Published: November 19, 2007 12:05 pm            

Nuxie Goes Home

Reds Country bids farewell to Joe Nuxhall

The events of last week were ironic and very sad — if you’re a baseball lover in these parts. On Thursday, the game’s all-time home run king (Barry Bonds) was indicted. And its best player (Alex Rodriguez) was continuing his quest to hold up his employer (the New York Yankees) for another gajillion dollars.

That the game has come to this is tragic enough.

Then, in the early morning hours on Friday, one of the game’s great ambassadors, the “old left-hander” Joe Nuxhall, passed away at the age of 79.

Joe pitched for over two decades and certainly didn’t post Hall of Fame numbers like other great Reds such as Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Frank Robinson. But he meant as much to Cincinnati and its baseball fans as any player in franchise history.

He was an icon.

And Joe’s death is a stark indication that a bygone era of the national pastime is truly withering away.

In a time where players’ greed easily surpasses their talent, Nuxhall was a throwback to a better time — one of dedication, teamwork and loyalty.

He was bigger than life — yet he was a kind-hearted man who always had time to say hello to fans or even a starstruck young newspaper guy who felt like he had known him since he was a kid.

Think about this — as the youngest player in Major League history, the southpaw Nuxhall faced Stan Musial in a June 10, 1944, game at the age of 15. He would remain in the Cincinnati Reds organization for over six decades as a player and broadcaster, save one season, 1961, when he pitched for the Kansas City A’s.

That hasn’t happened in a long time. And I think it’s safe to say it won’t happen again.

“It’s a sad day for everyone in Reds Country,” said Mike Tarter, the president and CEO of Key Broadcasting, a longtime Reds fan who had the opportunity to chat with Nuxhall several times over the years. “Joe Nuxhall was the same person you heard in the booth — he was down to earth and friendly.”

After Nuxhall retired as an active player in 1966, he began a 40-year career as a broadcaster in 1967. Nuxhall and Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Marty Brennaman described the Big Red Machine’s two World Series titles in the 1970s, Rose’s return as player-manager and then banishment for gambling in the 1980s, and another World Series championship in 1990.

In Marty and Joe’s first game together in 1974, they called Hank Aaron’s 714th career home run, which tied Babe Ruth for the all-time record at that time. Nuxhall retired as a full-time announcer in 2004, the 60th anniversary of his historic debut as a pitcher.

“Joe was one of the truly good guys,” Tarter said. “And he was a great compliment to Marty in the booth because he had actually been in the dugout and warmed up in the bullpen. He knew what those guys in the dugout were thinking and what they were going through.

“As a broadcast team, no two guys did it better than Marty and Joe,” Tarter added. “They’re synonymous with the Reds, just like Spark Anderson is, or Bench or Rose. Joe Nuxhall is beloved in Cincinnati — everyone felt like they knew him.”

Nuxhall got his break when World War II depleted baseball rosters and teams were sent scurrying to semi-pro games to find replacement players. Reds scouts ventured up the road to Hamilton, Ohio, to check out an aging pitcher named Orville Nuxhall. Instead, they found themselves impressed with Orville’s son, the gangly 6-foot-3, 190-pound Joe, a mere high school freshman.

“My dad could throw hard,” Nuxhall told the Associated Press. “They were really scouting him. Almost by accident, they found me.”

Nuxhall’s parents allowed their son to sign a big league contract so that he could play — once his junior high school classes dismissed in the spring of ‘44.

He spent most of the time watching from the bench, assuming he’d never get into a game. The Reds were trailing Musial’s St. Louis Cardinals 13-0 after eight innings on June 10, 1944, when manager Bill McKechnie decided to give the kid a chance.

Nuxhall was so rattled when summoned to warm up that he tripped on the top step of the dugout and fell on his face in front of 3,510 fans at Crosley Field. He was terrified when it came time to walk to the mound.

“Probably two weeks prior to that, I was pitching against seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders, kids 13 and 14 years old,” he said. “All of a sudden, I look up and there’s Stan Musial. It was a very scary situation.”

Nuxhall walked one and retired two batters before glancing at the on-deck circle and seeing Musial. Nuxhall unraveled — Musial got a line-drive single, and the Cardinals scored five runs as the young pitcher lost his ability to throw a strike and failed to get another out.

“Those people that were at Crosley Field that afternoon probably said, ‘Well, that’s the last we’ll see of that kid,’” Nuxhall said.

Nuxhall would toil for eight years in the minor leagues before being summoned back to Cincinnati in 1952.

“In his autobiography, Joe talks about how many times he wanted to quit,” Tarter said. “But his father and brother kept pushing him to keep trying — and he did. His was a real success story.”

“Nuxie” won 135 games during his career. In his best season, he went 17-12 in 1955 with a 3.47 ERA and five shutouts.

“It’s a shame that Joe didn’t live to be inducted into the Hall of Fame ... I certainly hope that happens,” Tarter said. “For his contributions to the game as the youngest player ever, and then as a broadcaster, I think he’s deserving.”

Nuxhall’s health problems multiplied in recent years but couldn’t keep him away from the game or the broadcast booth for long. He had surgery for prostate cancer in 1992, followed by a mild heart attack in 2001.

The cancer returned last February, when Nuxhall was preparing for the Reds’ spring training in Sarasota, Fla. The broadcaster called some games last season even though his left leg was swollen by tumors. He was hospitalized again last week.

For people who grew up following the Reds, Nuxhall was a constant for decades. He was a living, breathing link to childhood memories of tucking your transistor radio under your pillow to listen to those late-night, West Coast games when the Reds faced Walter Alston’s Dodgers, or the Giants with Willie Mays and Wille McCovey.

His kind voice helped provide a soundtrack for summers in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Indiana. And his enthusiasm was contagious.

“When Marty was calling a home run, you could hear Nuxhall going crazy yelling ‘Get out of here’ in the background,” Tarter said. “He loved every minute of what he did.

“I always liked Joe’s ‘Star of the Game Show’ — especially when he would interview Tony Perez,” Tarter added with a chuckle. “Tony didn’t speak the most fluent English and it was a hoot to hear Joe try to get him to say something.”

Joe would end his “Star of the Game Show” with his trademark phrase — “This is the old left-hander rounding third and heading for home.”

I guess Nuxie is home now. God Bless ya, Joe. We’ll miss you.

        

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