A Phillies tale with fans: “That Bum Nixon,” Labor Day, 2003
There used to be this convention involving people going to baseball games and sitting near each other. Here’s a Phillies tale from those strange times.
It was quite a while ago, and I’m not sure why I thought about the Boston Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon aside from the idleness of the COVID-19 Spring, but here’s a Phillies story about him:
Once upon a time, people went to Major League Baseball games and sat in seats pretty close to each other. This was something friends and I did together on Labor Day in 2003. (I had to cast about Baseball-Reference for the specific date, but ultimately, I found the game in Nixon’s Game Logs for the season.)
I was reminded that the four of us were at this game because we had bought a season package of six tickets that more than a handful of people shared, but only four wanted to go that day. We went to games that season not so much because we were passionate fans of this specific Philadelphia Phillies squad, but for another reason.
Our goal was, besides seeing MLB games in person, to be on the early-contact list to buy tickets for the new ballpark that would open in 2004, Citizens Bank Park. This plan worked. Two of us were at the ‘04 Opening Day Game, the first-ever at “The Bank,” where we were soaked in a cold rain until we left.
Philadelphia
Anyway, the previous September, the Phillies came to a make-up game Labor Day with a marginally inferior record to the visiting Red Sox, but both teams were on the better side of .500.
More from Philadelphia Phillies
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Stock Up, Stock Down: Mariners, Padres, Giants, Phillies
- Disconnect between Philadelphia and national media is embarrassing
- Stock Up, Stock Down: Two teams rising, two falling post-trade deadline
We had fairly good seats in our package at old Veterans Stadium then, just to the left of home in the second deck. I recalled that Nixon, the Sawks right fielder had a pretty good day from the distance of 17 years, but a review of the box score was needed to know exactly how good.
He was three for four. The details, though, and the fans’ reaction to that are the real story here.
Nixon entered the game hitting .307 and would add several points to that figure, despite the late-season date. However, the real entertainment that day wasn’t on the field, but two rows below us – other Phillies fans.
In fact, the field action may well have factored into the partisan behavior below us. As the game went back and forth, our fellow Philly fans fueled their enthusiasm with multiple trips to the nearby beer concession, each of them bringing back two large drinks at a time.
And Trot Nixon was definitely an annoyance to the hometown fans. However, early on he lofted a pop-up behind third, which was caught, and elicited a hearty “You’re a bum, Nixon!” from one of the Phillies fans two rows ahead.
His fellows considered this enormously amusing
To my left, Dr. Stone said, “We should watch this guy.” To my right, The Big Guy just shook his head. The Big Guy was a quiet guy.
In any event, despite Nixon’s mid-game success – a double and a single, both to right, driving in two – the guy in front of us continued his abuse. No matter what he did, Trot Nixon was “A BUM!” This fan was convinced of that.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Beer does that. All the guys two seats ahead were beginning to sway dangerously on their multiple trips to the concession stand and men’s room. At one point, the Nixon critic seemed ready to pitch hip-first into the row ahead of his when he stood up. One of his buddies grabbed him.
The Big Guy spoke: “Good job.”
Meanwhile, a lull in scoring for a couple of innings left the Phillies ahead, 9-7, entering the ninth inning.
Since this game involved neither the Phillies of the 1980 nor 2007-11, the Red Sox naturally scored twice in that inning. The game was tied. Two rows down, the boys all gulped on the second drinks from their last beer run, two innings earlier.
Then, the Red Sox loaded the bases. Our pals below us were beside themselves. And angry.
More. 2020 Phillies: Free agency, catcher, front burner. light
And Trot Nixon was coming to bat.
“Nixon, you’re a BUM!!!” screamed the game-long critic. His pals took up the insult.
“A BUM!”
“[Expletive] BUM!”
“You’re. A. BUM!!!!!”
Nixon proceeded to embed a pitch in the concrete face of the second deck, above and well behind several rows in the lower right-field seats. A grand slam.
Dr. Stone turned to me and said, “He probably meant Richard Nixon.”
Next. The Alex Gordon question. dark
Thus, World Series champion Trot Nixon has been, for quite a while now, “that bum Nixon” in my circle.