A right-hander, the switch-hitting Dixon threw stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 205 pounds (93 kg).

Signed by the Senators prior to the 1941 season,[1] Dixon served in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II[2] and missed three years (1943–1945) of his baseball career.

On June 11, 1954, he was traded by Senators to the Chicago White Sox for fellow pitcher Gus Keriazakos, and then dealt the same day with pitcher Al Sima, outfielder Bill Wilson and $20,000 to the Philadelphia Athletics for hurler Morrie Martin and outfielder Ed McGhee.

On May 11, 1955, Dixon and cash were sent by the Athletics, in their first year in Kansas City, to the New York Yankees in exchange for a couple of well-known veteran players: pitcher Johnny Sain and eventual Hall of Famer outfielder Enos Slaughter.

During his four seasons in the Majors, Sonny Dixon compiled an 11–18 career mark with a 4.17 earned run average, allowing 296 hits and 75 bases on balls in 263 innings pitched; he struck out 90 and recorded nine saves.