Donell Nixon

Robert Donell Nixon

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 185 lb.
• High School West Columbus High School
• Debut April 7, 1987
• Final Game July 1, 1990
• Born December 31, 1961 in Evergreen, NC USA

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Biographical Information

Donell Nixon is the younger brother of Otis Nixon. Donell played four seasons in the big leagues, appearing in 208 games, most of which were with the San Francisco Giants. He appeared in the 1989 World Series, getting a single and a walk in six plate appearances. His best regular season performance was in 1988, when he hit .346 and had an OBP of .420.

Donell was born in North Carolina, and went to high school and college there. He and brother Otis may have both attended Louisburg College (although a Baseball America article claims he never attended college [1]). Otis was drafted into the pros in 1979 while Donell followed the next year.

Donell spent years in the Seattle Mariners organization, usually hitting over .300 and stealing large amounts of bases. In 1983 with the Bakersfield Mariners, he stole 144 bases. He broke his leg during spring training in 1985, and that delayed his career. He got into 46 games with the major league Mariners in 1987, stealing 21 bases in 28 attempts.

Traded to the San Francisco Giants organization in spring of 1988, he spent most of 1988 and all of 1989 with the big league Giants. He was then released in April 1990 by the Giants, and quickly signed by the 1990 Orioles, for whom he appeared in 8 games. He played in the minors thereafter through 1993, mostly in the Cleveland Indians organization, although he did not come up to the major league Indians.

One of the sources: Donell Nixon.

"'When I broke my leg, people wondered if I'd walk again,' Nixon told The Wilmington Star-News in 1988, in Nixon's second season in the majors. 'I was out for 18 months.'" - Donell Nixon [2]