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Joe Nuxhall
Jul. 2nd, 2018 03:08 pmI just spent a fascinating hour reading the story of Joe Nuxhall, who holds the honor of being the youngest player ever to play in the Major Leagues.
With both the Majors and minors losing players to the draft, teams were getting desperate. The Cinncinati Reds signed then 14-year-old Nuxhall to a contact. The big southpaw spent most of his time pitching batting practice, but on June 10, 1944, at the age of 15 years, 316 days, he came out to pitch the 9th in what was already a blowout loss for the Reds at the hands of the mighty St. Louis Cardinals.
Nuxhall managed 2/3rds of an inning, allowing 2 hits, walking 5, and one wild pitch. He allowed five runs which saddled him with an astronomical ERA of 67.47. To quote Nuxhall:
After something like that, and with players coming home as the war wound down, it could be expected that Joe Nuxhall would go on with his life, hang up his spikes and have a great story to tell. But that's not what happened. Instead, the moment he could, Joe dived into the Reds' farm system, and in 1952 he was back in the bigs.
He stayed for 16 seasons, most of them with the Reds, he was a 2-time All-Star. After his playing career ended, he was a broadcaster for the Reds almost to his death in 2007. All in all, he spent 64 years involved with professional baseball, 62 of them with the Reds. Outside the Great American Ballpark, the Red's current home, there is a statue of Nuxhall near the wall where his radio sign-off is immortalized.
With both the Majors and minors losing players to the draft, teams were getting desperate. The Cinncinati Reds signed then 14-year-old Nuxhall to a contact. The big southpaw spent most of his time pitching batting practice, but on June 10, 1944, at the age of 15 years, 316 days, he came out to pitch the 9th in what was already a blowout loss for the Reds at the hands of the mighty St. Louis Cardinals.
Nuxhall managed 2/3rds of an inning, allowing 2 hits, walking 5, and one wild pitch. He allowed five runs which saddled him with an astronomical ERA of 67.47. To quote Nuxhall:
"I was pitching against seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders, kids 13 and 14 years old... All of a sudden, I look up and there's Stan Musial and the likes. It was a very scary situation."
After something like that, and with players coming home as the war wound down, it could be expected that Joe Nuxhall would go on with his life, hang up his spikes and have a great story to tell. But that's not what happened. Instead, the moment he could, Joe dived into the Reds' farm system, and in 1952 he was back in the bigs.
He stayed for 16 seasons, most of them with the Reds, he was a 2-time All-Star. After his playing career ended, he was a broadcaster for the Reds almost to his death in 2007. All in all, he spent 64 years involved with professional baseball, 62 of them with the Reds. Outside the Great American Ballpark, the Red's current home, there is a statue of Nuxhall near the wall where his radio sign-off is immortalized.
"This is the old left-hander, rounding third and heading for home"
