Donell Nixon

Donell Nixon
Outfielder
Born: December 31, 1961 (1961-12-31) (age 49) Evergreen, North Carolina
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 7, 1987 for the Seattle Mariners
Last MLB appearance
July 1, 1990 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics
Batting average	.275
Home runs	4
Runs batted in	35
Teams
Seattle Mariners (1987) San Francisco Giants (1988-89) Baltimore Orioles (1990)

Robert Donell Nixon (born December 31, 1961 in Evergreen, North Carolina) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played all or part of four seasons in the majors, from 1987 until 1990, playing all three outfield positions, most often in center field.

Playing career

Mariners organization

Minor leagues

Nixon was originally drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 10th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft out of West Columbus High School in Cerro Gordo, North Carolina. He began his professional career the following season with the Wausau Timbers of the Single-A Midwest League. He spent most of the next two seasons at Single-A as well. In 1983, while with the Bakersfield Mariners Nixon stole 144 bases in just 135 games, one short of the minor league record of 145 by Vince Coleman set the same year.

In 1984, Nixon was promoted to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts, where he continued to impress on the basepaths, stealing 102 bases. Unfortunately, he suffered a compound fracture in his left leg in 1985, which stalled his promising career. The injury cost him almost 2 years of his career but did not take away much of his speed. He ran a 6.25 sixty-yard dash prior to the injury and a 6.3 after.^{[citation needed]}

Major league debut

Despite not playing at all in 1985 and appearing in only 12 games in 1986, Nixon made the Mariners' Opening Day roster. He started the season's first game as Seattle's center fielder and leadoff hitter, coming to the plate four times with two walks and one stolen base.^[1] Although he continued to start for the Mariners, Nixon did not get his first hit until the season's fifth game,^[2] a run-scoring double off Les Straker.^[3] On May 1, with Nixon batting just .130, he was sent back to the minors, where he played for the Triple-A Calgary Cannons, the Mariners' top farm team. He returned to the team in July, and finished with a much more respectable .250 average.

Nixon opened the 1988 season with Calgary, where he batted .281 through 40 games. He was then traded to the San Francisco Giants on June 23.

Giants organization

The Giants immediately added Nixon to the major league roster. He played in 59 games over the remainder of the season, batting .348. He spent the entire 1989 season with the Giants, the only season in which he did not play in the minor leagues. He made his only postseason appearances in 1989 as well. In the 1989 World Series against the Oakland Athletics, he played in two of the four games, getting one hit in five at bats. The following year, the Giants released Nixon at the end of spring training.

Orioles organization

Eight days after his release by the Giants, Nixon signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He spent most of the season with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, although he did appear in eight games for the Orioles in late June and early July. After the season, Nixon became a free agent.

Indians organization

Nixon spent the last three years of his playing career in the Cleveland Indians organization, but Nixon never returned to the major leagues.

Personal

Nixon is the younger brother of Otis Nixon, who is also a former major league outfielder.

Notes

1. ^ Box score for April 7, 1987 from Baseball-Reference
2. ^ Donell Nixon 1987 Batting Gamelog
3. ^ Box score for April 11, 1987 from Baseball-Reference

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Nixon, Donell
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 31, 1961
Place of birth	Evergreen, North Carolina
Date of death
Place of death