This past August we lost Phil Rizzuto at age 89. "The Scooter" is as synonymous with the New York Yankees organization as any of the iconic superstars who came before or after him.
Joe Nuxhall is to the Cincinnati Reds what Rizzuto is to the Yankees. Today, the youngest player ever to appear in a Major League game and the broadcaster known to generations of Reds fans as "the ol' left-hander" died at 79.
Nuxhall passed away Thursday night while hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia, the Reds said in a statement. He was awaiting surgery to insert a pacemaker, and had been slowed by a recurrence of cancer since September.
He won 135 games during a 16-year career, but Nuxhall is most remembered for having been the youngest player to appear in a big league game during the modern era, pitching 2/3 of an inning for the Reds on June 10, 1944, at the age of 15 years, 10 months and 11 days.
After his playing career, Nuxhall transitioned to the broadcast booth where he spent 37 seasons, most famously from 1974 until his retirement in 2004 as part of the "Marty and Joe" team with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman.
Nuxhall, Brennaman and the late Waite Hoyt were honored by the Reds in June for their combined 99 years of calling Reds play-by-play.
Plagued by cancer and other ailments for most of the past 15 years, Nuxhall still managed to make occasional appearances in the booth last season.
A private funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.
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