 |
| Trot (L); J.D. (R) |
Boston Globe columnist
Chad Finn recently posed a fascinating question for Red Sox fans:
who was better—Trot Nixon or J.D. Drew? Instinctively, most members of
The Nation would roar back Trot's name and deride the questioner for even
thinking about that type of comparison. But Finn makes a convincing case that—
based on stats and overall skills—Drew
is superior to Trot. Honestly, we can't argue with the stats, or the fact that Drew was a better overall athlete. Finn goes on to criticize defenders of Nixon for relying too much on perceptions of
"grit, fire, and swagger"—basically the distilled emotion that made Trot go. But in our view it
was the emotional element that made Trot better—for the Red Sox and their fans. When Nixon hit that HR off a pinstriped
Roger Clemens or clouted that huge two-run double in Game Four of the 2004 World Series—it was the
emotional element (as much as the actual feat) that made his performance special. As we all know, Red Sox fans are an irrational lot, given to extremes of love and hate—classic "passive-aggressives". So, the fact that Trot inspired the
best of our fickle nature with his raw emotion is enough to make him our choice over J.D.
