Russ Nixon, who spent eight of his 12 major league seasons as a backup catcher playing for the Boston Red Sox, and who later managed the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves, passed away this past week at the age of 81.
Nixon played for the Red Sox, Twins and Indians from 1957-1968 and had a last ditch effort to catch on with the White Sox end with his release at the end of spring training 1969. He would go on to coach for the Reds from 1976 until being named to replace John McNamara in 1982. He himself was fired midway through the 1983 season, and went on to coach for the Expos and Braves until being selected to replace Chuck Tanner as Braves manager early in the 1988 season. He was fired by G.M. Bobby Cox during the 1990 season, and was eventually replaced by Cox himself at the onset of 1991. And the rest, as they say in Atlanta, is history.
Nixon was a coach for the Mariners in 1992, and managed in the minors until 2005 and worked as an instructor until 2007.
