Red Sox outfielder Trot Nixon, although maintaining a solid batting average and on-base percentage, is on pace to hit just 12 home runs this year, and he doesn't know why.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 25, 2006

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It has been six weeks since his last homer, and perhaps even more remarkably, almost a month since his last extra-base hit of any kind -- a double on June 27.

Trot Nixon is painfully aware of the power drought. He doesn't need to be reminded. In fact, understandably, he would prefer to discuss almost anything else.

Worse, he has no easy answers, no explanations for the dropoff. Sometimes, the mysterious absence of power -- he has just six homers in 294 at-bats -- keeps him awake at night.

"I've got no idea," he said, clearly tired of the topic. "I've been asked that a lot lately, and the truth is that I don't know. It's kind of a sore subject. It's incredibly frustrating."

At times, Nixon tries to focus on the positive. He's been healthy all season for the first time in three years. He's hitting .299 and his on-base percentage is an impressive .400. And the hitters in front of him in the Red Sox lineup -- David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez -- haven't suffered because of his own power outage.

"I'm still trying to be aggressive at the plate," he said. "I've thought about it, believe me. There's just nothing I can put my finger on."

He wonders if the string of injuries that sidelined him so frequently in 2004 and last year, have contributed to a change in his swing. He's watched video but has found nothing.

"I don't know what it is," he said. "I don't know if there's some swing doctor who can look at my swing from 2001-2003 (when Nixon averaged 26 homers per season) and compare it to now and find something."

One thing is for certain -- the dropoff can't be attributed to anything physical. This is the best he's felt in years.

"I feel fine," he said as the Sox opened a series here against the A's. "The biggest thing is, instead of worrying about why my power numbers are off, I'm trying to concentrate on the team. Because, ultimately, if I hit 35 homers and we don't go to the playoffs, then I'm not reaching my goals.

"Obviously, I have my own goals. But the team comes first."

Still, it's hard for Nixon to separate his numbers this season from his future with the Sox. Nixon will be eligible for free agency after this season. Previously, Red Sox management had concerns about his ability to stay healthy. Now, as Nixon continues at a pace that will yield his lowest homer total (12) since 2000, they must instead fret about declining production.

When asked about how his value may be plummeting with his home run total, Nixon takes mild exception to the question.

"Value? That would mean I was worried about how much money I was going to make," he said. "I'm not."

Last week, the Red Sox granted a contract extension to Josh Beckett, though he was under their control until the end of the 2007 season. Yet Nixon, part of the organization since 1993, has not been approached about his future.

Does that bother him?

"No," he said evenly, shaking his head. "I want to win and do my part. I don't want to concentrate on myself. I want to be healthy, contribute and get back to the postseason. The other stuff doesn't bother me one bit."

Still, uncertainty looms. As he notes, the Red Sox are the only organization with which he's been associated. A native of North Carolina, Boston has become his second home. He would like it to be the only baseball home he ever knows -- that much has been communicated.

But as the Red Sox transition, there are others who could replace him. Wily Mo Pena was obtained, in part, to give the Sox leverage in the event that Nixon doesn't re-sign. David Murphy, a lefthanded outfielder who was a star in college, is less than a year away at Pawtucket.

"If I have to cross that bridge," he says of free agency, "I will. I'm trying to keep some perspective here. Really, I've spent about three or four days, total, thinking about free agency and where I'm going to be next year."

And more, one suspects, about where his power has gone.

smcadam@projo.com / (401) 277-7340