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Joe Nuxhall Passes


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[quote name='Lucid' post='594058' date='Nov 16 2007, 02:10 PM']Thanks Phat... Now I got a new quote for my sig...

Nuxhall was one of the best fans I have ever "known".[/quote]


It was an awesome quote....... I wish I would have thought of it first!

If anyone wants to hear an awesome farewell (although it turned out not be his last game broadcasting) it is approximately 10 minutes long where Marty and Joe reminisce. If you don't want to tear up, you shouldn't listen. Very touching and epitomizes why we all love Joe.

[url="http://java%20script:void(playMedia2({w:'2005/open/teams05/cin/audio/100804_nuxhall_farewell_long.wma',pid:'gen_audio',v:'1'}));"]Joe's farewell[/url]
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[quote name='Cat' post='594064' date='Nov 16 2007, 01:32 PM']Since I am not from Cincy, it doesn't mean as much to me, but I imagine it would be like Milo Hamilton (Astros) passing away.

One of the funniest stories I ever read was a Playboy interview with Al Michaels. Something about Joe saying 'cocksucker' on the air before a Red's game...

R.I.P.[/quote]


I was listening that day and this is the first time I've ever heard anyone else say anything about it. I think I posted it a couple of years ago. He used to interview players on the field, and they would joke around while they were off the air. They came back from a commercial, and all you could hear was Joe saying "you cocksucker", then they cut away to another commercial. :lol: He was obviously just joking around with one of the players.

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[quote name='Phatcat' post='594065' date='Nov 16 2007, 01:36 PM']It was an awesome quote....... I wish I would have thought of it first!

If anyone wants to hear an awesome farewell (although it turned out not be his last game broadcasting) it is approximately 10 minutes long where Marty and Joe reminisce. If you don't want to tear up, you shouldn't listen. Very touching and epitomizes why we all love Joe.

[url="http://java%20script:void(playMedia2({w:'2005/open/teams05/cin/audio/100804_nuxhall_farewell_long.wma',pid:'gen_audio',v:'1'}));"]Joe's farewell[/url][/quote]


Link doesn't work.
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[quote name='BengalBacker' post='594068' date='Nov 16 2007, 02:43 PM']Link doesn't work.[/quote]


Well shit, it worked the first time now it doesn't. Try the link to tribute page on Reds.com:

[url="http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/fan_forum/nuxhall_tribute.jsp"]Nuxie[/url]

There is link very near the top of the page under Joe Nuxall Tribute Night. Under that that there is a link to Joe's final Signoff. There is both a short and long version. The long version is about 10 minutes. The short I did not listen to.
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I remember spending many nights as a kid, listening to Marty and Joe long after my bed time. I would put my clock radio under my pillow, and put my ear on the pillow so I could hear it.

I remember working with my father on his 1957 Chevy, while listening to the Reds game every night.

Very sad news.
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Ol' Left-hander an all-time great guy
By Hal McCoy

Staff Writer

Friday, November 16, 2007

A man around the corner was lowering his flag to half staff at 7:30 Friday morning. I didn't think anything of it because he has done it for a couple of months since his wife died.

"Joe Nuxhall died last night," he said. "Now I've lost two friends."


The man never met Nuxhall, but like thousands of baseball fans, he considered the Reds broadcaster a friend, a guy who talked to him on the radio as if they were personal conversations.

"All those years when he concluded his broadcast by saying, 'This is the ol' left-hander, rounding third and heading for home,' well, he's finally home," the man said, tears in his eyes.

No, not really.

Nuxhall's home was every major-league broadcast booth in America, and it won't be the same without his homespun style and his shouts in the background of, "Get up, get up, get out!" when a Reds player drove one deep to left-center — although Nuxy might have said the ball was headed for right-center.

Who can forget the day two years ago when Nuxhall signed off for the last time as Marty Brennaman's full-time partner when he said, near tears and his voice cracking, "This is the ol' left-hander, rounding third and heading for home. Good afternoon."

There wasn't a dry eye on the other side of every radio tuned in. A legend, an icon, a comforting old friend, was saying goodbye with style and grace. He wanted to continue, but his health was failing and it was wonderful that the Reds permitted him to do some games, including last year.

It was comforting to walk into the booth for my second-inning cameos with Marty & Joe to see Nuxy sitting behind the microphone, that ever-present smile on his face and to hear that encyclopedia of baseball knowledge.

For many years, Nuxhall put on his old No. 41 uniform and pitched batting practice and the competitive juices flowed. If a player hit too many line drives, he might find the next pitch heading for his head, and as he hit the dirt he'd hear that infectious Nuxhall laugh and a comment like, "Try hitting a line drive from down there."

But he was beloved by players because Joe had been there and done that. He thought like a ballplayer and he empathized with them, spending many hours after games consoling young pitchers who had a bad night.

"I had a lot those," Joe would tell them. And he had a lot of very good ones.

Nuxhall again is on the ballot for the broadcasters Hall of Fame. He should already be there. When Brennaman was voted in, they should have included Nuxy right then. The two are inseparable to fans. It was always Marty & Joe. That's all anyone needed to say — "Marty & Joe." It was like Cher or Pele, or Joe Willie or The Babe. Last names weren't needed.

He had his hilarious moments on the air. Nuxhall used to do a taped pregame show. Once, while taping the show, former player Phil Gagliano crawled behind him and gave him a hot foot with a pack of matches. Nuxy let go with a stream of expletives barely suited for a barroom. He stopped the tape and started over with the interview.

After the interview, Nuxhall rewound the tape and handed it to the producer-director. What Nuxhall didn't realize was that he rewound the tape entirely, back to the original interview. The expletives aired and Nuxy's face was as red as the hat he once wore.

The first time I met Nuxhall was in 1967 at a basketball game at Miami University, a school he adopted and loved as his own even though he never attended college.

I was introduced as a young reporter and Nuxhall said, "Son, just be yourself. Always be yourself. Don't try to be anybody else."

It was sound advice for a guy who thought he wanted to be the next Jim Murray or Red Smith. Nuxhall was true to his word. He never wanted to be Vin Scully or Harry Caray. He never changed and never imitated. He was Hamilton Joe, the ol' left-hander — a unique guy with a distinctive voice and an even more distinctive style.

In my 35 years of covering the Reds, Nuxhall is in my top three of all-time nice guys. Right now I can't think of who might be No. 1 or No. 2.

Nuxhall had an explosive temper when he pitched, mostly aimed at himself when things exploded against him on the mound. In 35 years, I never saw that. I saw nothing but smiles and kindness and a genuine love of people.

His microphone is silent now and we're all the worse for it. To all of us who heard him and knew him, he'll always be rounding third and heading for home.
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[quote name='BengalBacker' post='594091' date='Nov 16 2007, 03:19 PM']Ol' Left-hander an all-time great guy[/quote]

Dammit, I'm still at work and now my eyes are all puffy and red... I've managed all day, but this got me. Not a bawl by any means, but some leaking..

At least everyone here knows I have allergies...


Hmmmmm, allergies in November?
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[quote name='CincyInDC' post='594109' date='Nov 16 2007, 04:20 PM']I only caught a little bit of sportscenter this morning and it was all about bonds. has anyone seen national coverage of Joe's passing?[/quote]


Their website has a video so im assuming there was something...

[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3113499"]http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3113499[/url]
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RIP Joe and thanks for making it real, nothing fancy...just a guy describing the game to his friends.
Growing up and listening to Marty and Joe during the Big Red Machine era was the best. When we went
to my grandparents on some weekends it would be a hot summer night and all the guys would be sitting on the frt porch listening to the game.....Joe's voice was special.




[img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/2.gif[/img]
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[quote name='Phatcat' post='594000' date='Nov 16 2007, 11:02 AM']I think it would be cool if the Bengals have a moment of silence before Sunday's game in honor of the Old Left Hander.[/quote]
I heard that some circles are asking people to wear Reds hats to the Bengals game on Sunday in honor of Joe.

I've never been one to wear a hat or shirt of a different team/sport, but I might just bring my Reds hat with me on Sunday...
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[url="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=AB&Dato=20071116&Kategori=SPT04&Lopenr=802170802&Ref=PH"]Photos: Joe Nuxhall remembered[/url]


[url="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=AB&Dato=20071116&Kategori=SPT04&Lopenr=711160807&Ref=PH"]Photos: Mourning Joe Nuxhall[/url]
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[quote name='CincyInDC' post='594109' date='Nov 16 2007, 03:20 PM']I only caught a little bit of sportscenter this morning and it was all about bonds. has anyone seen national coverage of Joe's passing?[/quote]
Many of the local channels up here at the very least mentioned it, which in Chicago, is a pretty solid showing of respect considering Joe was uniquely Cincinnati. I already miss the guy.
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