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Joe Nuxhall Photo Gallery
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Joe Nuxhall: The Youngest Player in Major League History
“One day I’m pitching against seventh, eighth, and ninth-graders, kids 13 and 14 years old… Then all of a sudden, I look up and there’s Stan Musial standing in the batters’ box!” -Joe Nuxhall reflecting on his major league debut.
In the photo below, that’s not the Cincinnati batboy…That’s 15-year old Joe Nuxhall with Hall-of-Fame, manager, Bill McKechnie.
It hapened 72 years ago today…
On June 11, 1944, Joe Nuxhall became the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game, pitching 2/3 of an inning for the Reds at the age of 15 years, 316 days. He was called upon for that one game due to player shortages during World War II. Here’s the details of that memorable game:
The Reds were playing the first place Cardinals at Crosley Field and trailing 13-0 in the ninth inning when manager Bill McKechnie called on the 15-year old left-hander to enter the game. He started well, retiring the first batter he faced on a groundout. But he was unable to get out of the inning, giving up five walks, two hits, a wild pitch and five runs. He spent the rest of the 1944 season in the minor leagues. But unlike Jake Eisenhart, who made his debut for the Reds the same day by getting the last out of the inning, Nuxhall returned to pitch in the majors in 1952.
In spite of his inauspicious debut, the 6’3”, 195-pound Nuxhall spent 16 seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Reds (1944, 1952-60). He also played briefly for the Kansas City Athletics (!961) and Los Angeles Angels (1962) before returning to the Reds (1962-66). Over his career, he went 135-117, with a 3.70 ERA and 1370 strikeouts. He was a two-time National League All-Star (1955-56) and led the league in shutouts in 1955. Nuxhall broke Hall-of-Famer Eppa Rixey’s team record of 440 games pitched for the Reds, and his final mark of 484 stood until Clay Carroll surpassed it in 1975. He still holds the team mark for left-handers.
Immediately after retiring as a player in 1967, “Nuxy” became a radio broadcaster for the Reds and remained in the booth through 2004. His trademark radio signoff phrase – “This is the ol’ left-hander, rounding third and heading for home” – is displayed on the outside of the Great American Ball Park. For many years after retiring as a player and during his broadcasting career, Nuxhall pitched batting practice for the Reds.
Nuxhall’s uniform #41 has been retired by the Reds. His likeness is one of four statues decorating the main entrance of the stadium (The others are Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski and Frank Robinson). He was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1968. Nuxhall spent nearly 62 of his 64 baseball seasons with the Reds (or one of its minor-league clubs) as a player or an announcer. He officially retired from the Reds on October 3, 2004, 60 years after his pitching debut, although he made part-time appearances in the booth until 2007. Joe Nuxhall passed away in November 15, 2007, aged 79, after a long battle with cancer.
-Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from public domain
Information: Excerpts edited from the Joe Nuxhall Wikipedia page.
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