Monday Wake Up Call

JOE NUXHALL

Is there anyone in this city that has a bad word to say about Joe Nuxhall? I doubt it. And there’s probably not many of you…that were not touched by his goodness in one way or another.

Way away from his baseball background…Joe will always be remembered as one of us. Approachable…down to earth. I doubt that Joe had many truly private dinners because you just felt like he was an old friend…one you could walk up to and talk to anytime you wanted. And most of us have a story or a memory we will treasure.

Mine happened at Reds Fantasy Camp one year. I played on a team that was managed by Joe. He wore suspenders to hold his Reds pants up on his uniform. An unusual look for sure, but one that would spur our team to victory. Our team had not won a ball game in camp for the Old Lefthander all week. So for our last game…the catcher and I went out and bought suspenders for the entire team. Joe knew nothing of it until we came running out of the locker room. When he realized what was going on…he literally fell off the dugout bench in laughter. And guess what? We won the game.

Each team in that camp got to play three innings against the pros on the big league field at Plant City. I pitched a couple of innings…a humble experience for sure when you consider again who the manager was. A ball gets away from me and knocks down one of Reds coaches. I come off the mound apologizing…and Nuxie comes running out of our dugout screaming loud enough for everyone to hear…”Don’t ever apologize for knocking a batter down! Now get back up that mound and dust him off again!”

At the banquet that wrapped up that magnificent week…each team bought a gift for their coaches and manager. Joe of course was an avid golfer…so we went out and bought him a putter. It wasn’t until I was on stage presenting it that I realized we had bought a right handed putter for one of Cincinnati’s most famous lefthanders. I felt bad for a second until Joe let out a howl and laughed heartily at our mistake. I hope that putter is still in his collection somewhere.

That’s my story and I know you’ve got yours. I’ll cherish mine forever and I know you will too. You’ve rounded third…and now your really home Joe. We miss ya more than ya know down here.