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Same old dirtdog in Cleveland

Yahoo! Sports writer Tim Brown wrote a nice column on our former right fielder and favorite dirtdog, Trot Nixon.

Nixon is part-deity in Boston because of that very trait, playing his spine and knees into goo before surrendering a single breath on that crooked ball field, in front of those people who'd become his friends, beside those teammates who'd become closer than that.

Man, he loved it there.

But, things happen, lumbar discs need shaving, games get missed, birthdays pile up, J.D. Drew becomes available, what are you going to do?

He reaches for a good-bye.

"If I thought about it a lot," he says, "thought about leaving Boston, the fans, the ballpark, the friendships - not just the guys in the clubhouse, but the people my wife and I met ..."

But, he won't finish it. He exhales. The man's wearing camouflage and a goatee, for heaven's sake.

I really do miss Trot. He was a great character and a great player on and off the field. He is a class act and I wish that his success in Cleveland continues. The Red Sox aren't quite the same without him but it'll just take some time to really leave the "Nixon-era."

I'm glad to hear that Nixon doesn't have any bad feelings about leaving Boston. Sure, he didn't want to go, but at least he has no reason to badmouth the club. I think that's the true test of any team: if a player leaves and doesn't have any harsh words to say, the organization is doing something right.