Sad day for Reds Fans- Joe has Rounded 3rd and headed home!Joe passed away overnight

[Matt700wlw]

Ft Washington Way should be renamed the Joe Nuxhall Highway....(Sloanie's idea, and a good one, wish I'd thought of it)...To those who are coming through our city and aren't from around here, it's still Route 50...but to everybody else, it's the Joe Nuxhall Highway. As you travel it, you can turn your head and see the sign "Rounding Third and Heading for Home"

Doesn't get any better than that

[Big Klu]

Originally Posted by MrCinatit

It is depressing how much we take someone for granted while they are living, and find out how much we appreciate and miss them when they are gone.
Joe is one of those guys. I never met him, but man what I would have given to spend a few minutes with the man talking about what he loved so much, and what was his life - baseball.

I feel foolish for asking this, but was his number always 39, and is it (and should it be) retired? The only listing I found for his number was a reference to the '66 season, which is where I got 39 from.
A lot of me would like to see them retire his number, as he meant so much to the ball club. But a lot of me asks why it was not done before, when he was still with us.

I'm pretty sure that he wore #43 when he played as a 15-year-old in 1944 (hence the number on the statue in front of GABP), then he wore #39 with the Reds from 1952 to 1960. After he returned to the Reds in 1962, he wore #41. I think this is how is was, but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, I have always been a strong proponent for retiring Joe's number. I only wish it had been done sooner.

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by Matt700wlw

Ft Washington Way should be renamed the Joe Nuxhall Highway....(Sloanie's idea, and a good one, wish I'd thought of it)...To those who are coming through our city and aren't from around here, it's still Route 50...but to everybody else, it's the Joe Nuxhall Highway. As you travel it, you can turn your head and see the sign "Rounding Third and Heading for Home"

Doesn't get any better than that

Ft. Washington Way is also part of I-71, so I don't know if that impacts it or not (probably not), but I like this idea.

[marcshoe]

Originally Posted by Big Klu

I'm pretty sure that he wore #43 when he played as a 15-year-old in 1944 (hence the number on the statue in front of GABP), then he wore #39 with the Reds from 1952 to 1960. After he returned to the Reds in 1962, he wore #41. I think this is how is was, but I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, I have always been a strong proponent for retiring Joe's number. I only wish it had been done sooner.

I remember that he wore #41 when he pitched batting practice in the seventies as well, until the Reds traded for some pitcher from the Mets who had a fondness for that number.

[Matt700wlw]

Originally Posted by tixe

I remember that he wore #41 when he pitched batting practice in the seventies as well, until the Reds traded for some pitcher from the Mets who had a fondness for that number.

Yeah, who was that guy?

[Matt700wlw]

A look at the visitation...

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...xIRidIY%3D

[Matt700wlw]

Photos from the visitation

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...1200806&Ref=PH

[Team Clark]

Just got back from the visitation. The line was long but the photos, memories and stories from those in line made it all worth while. Joe looked great.

[Reds Nd2]

Baseball Almanac lists three different numbers for Joe. #43 during his debut with the Reds in 1944 and #39 every season afterwards except for the 1961. He wore #33 with the Royals.

An interesting historical note. Joe Nuxhall wasn't the only left hander to make his debut for the Reds on June 10, 1944. Jake Eisenhart faced two batters, walking one, in a third of an inning during the same game. He was released by the Reds fourteen days later and never pitched again. He was the ripe old age of 21 at the time.

[BoydsOfSummer]

That was quite a turnout, to say the least. I skipped a chemistry exam to be there and don't regret it.

[MrCinatit]

Thanks for the uniform number history lessons, guys - it would actually be tough for me to decide if they should retire his original 43 or oft used 39. Both might be kind of overboard.

The '44 Reds also had a rookie righty named Jim Konstanty, who went on to be the '50 MVP for the Phillies Whiz Kids team. If I recall correctly, he was one of two or three other players still active when Joe returned to baseball in '52 (I will have to look that up again when I am not getting ready for work).

[guttle11]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but I just saw a Kroger commercial showing some clips of all the Marty and Joe Kroger ads with "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" playing.

Really nice tribute. I loved those ads growing up.

[Team Clark]

There were several pictures of Joe wearing #41 while a Red. They looked to be taken in the 60's.

[Cyclone792]

Originally Posted by MrCinatit

Thanks for the uniform number history lessons, guys - it would actually be tough for me to decide if they should retire his original 43 or oft used 39. Both might be kind of overboard.

I'd be very surprised if the Reds retired any of his numbers for two reasons. For one, I'd have thought they'd have gone ahead and retired his number already if they intended to actually do so. The team had known that Joe was in poor health for a few years, and if they were going to retire his number one would think they would have done it while he was still alive. They just retired Concepcion's number last season, and not long before that they retired Sparky's number.

Secondly, his number is a symbol mostly for his playing days and not so much his broadcast days. My guess is the Reds may want to try to find something more unique than retiring his number, something that would reflect the totality of his contributions to the Reds and would be entirely unique for him. Essentially, something even more meaningful than retiring his number.

I'm not really sure what that unique thing would be. The statue reflects his time on the mound and making history by being the youngest modern big league ballplayer, and his "Rounding third and heading for home" phrase reflects his time as a broadcaster (he also has the replica microphone on the facade underneath the booth along with Hoyt and Marty).

Maybe they should tell Carl Lindner and Great American to take a hike so they can name the ol' ball orchard after Joe.

Whatever happens, I do expect the Reds to do something for him soon, perhaps this season. Perhaps Redsfest could shed some light on anything that may happen.

[BoydsOfSummer]

Didn't they retire a microphone for him along with Hoyt and Marty?