The Ol' Lefthander

Y'all should know by now that I'm a baseball fan extraordinaire. So, while the following may not be of interest to many of you, it was...quite simply...something I had to do. You see, the Cincinnati baseball community lost an icon this past Thursday night with the passing of Joe Nuxhall. In fact, the first thing my boss, Dave, said to me Friday morning was, "Sorry about Joe."

Back in 1944, when many regular players from the Reds and other major league teams were unavailable due to military service in World War II, Joe – at the age of 15 – became the youngest player to ever play professional baseball. He was a pitcher…a southpaw…or lefty, for those of you unfamiliar with baseball expressions.

On June 10, the Reds were playing the Cardinals and trailing by a whopping 13-0 in the ninth inning when young Joe was called into the game from the bull pen. He started off by retiring two of the first three batters he faced, but ended up allowing five walks, two hits, one wild pitch and five runs before being taken out of the game. Hardly a stellar performance. Joe spent the rest of that season and several others in the minors before returning to major league baseball and the Reds in 1952…the year I was born.

Now, I have seen my fair share of Reds games. My parents started taking me (and my brothers) to ball games at a very young age…so young, in fact, that I could sit on my daddy’s knee. Consequently, I don’t remember those very early years and, though I probably saw Joe pitch, I don’t have any active recollection of seeing him. I do, however, have many happy memories of hearing him and his broadcast partner, Marty Brennaman, “call” a game...or two.

You see, after Joe retired from major league baseball and the Reds in 1967, he moved directly into the broadcast booth. His signature phrase when signing off after a game was, “This is the ol’ lefthander, rounding third and heading for home.” To say that Joe was a little “rough around the edges” and that he could butcher the English language with the best of ‘em, would be a bit of an understatement. But then, who among us has not split an infinitive, dangled a participle, or ended a sentence with a preposition now and again?

Back in the day, I used to “score” the games as I listened along to the “play by play.” I can recall many times when I would throw up my hands in frustration when a Reds player would get a hit and Joe would say excitedly, “That’s a hit to right…left field.” “Which one, Joe?” I would scream at the radio. God bless him. He would get so caught up in the action that he’d "forget" which was left and which was right. The older I get…the more I can identify with that.

Joe officially retired in 2004…some 60 years after his debut on the pitching rubber in a Reds uniform. He was the genuine article…a man who believed in giving back to the community that had loved and revered him most of his life. He was good to kids...all kids...and he believed in education. His charities and foundations will live on long after his passing.

Joe was the kind of person I would describe as “what you see, is what you get.” He didn’t put on airs or pretend to be anything he wasn’t. He was...just Joe. And, sadly, at 10:55p.m., Thursday, November 15, 2007, Joseph Henry Nuxhall...for the very last time on this earth...rounded third and headed for home.

I'm thinking this is Joe when he was only fifteen.

Joe, pitching for the Reds.

Joe with his broadcast partner, and longtime friend, Marty Brennaman.

Joe with Ken Griffey, Jr.

Joe at his special tribute night at Great American Ball Park in 2004.
Photos from the "Cincinnati Enquirer" and Google.