Nixon's the one (to manage A-ball)

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http://houston.astros.mlb.com/

Nixon hired as Lexington manager

By Alyson Footer / MLB.com

HOUSTON -- Russ Nixon, a veteran of 50 years of professional baseball, will join the Astros player development system in 2003 as the skipper of the Single-A Lexington Legends.

Nixon, who turns 68 on Feb. 19, was recently released by the Pittsburgh Pirates after serving as the team's catching instructor on the big league level for two years. He spent 12 seasons (1957-68) as a player in the Majors with Cleveland, Boston and Minnesota. Nixon has big league managerial experience with Cincinnati (1982-83) and Atlanta (1988-90) and decades of managing experience within the Reds, Twins and Padres minor league systems.

Assistant GM Tim Purpura said the club had initially contacted Nixon last year to express interest in possibly hiring him as its Triple-A manager. Nixon declined, citing his commitment to the Pirates organization. Purpura estsablished contact again this year soon after Nixon found out he would not be retained as a coach in Pittsburgh.

Purpura said Nixon's lifetime of baseball experience will be a good influence on the young players and drew comparisons between Nixon and Double-A manager Jackie Moore.

"These guys are looked up to," Purpura said. "(Nixon) managed in the Major Leagues and has been in professional baseball for 50 years. Maybe chronologically he's 67, but he's in better shape than I am. He throws batting practice every day, and he just has a presence about him."

In addition to the hiring of Nixon, pitching coach Charley Taylor will return for his third season in Lexington and his 22nd overall in the Astros organization as a coach after seven years as a player. Rounding out the staff is Gregg Langbehn, who will serve as a coach for Lexington after two seasons as a coach for the organization's Rookie Appalachian League affiliate in Martinsville.

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Article at the Lexington Herald-Leader (http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/sports/5283024.htm)

Nixon plans to keep having fun

By Mark Maloney ... Herald-Leader Staff Writer ... 28 Feb 2003

A thought to warm a baseball fan's mind: 34 days until the Lexington Legends open the season.

Russ Nixon, the team's new manager and 68 years young, is raring to go.

"I've had a lot of fun in this game, and I'm going to continue that. That's one thing that's not going to stop," said Nixon, whose 50-year professional career includes 12 seasons as a big-league catcher and five seasons as manager with the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. "The fun right now is to have my kids excel. Have them grasp the game. ... Not what you're teaching them so much as how they play the game -- to respect it and not abuse it."

Nixon made four stops on the Legends caravan over the last two days, his last order of business before reporting Saturday to the Houston Astros' spring-training base in Kissimmee, Fla.

"This has been ... outstanding," Nixon said of the caravan. "I'm certainly glad that I was able to do this. Plus, it gives me the heartbeat of the area, the people here.

"Basically, I didn't know anybody in the front office until (being hired in) November, which was very brief."

Better acquainted with fans and staff, Nixon is ready to go to Florida "and check these guys out and get them back in here, ready to play."

Nixon's first chore at Kissimmee will be to work with the minor-league catchers for about 10 days. That means he'll also get a close look at pitching prospects.

"There's a lot of bullpen activity, which catchers hate," Nixon said. "Because the pitchers, automatically they're going to try to show their best stuff the first day. You caution them about that, but catchers get the (tar) beat out of them, let's face it."

Having completed half a century in pro baseball as the Pittsburgh Pirates' catching instructor last season, Nixon chose not to pursue another major-league post.

The hassle of big-league egos and the inflated costs of big-city life are behind him.

"I'm happier with the kids and I think that I myself will get more out of it, more satisfaction out of working with the kids and seeing them progress," he said. "And the season's two months shorter. ... I need to see my grandkids now and then, so I'm going to do it."

Lexington puts him close to numerous relatives and his southwestern Ohio hometown, Cleves.

"I've got friends throughout baseball and could have probably had a job in the leagues if I wanted next year," Nixon said. "If I wanted it. I really don't care about it.

"I just lucked into this because Harry Spilman played for me years ago in the Cincinnati organization. He's been a close friend of mine. He's been with Houston for a long time as a minor-league manager and now he's a big-league hitting coach. ... He introduced me to the right people.

"To be here, this is nothing but icing on the cake to be in a situation like this. New ballpark, great fan base, an area that I grew up 50 miles from, basically, and with family that hasn't seen (me) much."

Thoughts to warm a baseball manager's mind.

• Legends players will break camp March 30.

• Season opener, April 3rd, 7:05 p.m. at Applebee's Park ... Lakewood BlueClaws at Lexington Legends ... Tickets: Call the ticket office at (859) 422-7867