He has been cursed since age 15, carrying always the appositive affixed eternally to his name--the youngest pitcher in major league baseball. And yet the Joe Nuxhall story neither begins nor ends with the appositive. Baseball, in fact, may not even have been his best sport. He was a high school fullback, big and fast and good enough to be All-State, and he was unquestionably the best schoolboy basketball center in Ohio. He had pitched ten no-hitters before he was 15, however, and when he pitched for the Cincinnati Reds that historic time, he first had to get permission from his 9th grade principal, and ferried himself to Crosley Field and back, alone, on the bus. It was not, as history tells us, an auspicious occasion (an ERA of 67.50), but it launched the remarkable career of perhaps the best-loved and most enduring sports figure Cincinnati has ever seen. Noted sportscaster Greg Hoard's new biography, Joe, dramatically paints the Depression era background of "Hamilton Joe," closing industrial league games for his athletic father when the boy was barely a teenager, facing feared veteran slugger Stan Musial his first time up, and on to Birmingham, where he watched, astounded, while a lanky Negro pitcher named Satchel Paige warmed up by throwing strikes across a piece of chewing gum tinfoil. "The Old Left-Hander" pitched twenty-two seasons of professional baseball, including an All-Star year in 1955 when he led the league in shut-outs, and even when he retired to the broadcasting booth, he was still pitching batting practice. Greg Hoard's tale of baseball's last great innocent is the story of a charmed life, in which a blue-collar kid from a gritty industrial town, by great athleticism and a disarming guilelessness, found himself an enduring legend.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great baseball story,
By William J. Eichelberger "I will not go quietly" (Ft. Thomas, KY) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Joe: Rounding Third and Heading for Home (Hardcover)
I thought I had pretty much heard all there was to hear about Joe, but I was way wrong. This book never got old because while Joe stated the obvious, he also took care to let us in on other things that happened at the same time. Everyone knows that Joe gave up his high school elgibility to sign with the Reds at the age of 14, but how many know that he later successfully petitioned to have his elgibility returned? That he was an all around athlete at Hamilton High? That he had a sister who died as a toddler? I didn't, but now I do. The minor league stories were the highlight of the book for me, but this is a recommended read for anyone who ever tuned into a Reds game on 700 WLW during one of the stretches where Joe had decided to punctuate the action with a long moment of silence, (Do I have this tuned right, or what?) or tried to figure out what was going on when the action was coming fast. You had to grow up with it to really appreciate it. Great book.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best of Baseball and a Hometown,
By Hometown Girl "Kathy" (Ohio) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Joe: Rounding Third and Heading for Home (Hardcover)
I purchased the book for a younger brother, knowing the Hamilton hometown scenes and connection would interest him. However, I couldn't put the book down. It was thrilling to hear of Joe's encounters with the Big League greats of the glory days of baseball. Greg Hoard's writing is clear and descriptive and moves you right along with it. This would be a good story if it were fiction. As a true narrative, it's fun and inspiring. It's easy to like Joe and it's easy to like this book.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nuxhall,
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This review is from: Joe: Rounding Third and Heading for Home (Hardcover)
I enjoyed the book very much. Quite a new perspective to hear a baseball player's thoughts from such a young age. It was a shame that he was not given the needed instructional training that could very well have developed his full potential.
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