#312 Joe Nuxhall - Cincinnati Reds

Joseph Henry Nuxhall
Cincinnati Reds
Pitcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  195
Born:  July 30, 1928, Hamilton, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1944 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1944, 1952-1960; Kansas City Athletics 1961; Los Angeles Angels 1962; Cincinnati Reds 1962-1966
Died:  November 15, 2007, Fairfield, OH (age 79)

With a shortage of players due to World War II, Joe Nuxhall made his big league debut on June 10, 1944, pitching two-thirds of an inning for the Reds, a few months shy of his 16th birthday.  He's the youngest player ever to appear in the majors.  Nuxhall would pitch in the minor leagues for the next several years, making it back to the Reds in 1952.  He was an All-Star with the club in 1955 and 1956, winning a career-high 17 games in 1955 while leading the league with five shutouts.  Nicknamed "Ol' Lefthander," Nuxhall spent all but two seasons of his 16 years in the majors with the Reds.  He enjoyed a late career resurgence in 1963, going 15-8 with a 2.61 ERA in 35 appearances.  Nuxhall retired owning the record for most games pitched for the Reds with 484, and although he was passed later by Pedro Borbon, Scott Sullivan and Clay Carroll (#461), he still holds the mark for most games pitched by a left-handed pitcher in franchise history.  Nuxhall was 135-117 lifetime with a 3.90 ERA in 526 games pitched.  He struck out 1,372 overall and 1,289 with the Reds, which is currently third on their all-time list.

Nuxhall joined the Reds' broadcasting booth in 1967 and retired on October 3, 2004, 60 years following his pitching debut.  He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1968, and he's the subject of one of eight statutes surrounding the Reds' current home, Great American Ball Park.

Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime - Fair Lawn, NJ) - Card #489
This is the fifth of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March.  We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room.  This Nuxhall card was a little over $4 and was one of 13 cards purchased from the dealer America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Depending on my ability to compose five posts a week on the cards acquired at this show, I should be completely caught up by mid-October.  So get used to seeing this passage on the blog!  It's entirely feasible we complete our 1965 Topps set by the end of 2022, although nine of the remaining 12 cards needed are fairly expensive.

The Card / Reds Team Set
Nuxhall is sporting the gray short-sleeve windbreaker under the sleeveless vest look, and Topps used photos from this same session for his 1966 and 1967 flagship cards.  As a veteran, there's no room for a cartoon on the back of Nuxhall's card and there's an uncorrected error on the back stating he made his debut at 16 years old.  To be precise, he was 15 years and 316 days old when he debuted in 1944.

1965 Season
In his penultimate season, Nuxhall went 11-6 with a 3.45 ERA in 32 games, making 16 starts.  His 148 2/3 innings pitched were fourth most on the team behind Sammy Ellis (#507), Jim Maloney (#530) and Joey Jay (#174).  In his start on August 21st against the Phillies, Nuxhall pitched 10 innings, earning the win when the Reds scored a run in the top of the 11th.

1952 Topps #406

1956 Topps #218

1959 Topps #389

1963 Topps #194

1967 Topps #44

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Topps #406
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13):  1952-1953, 1956-1961, 1963-1967
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2001 SP Legendary Cuts Game Jersey #J-JN

84 - Nuxhall non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 4/3/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

Previous Card:  #311 Orlando Pena - Kansas City Athletics

Next Card:  #313 Jimmie Schaffer - Chicago White Sox