Laynce Michael Nix (born October 30, 1980) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. Nix played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers,

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

, and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. Nix played all three outfield positions, as well as first base, but was officially listed as a

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

by ESPN. His younger brother, Jayson Nix, also has played in MLB.

Early life

Nix grew up in the suburbs of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and was home schooled by his mother. A fan of the Texas Rangers, Nix commented that during his childhood: "We'd do some studies in the morning, my brother and I, and then we'd watch the Cubs every day at 1:00. My brother and I would go out in the backyard and imitate what we saw, which was

Ryne Sandberg Ryne Dee Sandberg (born September 18, 1959), nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach (baseball), coach, and manager (baseball), manager. He played sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second bas ...

, Andre Dawson, and that crew ... we had a good time." Eventually, he went to public school and attended Midland High, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and was the team's starting quarterback, but baseball was his "first love", and the Rangers drafted him in the fourth round after his senior year in high school.

Career

Texas Rangers

Nix was selected in the fourth round of the

2000 Major League Baseball draft The 2000 Major League Baseball draft, was the annual choosing of high school and college baseball players, held in June 2000. A total of 1,452 players were drafted. First round selections Compensation picks Background The Florida Marlins ...

by the Texas Rangers. He made his debut on July 10, , in a game against the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. In that game, he recorded his first major league hit, and also scored a run. Through , Nix hit 28

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s with 108 RBI. His 2005 season was cut short when he elected to have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. After a slow start in and the return of Gary Matthews, Jr. from injury, Nix was optioned to the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, the

Oklahoma RedHawks Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

Milwaukee Brewers

On July 28, 2006, Nix was traded to the

along with Francisco Cordero, Kevin Mench, and

Julian Cordero Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian, of the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (given name), people ...

for Carlos Lee and

Nelson Cruz Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez (born July 1, 1980), nicknamed "Boomstick", is a Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Ranger ...

. Hampered by an injury, Nix spent most of with Milwaukee's Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

. He was a September call-up, but went hitless in ten games with the Brewers. In December, Nix cleared waivers and was reassigned to Nashville, where he spent the entire 2008 season.

Cincinnati Reds

In December 2008, Nix signed a minor league contract with the

. On November 9, 2010, the Reds released him.

Washington Nationals

On February 3, 2011, Nix signed a minor league deal with the

. He also received a spring training invite along with his contract. Despite hitting a career high 16 home runs, he became a free agent following the season.

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 4, 2011, Nix was signed to a two-year contract by the

citing his "mental toughness" and "football mentality". He had an injury-laced 2012 campaign during which he totaled a batting average of .246 with three home runs and 16 RBIs. In the 2012 offseason Nix and Michael Young, close friends from their time together in Texas, reunited when Young signed with the Phillies. Nix was designated for assignment on August 6, 2013. He was released on August 12, 2013. He hit .211/.270/.331 as a Phillie.

References

External links

Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, Laynce 1980 births Living people Major League Baseball center fielders Texas Rangers players Milwaukee Brewers players Cincinnati Reds players Washington Nationals players 21st-century American sportsmen Philadelphia Phillies players Gulf Coast Rangers players Charlotte Rangers players Savannah Sand Gnats players Peoria Javelinas players Frisco RoughRiders players Oklahoma RedHawks players Nashville Sounds players Huntsville Stars players Baseball players from Houston Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Clearwater Threshers players Midland High School (Midland, Texas) alumni