He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1983), Cleveland Indians (1984–87), Montreal Expos (1988–90), Atlanta Braves (1991–93, 1999), Boston Red Sox (1994), Texas Rangers (1995), Toronto Blue Jays (1996–97), Los Angeles Dodgers (1997), Minnesota Twins (1998), and a final return to the Atlanta Braves (1999), in a career that spanned from 1983 to 1999.

He started out as an infielder but was switched to outfield in 1983 due to his superior speed and frequency of errors (56 in 127 games in 1981 at shortstop for the Nashville Sounds).

[citation needed] In 17 seasons Nixon played with the New York Yankees (1983), Cleveland Indians (1984–87), Montreal Expos (1988–90), Atlanta Braves (1991–93.

1999), Boston Red Sox (1994), Texas Rangers (1995), Toronto Blue Jays (1996–97), Los Angeles Dodgers (1997) and Minnesota Twins (1998).

Nixon made the final out of the 1992 World Series attempting to bunt for a base hit with a runner on third and 2 out in extra innings of Game 6.

On his previous at-bat, Nixon had singled home the tying run (swinging, not bunting) with 2 out in the bottom of the ninth to send Game 6 to extra innings.

In an interview on February 11, 2010, on Hardcore Sports Radio on SiriusXM, Nixon discussed how he overcame his demons and conquered his drug and alcohol addiction.