June 5, 2007
Jimmy Fund tribute puts Nixons in spotlight during Fenway return
Trot Nixon and his wife Kathryn hold the Boston Red Sox Jimmy Fund Award during the pre-game ceremony on May 28, 2007.
Trot Nixon had some huge hits for the Red Sox, but it's what he and his wife, Kathryn, accomplished for the Jimmy Fund that drew fans to their feet when the couple were honored at Fenway Park prior to Trot's first game against his former teammates as a member of the Cleveland Indians.
In a ceremony held before the May 28 contest, the Nixons received the Boston Red Sox Jimmy Fund Award — the highest honor given to individuals or organizations that have committed 10 or more years to the lifesaving mission of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and its Jimmy Fund. During Trot's 1996-2006 tenure with the team, he and Kathryn took part in numerous events aiding research and care at Dana-Farber while also developing friendships with pediatric patients and their families through the Jimmy Fund Clinic. And even though Trot switched uniforms over the winter, the Nixons are committed to continuing these efforts into the future.
Trot Nixon congratulates his wife Kathryn after the 2006 Boston Marathon.
Kathryn's fundraising endeavors have actually been more athletic in nature than those of her big-league husband. She has run the Boston Marathon® three times with the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team to benefit the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber, and she has cycled hundreds of miles in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge bike-a-thon as a member of the Red Sox' "Team 9" contingent. Off the roads, she's also kept busy — hosting various events and participating in the annual "From Fenway to the Runway" fashion show and luncheon supporting Dana-Farber's Women's Cancers Program.
Trot Nixon served as spokesman for the inaugural Rally Against Cancer in 2006. He spoke to nearly 1,200 during his visit to Furnace Brook Middle School in Marshfield, Mass., the highest fundraising school for the event.
Trot's done his part, too. In addition to co-hosting events with Kathryn through the years, he served last spring as spokesman of the first-ever "Rally Against Cancer," in which more than 360 businesses and schools throughout Red Sox Nation formed teams to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and honor the Sox by wearing team apparel on Opening Day. He and Kathryn were popular on-air guests (and contributors) during the annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, and Trot even lent his vocal cords to the cause with other teammates and pro musicians on the 2004 compilation CD "Hot Stove, Cool Music, Volume 1."
Trot Nixon and his wife Kathryn took part in the 2006 WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon with Paul White (left). The Nixons shared a special friendship with White's late son Patrick, who was treated in the Jimmy Fund Clinic.
Forming bonds
Away from the spotlight Trot has made several visits to the Jimmy Fund Clinic to talk with kids facing cancer, and some of these meetings have turned into long-term friendships between the Nixons and clinic families. A particularly special bond formed between Trot and teenage baseball player/fan Patrick White of Quincy, and Trot even invited Patrick to his own son's birthday party at the team's New York hotel during a September 2004 series against the Yankees. One of the less-heralded perks of Trot's contributions to Boston's historic run to the World Series title that fall was that it afforded White the thrill of riding in a float during the championship parade through Boston. When White died a year later at age 15, Trot was among those who spoke of the boy's courage and determination to live as normal a life as possible during his illness.
"Even though we know they'll be supporting us from afar, Kathryn and Trot Nixon are truly going to be missed by the Dana-Farber and Jimmy Fund family," says Jimmy Fund Chairman Mike Andrews, who knows well the special bond between Sox players and patients as a former Red Sox second baseman. "Kathryn was a catalyst in getting Red Sox wives' participation in Jimmy Fund events and we could always count on Trot when we needed him."
So as the Nixons received their plaque from Andrews and Jimmy Fund Director Suzanne Fountain on May 28, and Kathryn threw out the ceremonial first pitch, it was more than memories of Trot's walk-off homer against Oakland in the 2003 playoffs, his .357 World Series average in '04, and his ever-dirty uniform that had the crowd roaring. It was recognition that along with the gifts they had been given, this couple had chosen to give back.
— Saul Wisnia
saul_wisnia@dfci.harvard.edu
