “It’s helped us toughen up a little bit. That was something we really needed to do because we’ve got a lot of tough ball players in there, but in order for it to rise to the surface, sometimes you need a little boost. Trot has been a huge influence on a lot of our players.”
For once, however, Nixon silenced Red Sox Nation.
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