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November 16, 2007
Happy trails
This is sad news. Joe Nuxhall, the youngest person to ever appear in a Major League game, and who then became a broadcaster, who along with Marty Brenneman, was the voice of summer as I grew up, has passed away:
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.
For those of you in Cub-land, Nuxhall was, in his later years, much like Ron Santo or Harry Caray: a sharp baseball mind, who knew more about the game than I ever could, but who was also hopelessly unable to keep up with everything happening. Nuxhall had that country-fried announcing style that is often prized, but without the annoyingness of you-know-who. Anyway, here's to the Ol' Lefthander. You brought a lot of joy to peoples' lives... Including mine.
entry no. 1012
Posted by oz115 at November 16, 2007 01:53 PM