Riagogogoindanati Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/s...ategory=nuxhall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyline Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 Oh, wow. How sad...Thanks for posting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBenBlows Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 My dad will be very upset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMC Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 There goes a valuable piece of my childhood. The memories will last forever......We love ya Joe.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duus Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 There have not been many 'sports-related' reasons that I have actually shed a tear over. One was the UK-Duke game. This news is another. So many memories. So many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsbengalsbucks Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 Sad day to be a Reds fan, he was a big part of why I enjoyed listening to the games.One of the greats is gone, but not forgotten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JungleFanatic Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 R.I.P JoeWe'll miss ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengals44 Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 He was truely a genuine and great man... Although I never met him, I will personally miss him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damiancasey Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 Someone above said that there were not many "sports related" reasons that they have ever shed a tear over...I have to agree. When I came into work this morning I checked the news and that was the first thing I heard...my eyes quickly welled up with tears...A very strong memory of summer as a kid growing up in Cincinnati is the sound of crickets, the smell of barbecue and Marty and Joe on the radio in the background.Very sad - he will be very missed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoDey93285 Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 R.I.P. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 I'm sad to see a part of my childhood go...Joe Nuxhall, Reds broadcaster and baseball's youngest player, dies3 hours agoCINCINNATI - Joe Nuxhall, the youngest major leaguer at age 15 and later a beloved broadcaster known as "the ol' left-hander" in Cincinnati, has died. He was 79.Nuxhall died Thursday night while hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia, the team said. He was awaiting surgery to insert a pacemaker, and had been slowed by a recurrence of cancer since September.Brought up by Cincinnati to pitch during World War II - just out of junior high classes, he unravelled at the sight of Stan Musial in the on-deck circle - Nuxhall worked more than six decades for the Reds. He continued to pitch batting practice into the 1980s and was a member of the team's Hall of Fame.While he won 135 games, it was on the radio where he became best known. On a franchise filled with Hall of Fame players and big personalities, Nuxhall might have been the most popular of all."This is a sad day for everyone in the Reds organization," outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. said in a statement. "He did so many great things for so many people. You never heard anyone ever say a bad word about him. We're all going to miss him."Reds owner Bob Castellini said Friday that "Joe exemplified everything baseball's all about, from the mound to the broadcast booth."Great American Ball Park was to be dark Friday night in Nuxhall's honour, except for spotlights shining on his statue outside the main gate. Also to be illuminated were the big red words of his radio signoff, emblazoned outside the stadium: "... rounding third and heading for home.""Summer nights in Cincinnati will never be the same again without the voice of the ol' left-hander crackling over the airwaves," U.S. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement. "To millions, even those who never met Joe in person, his voice was the voice of a good friend."Nuxhall's son, Kim, released a statement thanking the public for the many cards and messages sent to his father."Dad felt that he truly had three extended families during his career - the great City of Hamilton, where he grew up; Fairfield, where he raised his children; and Cincinnati, where he was able to play and broadcast the great game of baseball with the Cincinnati Reds," Kim Nuxhall said."We will be eternally grateful to the Cincinnati Reds organization and the fans who provided us with experiences and memories of a lifetime. Dad truly loved you all," he said.Nuxhall's place in baseball lore was secured the moment he stepped onto a big league field. With major league rosters depleted during World War II, he got a chance to pitch in relief for the Reds on June 10, 1944.At 15 years, 10 months, 11 days old, Nuxhall was big for his age. He was six-foot-three and his parents let him join the Reds when school let out.Nuxhall spent most of the time watching from the bench, assuming he'd never get into a game. The Reds were trailing the St. Louis Cardinals 13-0 after eight innings 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 recalled. "All of a sudden, I look up and there's Stan Musial and the likes. It was a very scary situation."Nuxhall walked one and retired two batters before glancing at the on-deck circle and seeing Musial. Nuxhall unravelled - Musial hit 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. In all, he walked five and threw a wild pitch in two-thirds of an inning."Those people that were at Crosley Field that afternoon probably said, 'Well, that's the last we'll see of that kid,"' Nuxhall said.The Reds sent him to the minors, but eight years later he was back with the Reds. Nuxhall spent 15 of his 16 big league seasons with the Reds, going 135-117 before his retirement in 1966.A year later, Nuxhall started doing radio broadcasts, describing games in a slow-paced, down-home manner that caught on with listeners. Marty Brennaman became the play-by-play announcer in 1974, and the "Marty and Joe" tandem spent the next 28 seasons chatting about their golf games, their gardens and some of the biggest moments in franchise history.Nuxhall retired as a full-time radio broadcaster after the 2004 season, the 60th anniversary of his historic pitching debut. Since then, he was heavily involved in charity work, especially his scholarship and character education programs.He had surgery for prostate cancer in 1992, followed by a mild heart attack in 2001. The cancer returned last February, when he was preparing for spring training in Sarasota, Fla.Nuxhall called some games last season even though his left leg was swollen by tumours. He was hospitalized again this week.There will be a private funeral Wednesday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al-Bone Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Although I live in Nashville, I can pick up WLW at night and listen to Reds games whenever I can. Joe Nuxhall is missed already. My dad was really saddened to hear the news when I broke it to him this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Missed this somehow today. I don't know how may games I listened to with him and Marty, but it was a lot. I hope he finally made it home. Rest in peace, Joe, ya done good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 R.I.P. Joe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlainThePain Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Sad day for Reds fans. R.I.P. Joe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Very sad to hear. I spent a huge part of my childhood listening to Joe on the radio and for those who never got the chance to hear him call a game, you truly did miss something special. R.I.P. Joe and peace be with his family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted November 17, 2007 Report Share Posted November 17, 2007 Borgman... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whodey_88 Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 When they report to spring training and opening days are going to be tough, tough days...I miss ya already lefty... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BengalszoneBilly Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 When they report to spring training and opening days are going to be tough, tough days...I miss ya already lefty...This post brings up a question...who will replace Joe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoDey93285 Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 When they report to spring training and opening days are going to be tough, tough days...I miss ya already lefty...This post brings up a question...who will replace Joe?If ya mean in the booth, Billy, then Joe was already pretty much retired. He'd do about 10 or so games a year with Marty, but nothing past that. Jeff Brantley, Thom Brennaman, and Marty already did 95% of the Reds radio broadcast, with Thom and Jeff switching out and doing television occasionally.But Joe will never be replaced in our hearts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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