Willard Lee Nixon (June 17, 1928 – December 10, 2000) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played his entire career with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

between 1950 and 1958. Listed at tall and , Nixon batted left-handed and threw right-handed. The native of

Taylorsville, Georgia Taylorsville is a town in Bartow and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 211 at the 2012 census. History Taylorsville was surveyed circa 1870 by Edward G. Taylor, and named for him. The Georgia General Assembly incorpor ...

, signed with the Red Sox as a free agent in 1948 out of

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. In his nine-season career, he posted a 69–72 record with a 4.39

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

and 616

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 225 appearances, including 177 starts, 51

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s, nine

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s and three saves. In 1,234

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

he surrendered 1,277 hits and 530

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. Nixon was an above average hitting pitcher, posting a .242

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(111-for-459) with 42 runs, 2

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 41

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and drawing 42

. He was also good defensively, recording a .977

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

which was 20 points higher than the league average at his position. Nixon had a 12–10 mark with the 1955 Red Sox. Four of those wins came at the expense of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. In and , Nixon beat the Yankees five straight times. Although his numbers against the Yanks deteriorated during his final two campaigns ( and ), his previous success—going 11–6 in 25

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher; a player who is announced as the pitcher must face at least one batter, although except ...

—earned him the nickname "Yankee Killer."Montgomery, Wynn, "Willard Nixon."

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

Biography Project Over his career, he won half of his 24 decisions, threw ten complete games and two shutouts, and compiled a 3.54 ERA against the Bombers. Hobbled by a sore arm, Nixon retired from the field after the 1958 season, which he spent between Boston and Triple-A. He scouted for the Red Sox from 1959–1963 before entering private business. He died in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statisti ...

, at age 72.

References

External links

Baseball AlmanacGeorgia Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Willard 1928 births 2000 deaths Auburn Tigers baseball players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Birmingham Barons players Boston Red Sox players Boston Red Sox scouts Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players People from Rome, Georgia Scranton Red Sox players