> Nuxhall Dies at 79
> Photo:http://www.redshistory.com/Timeline/Images/RedsJoeNuxhallEnquirer.jpg
> FROM: The Cincinnati Enquirer ~
> By Kevin Kelly
> Hamilton native Joe Nuxhall, who as a 15-year-old in
> 1944 made history by pitching for the Reds and later
> became a fixture in the Reds radio booth, died at 10:55
> p.m. Thursday night at Mercy Hospital-Fairfield.
> He was 79.
> One of the most beloved figures in Cincinnati's rich
> baseball history, Nuxhall was admitted to Mercy
> Hospital-Fairfield on Monday for pneumonia, a low
> pulse rate and low white blood count. Thursday morning,
> doctors postponed surgery to insert a pacemaker
> because of Nuxhall's low pulse, his son Kim Nuxhall
> said.
> .
> The Ol' Left-hander, as he came to be known to scores
> of Reds fans, spent six decades with the team as a
> player and radio broadcaster until retiring after the 2004
> season. Working under a personal services contract with
> the Reds, he broadcast selected games during the 2007
> season.
> "He's one of the greatest human beings I've ever met,"
> former Reds first baseman Sean Casey said in 2004.
> "He's humble. He always thinks of others first. I know
> he was a great pitcher and he's done a lot of other things.
> But I think everything else is second to him being a great
> human being."
> During a major league playing career that began in 1944
> and ended after the 1966 season, Nuxhall appeared in
> 526 games with the Reds, Kansas City Athletics and
> Los Angeles Angels.
> At 15 years, 10 months and 11 days old, he made his major
> league debut with the Reds on June 10, 1944 and pitched
> two-thirds of an inning in an 18-0 loss against the Cardinals.
> Signed to help fill out the Reds' roster during
> World War II, he remains the youngest player ever to
> appear in a Major League Baseball game in modern history.
> Nuxhall returned to the Reds' roster in 1952, was an
> All-Star during the 1955 and 1956 seasons, and remained
> with the team until being traded to Kansas City before the
> 1961 season.
> Nuxhall pitched in 37 games with the Athletics that year.
> The Orioles signed him as a free agent and released him
> before the 1962 season. Nuxhall quickly signed with the
> Angels only to be released by Los Angeles after five relief
> appearances in 1962.
> Nuxhall rejoined the Reds shortly thereafter and pitched
> in 146 games for Cincinnati before retiring at age 37 in
> 1966. In all, he compiled a 130-109 record and a 3.80
> ERA in 484 games with the Reds. In 1968 he was elected
> to the team's Hall of Fame.
> At the urging of former Reds general manager
> Bob Howsam and Wiedemann Brewing -- then a sponsor
> of the Reds radio broadcasts -- Nuxhall moved to the
> broadcast booth alongside Claude Sullivan and Jim
> McIntyre in 1967.
> From behind the microphone in the Reds radio booth,
> Nuxhall witnessed and then shared some of the most
> pivotal moments in team history with his listeners.
> He first teamed with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty
> Brennaman for the 1974 season and the pair remained
> inseparable for 31 seasons on the Reds radio network.
> "(Partners) Jim McIntyre, Al Michaels and Marty helped
> me a lot," Nuxhall said in 2002. "I know they give me
> credit for helping them. But, brother, they helped me a
> lot. My English was pretty bad.
> I know it hasn't improved a lot. But it has improved --
> simply from working with those guys."
> The public grew to know, and treasure, Nuxhall over the
> airwaves.
> In December 2003, before his final full season in the
> broadcast booth, and again in December 2006, Nuxhall
> was placed on the ballot for the Ford C. Frick Award.
> The National Baseball Hall of Fame gives the annual award
> to a broadcaster "for major contributions to the game of
> baseball."
> "Joe is baseball in Cincinnati," former Reds manager
> Sparky Anderson once said. "For myself, personally,
> if he doesn't go in the Hall of Fame, they shouldn't have
> one."
> A 38-year run as one of the team's primary radio
> announcers ended in October 2004, but Nuxhall had
> remained visible around the team and broadcast booth since
> then.
> "I think the anticipation of semi-retirement is worse than
> the reality," Phil Nuxhall, Joe's eldest son, said in 2004.
> "I think he's going to be fine.
> "He's starting to realize we can take a family trip for the
> first time since we were kids. We can do things. We can go
> to a show or something. I think when that sets in, he's going
> to be fine."
> An Ohio General Assembly resolution proclaimed
> Aug. 18, 2006 as "Joe Nuxhall Day" across the state.
> The longtime Fairfield resident was honored before the Reds'
> game against the Pirates that evening at Great American Ball
> Park.
> A change in the team's ownership structure before the
> 2006 season meant a higher profile for Nuxhall. Reds
> chief executive officer Bob Castellini made tapping into the
> team's tradition a priority, and as a result Nuxhall was
> extended a personal services contract and broadcast selected
> games last season.
> He worked alongside Marty Brennaman and his son Thom
> on Opening Day and, later in the season, broadcast from the
> new Busch Stadium in St. Louis. It was the 59th ballpark he
> had played in or broadcast a game, including each of the
> existing major league stadiums except the Rogers Centre in
> Toronto, Safeco Field in Seattle and Oriole Park at Camden
> Yards in Baltimore.
> Outside the gates of Great American Ball Park, on the
> Crosley Terrace, Nuxhall is one of four "Crosley Field"
> era players immortalized with a bronze sculpture. The statue
> of Nuxhall was unveiled in July 2003.
> "From the first day I walked on the field at spring training
> in Tampa, Joe was always there to help with whatever," Hall o
> f Fame catcher Johnny Bench said in 2004. "He just oozed
> Reds baseball."
> Nuxhall had battled cancer and heart problems for several
> years. In 1992, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and
> suffered a heart attack in December 2001. In 2003, he
> underwent a 3 -hour surgery to remove a cancerous lump
> on the side of his face near his ear.
> In May 2006, Nuxhall was admitted to Mercy
> Hospital-Fairfield to receive treatment for a lump on his
> tonsil and pneumonia in both lungs. The lump was a
> recurrence of the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma first detected
> in September 2003.
> He was released from the hospital after a seven-day stay and
> back at the ballpark soon after.
> Nuxhall is survived by his wife of 60 years Donzetta, and two
> sons, Phil Nuxhall and Kim Nuxhall.
> ---
> Photos:http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2006/06/08/68CwOBNl.jpg
> http://www.uc.edu/news/view.asp?infoID=1915&photo=image2
> 1957 Topps (#103) baseball card:http://www.vintagecardtraders.com/virtual/57topps/57topps-103.jpg
> Stats: http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nuxhajo01.shtml
I started collecting baseball cards around 1965. It seemed that every
pack had a Joe Nuxhall card.
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