I like it when I get new readers. I like it even more when they chime in with a comment. I like it even more when it gives me blog fodder for the next day.
So when I wrote my Clemens Blog last week someone tried calling me out by saying that Trot Nixon wasn’t on ‘roids since he was on the DL most of 2004. He may have been on the DL but this guy was totally a juicer.
Think about it.
Drafted in 1993 as a likely future superstar, Nixon never lived up to the hype, and by 1999 he was an underachieving prospect struggling for a full time roster spot. Yet he became a full time starter in 2001 and his numbers jumped, specifically his home runs. 2000 he had 12 home runs. Then jumps up to 27, 24, and 28 from 2001-2003.
He never got close to those totals again.
I’m not trying to say he’s a bad guy because he did. I’m just saying a fringe player that was supposed to have the five tools coming through the system, fizzled out. Well, a little “help” and he’s a regular starter in the lineup and hitting double digit home runs in the mid-twenties.
So I know he was a dirt dog and a beloved Sox player. But don’t be so naive as to think “your guys” didn’t do it. They did. I’m pretty sure most of the 2003 and 2004 Sox were juicers. They were just a product of the era. Remember Nomar’s SI cover? Exactly. Don’t think your team didn’t do it.
