Joe Nuxhall

Full Name: Joseph Henry Nuxhall	Primary Position: P
Height/Weight: 6' 3"/195	First Game: June 10, 1944
Birthdate: July 30, 1928	Final Game: October 2, 1966
Birthplace: Hamilton, Ohio	MLB Experience: 16 years
Died: November 15, 2007
Bat/Throw: Left/Left

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1 Biography
2 Statistics
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[edit] Biography

Born on July 30, 1928 in Hamilton, Ohio, Joe Nuxhall (Joseph Henry Nuxhall) played for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Athletics and Los Angeles Angels over the course of his 16 year career. Nuxhall broke into the bigs on June 10, 1944 with the Cincinnati Reds at age 15 -- the youngest pitcher to ever pitch in a Major League game, and put up a 3.22 ERA in 92.1 innings pitched in 1952, his rookie year.

His major league debut was four days after D-Day, and Nuxhall was clearly there to fill in for veteran ballplayers who were still serving in the Armed Forces. It is amazing that he was in junior high that spring and in the majors a month later.

His debut started off on the wrong foot -- literally. When summoned to go to the bullpen by the Reds manager Bill McKechnie, Nuxhall tripped over the top step of the dugout and fell flat on his face in the dirt. In his relief appearance he got two of the first three batters out but then noticed Stan Musial was in the on deck circle and didn't get another batter out, walking five batters and giving up two hits after giving up five more runs.

It was 1952 before Nuxhall resurfaced in Cincinnati and played for them off and on till 1966 with stints with Kansas City Athletics and Los Angeles Angels. He is one of the few 135-117 pitchers in baseball with his own statue. His statue is in front of the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. He broadcast Reds games from 1967 to 2004 when he retired.

Nuxhall was also known for his batting, slugging 15 home runs and driving in 78 runs and in 1961 had 19 hits and a .292 average for Kansas City.

Cincinnati and baseball fans everywhere have lost a great man and like he used to say at the conclusion of his broadcast, "The old lefthander is rounding third and heading home" and last week he made it home to stay for the last time. He may be gone but the memories will linger for many years to come.

Nuxhall passed away on November 15, 2007, after succumbing to cancer.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Pitching Stats

Year	Team		G	GS	W	L	ERA	K	R	ER	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	IB	WP	HBP
1944	CIN	N	1	0	0	0	67.50	0	5	5	0	0	0	0.2	2	0	5	0	1	0
1952	CIN	N	37	5	1	4	3.22	52	33	33	2	0	1	92.1	83	4	42	0	5	3
1953	CIN	N	30	17	9	11	4.32	52	77	68	5	1	2	141.2	136	13	69	0	0	8
1954	CIN	N	35	14	12	5	3.89	85	77	72	5	1	0	166.2	188	11	59	2	4	6
1955	CIN	N	50	33	17	12	3.47	98	108	99	14	5	3	257	240	25	78	6	5	5
1956	CIN	N	44	32	13	11	3.72	120	96	83	10	2	3	200.2	196	18	87	6	3	6
1957	CIN	N	39	28	10	10	4.75	99	104	92	6	2	1	174.1	192	24	53	3	3	7
1958	CIN	N	36	26	12	11	3.79	111	78	74	5	0	0	175.2	169	15	63	5	3	1
1959	CIN	N	28	21	9	9	4.24	75	76	62	6	1	1	131.2	155	10	35	1	0	1
1960	CIN	N	38	6	1	8	4.42	72	58	55	0	0	0	112	130	8	27	6	3	4
1961	KC	A	37	13	5	8	5.34	81	81	76	1	0	1	128	135	12	65	2	6	3
1962	LA	A	5	0	0	0	1.12	2	6	6	0	0	0	5.1	7	0	5	0	0	1
1962	CIN	N	12	9	5	0	2.45	57	20	18	1	0	1	66	59	4	25	1	1	1
1962	Total		17	9	5	0	3.03	59	26	24	1	0	1	71.1	66	4	30	1	1	2
1963	CIN	N	35	29	15	8	2.61	169	73	63	14	2	2	217.1	194	14	39	2	2	6
1964	CIN	N	32	22	9	8	4.07	111	73	70	7	4	2	154.2	146	19	51	3	4	6
1965	CIN	N	32	16	11	4	3.45	117	57	57	5	1	2	148.2	142	18	31	2	3	3
1966	CIN	N	35	16	6	8	4.50	71	71	65	2	1	0	130	136	14	42	7	2	9
Total	NL		484	274	130	109	3.80	1289	1006	916	82	20	18	2169.1	2168	197	706	44	39	66
Total	AL		42	13	5	8	5.53	83	87	82	1	0	1	133.1	142	12	70	2	6	4
Total			526	287	135	117	3.90	1372	1093	998	83	20	19	2302.2	2310	209	776	46	45	70

[edit] Fielding Stats

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	PB	SB	CS	PkO	AVG
1944	CIN	N	P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1952	CIN	N	P	37	0	0	3	24	1	4	0	0	0	0	.964
1953	CIN	N	P	30	0	0	6	18	3	0	0	0	0	0	.889
1954	CIN	N	P	35	14	166.2	4	29	1	5	1	2	5	1	.971
1955	CIN	N	P	50	0	0	12	35	3	4	0	0	0	0	.940
1956	CIN	N	P	44	0	0	6	31	2	3	0	0	0	0	.949
1957	CIN	N	P	39	28	174.1	11	20	4	1	1	6	2	3	.886
1958	CIN	N	P	36	26	175.2	6	29	3	3	1	4	4	4	.921
1959	CIN	N	P	28	21	131.2	6	19	1	1	1	1	4	3	.962
1960	CIN	N	P	38	6	112	8	26	1	4	0	2	2	0	.971
1961	KC	A	P	37	13	128	10	13	3	1	1	3	4	2	.885
1962	LA	A	P	5	0	5.1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	1.000
1962	CIN	N	P	12	9	66	1	9	0	1	0	0	4	1	1.000
1962	Total		P	17	9	71.1	2	11	0	1	1	0	4	1	1.000
1963	CIN	N	P	35	29	217.1	5	33	5	2	0	6	10	3	.884
1964	CIN	N	P	32	22	154.2	5	20	2	1	1	3	9	2	.926
1965	CIN	N	P	32	16	148.2	5	13	0	0	1	4	6	0	1.000
1966	CIN	N	P	35	16	130	6	20	3	1	1	5	9	2	.897
Total			P	526	200	1610.1	95	341	32	31	9	36	59	21	.932

[edit] Batting Stats

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	HBP	SH	SB	GDP
1944	CIN	N	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1952	CIN	N	37	23	0	2	0	0	.087	.087	.087	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	1
1953	CIN	N	30	49	6	16	3	8	.327	.377	.551	2	0	4	13	0	2	0	1
1954	CIN	N	36	52	13	9	3	7	.173	.274	.346	0	0	8	12	0	4	0	2
1955	CIN	N	53	86	10	17	3	14	.198	.268	.349	4	0	8	24	1	4	0	0
1956	CIN	N	44	59	6	11	2	7	.186	.234	.356	2	1	4	15	0	4	0	1
1957	CIN	N	42	59	6	14	0	7	.237	.292	.288	1	1	5	15	0	5	0	1
1958	CIN	N	36	62	4	13	0	5	.210	.219	.226	1	0	1	13	0	2	1	0
1959	CIN	N	28	44	5	11	0	2	.250	.283	.318	3	0	1	4	1	2	0	2
1960	CIN	N	39	26	3	2	0	1	.077	.107	.115	1	0	1	6	0	0	0	0
1961	KC	A	56	65	5	19	2	13	.292	.352	.446	2	1	6	18	0	5	0	2
1962	LA	A	5	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1962	CIN	N	12	26	3	7	1	5	.269	.296	.423	1	0	0	3	1	3	0	0
1962	Total		17	26	3	7	1	5	.269	.296	.423	1	0	0	3	1	3	0	0
1963	CIN	N	35	76	6	12	0	3	.158	.169	.184	2	0	0	25	1	4	0	0
1964	CIN	N	34	54	2	7	1	1	.130	.130	.185	0	0	0	20	0	1	1	1
1965	CIN	N	32	45	5	8	0	3	.178	.213	.200	1	0	2	9	0	6	0	1
1966	CIN	N	35	40	2	4	0	2	.100	.100	.125	1	0	0	14	0	1	0	1
Total	NL		494	701	71	133	13	65	.190	.229	.278	19	2	34	181	4	38	2	11
Total	AL		61	65	5	19	2	13	.292	.352	.446	2	1	6	18	0	5	0	2
Total			555	766	76	152	15	78	.198	.240	.292	21	3	40	199	4	43	2	13

[edit] Transactions

Signed as an amateur free agent by Cincinnati Reds (1944).
Traded by Cincinnati Reds to Kansas City Athletics in exchange for John Tsitouris and John Briggs (January 25, 1961).
Released by Kansas City Athletics (December 4, 1961).
Signed by Baltimore Orioles (1962).
Released by Baltimore Orioles (April 9, 1962).
Signed by Los Angeles Angels (April 9, 1962).
Released by Los Angeles Angels (May 15, 1962).
Signed by Cincinnati Reds (@June, 1962).