Boston declined Trot Nixon arbitration last night and so ends the Red Sox career of a true fan favorite.  Trot has always been one of my faves as well, and not because of the pine tar on his helmet but rather because I always thought he just understood what it took to be the best offensive player he could be.  He would swing at a pitch outside the strike zone about once a month and was never overmatched.  For much of his tenure with the Sox, he played a damn good right field too.  In 2003, he was a downright superstar.  I thought I would pay my own tribute by offering up a little trip down Trot-memory lane by linking to the 5 games in Trot’s career that stand out the most for me.

5) Labor Day, 2003

After plodding through August, at the end of which they found themselves trailing in both the division and wild card races, the Sox went to Philadelphia for a make-up game with the Phills.  After squandering the lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Sox clawed their way back through a combination of a bases on balls, a wild pitch and an infield hit to tie the game at 9.  Trot came to the plate with the bases full and delivered a grand slam to give the Sox a 13-9 victory.  Boston would go 17-9 in September.

4) October 27, 2004 - Game 4 of the 2004 World Series

Trot has always been a patient hitter, thereby allowing him to zero in when the count was in his favor.  Up in the count, he had the discipline to lay off a bad pitch and therefore had the luxury of really gearing up in case a cookie came grooved down the middle.  Over his career, Trot has hit .253/.605/.506 in three-ball counts.  So when he got up 3 balls and 0 strikes with the bases loaded, two outs, the Sox leading 1-0 in the 3rd and the mediocre Jason Marquis on the hill, Terry Francona gave Trot the green light.  He delivered with a two-run double high off the Busch Stadium wall in center field.  It was the defining moment of the World Series clinching game.

3) October 15, 2003 - Game 6 of the 2003 ALCS

With the Sox clinging to a paper thin 7-6 lead in the ninth inning, Bill Mueller doubled with one out off of Jeff Nelson.  Since Trot was coming up (he was batting lower in the order because Andy Pettitte, a southpaw, had started the game), Joe Torre went and got his lefty reliever Gabe White to face Nixon and try to keep the insurance off the board.  White would hang a breaking ball that Nixon deposited in the upper deck of Yankee Stadium to give the Sox a 9-6 lead.  I was living in Boston’s North End at the time and I remember opening my window and yelling out into the night.  I wasn’t the only one.  Neighbors screamed back and forth to one another, “we’re gonna do it,” “Pedro goes tomorrow night,” “way to go, Trot!”  Little did we know how the series would end.

2) October 4, 2003 - Game 3 of the ALDS

Not much to say, really.  I happened to be in attendance at this one and it is the only time I can remember hugging multiple strangers in succession.  With Oakland’s lefty-killer Ted Lilly starting the game, Trot was on the bench but boy did he come off of it in a big way.  In the bottom of the 11th of a game (and a Series for that matter) the Sox really should have lost (remember Eric Byrnes missed the plate), Nixon put one into the CF bleachers off of young Rich Harden to give the Sox a walk-off, 3-1 victory.  The bomb set off utter jubilation in Fenway, and the Sox rode the momentum to a dramatic victory against a feisty young Athletics squad.

1) May 28, 2000 - The Pedro-Clemens Epic

Pedro pitched a complete game shutout, striking out nine and yielding just four hits.  Clemens went the distance too, striking out 13 (thirteen!) and giving up only five hits.  The Sox looked like they would go quietly in the ninth, as John Valentin and Jason Varitek made successive outs to kick off the vistors’ half of the final frame.  Then Jeff Frye managed a single and Nixon came to the plate.  Nixon would drive a 2-1 Roger Clemens fastball deep into the right-center field bleachers at The Stadium, and forever endear himself to Red Sox Nation.  Think about it, Sox-Yanks, Pedro-Clemens, in the Bronx and Trot stepped up.  Clutch and never overmatched, it was quintessential Christopher Trotman Nixon.

Godspeed, my man.