Papelbon, Nixon join Pedroia in Red Sox HOF Class of '24

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The two newest electees to the Red Sox Hall of Fame include the team’s all-time leading closer in Jonathan Papelbon and one of the grittiest players to wear the Boston uniform in right fielder Trot Nixon.

They will join Dustin Pedroia, who received automatic election during his retirement ceremony at Fenway Park in 2021, as the team’s Hall of Fame class of 2024.

Nixon and Papelbon were voted in by a panel that included Red Sox broadcasters and executives, past and present media personnel and representatives from The New England Sports Museum and the BoSox Booster Club.

Players must have played at least three years with the Red Sox to be eligible for nomination and must also have been out of uniform as an active player for at least three years.

The Red Sox elect Hall of Famers every two years. The original plan was for Pedroia to be part of ceremonies in 2022, but the 2020 induction class, which included David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, was postponed until ’22 due to COVID.

Now, Pedroia can go in with one of his closest friends in Papelbon, a man he teamed with to help guide the Red Sox to a World Series championship in 2007.

Nixon, a key member of Boston’s fabled ’04 champs, played with Papelbon and Pedroia in ’06, Nixon's final year with the club.

Induction events will open with the Fenway Honors event on May 29 at a location to be determined. Keeping in line with past tradition, that event will be a fundraiser for the Red Sox Foundation.

The fun will continue with ceremonies honoring the inductees prior to the Tigers-Red Sox game on May 30.

In addition to the three player inductees, Billy Rohr will be recognized for his one-hitter in 1967 that took place in his first Major League start. Elston Howard, the widely-respected catcher who broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the ninth at Yankee Stadium, wound up joining that Impossible Dream Boston team down the stretch of that season.

Pioneer Elaine Steward, who still works for the club as senior vice president and assistant general counsel, will go into the Sox Hall of Fame as a non-uniformed member of the organization.

Steward helped blaze a trail for women in sports front offices. In 1990, the Red Sox promoted Steward to assistant general manager under Lou Gorman. It marked the first time a Black woman earned a position that high in a front office in the Majors.

Speaking of the late Gorman, it was under his administration that Nixon was taken in the first round (seventh overall pick) in the 1993 MLB Draft. Fittingly, Nixon wore No. 7 during his solid tenure in Boston, which started with a two-game cameo in 1996 and picked up steam when the left-handed hitter was called up for good in ’99.

Nixon patrolled Fenway’s challenging right field with abandon for years and had a knack for coming up with the big hit when the Red Sox needed it most. With the count 3-0, Nixon smashed a two-run double that wound up being the key hit in the World Series-clinching Game 4 against the Cardinals in 2004, Boston’s first championship since 1918.

When the Red Sox were in the process of bouncing back from a 0-3 deficit in the American League Championship Series that year against the Yankees, Nixon made a pair of game-saving diving catches in Game 5, a 14-inning thriller at Fenway.

Papelbon took Fenway by storm with his brilliant rookie year in 2006 (0.92 ERA, 35 saves). He was in top form the next season, saving 37 more games for the World Series-champion Red Sox. In all, Papelbon notched a team-record 219 saves over 393 relief appearances for Boston.