Rounding Third and Heading for Home

Joseph Henry Nuxhall
July 30, 1928 - Nov 15 2007

As a kid growing up in west central Indiana, I used to stay up late on summer nights listening to my favorite baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds on a small transistor radio. When the Reds played on the west coast against the Giants and Dodgers, I would fall asleep with the radio under my pillow and the voices of Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall would be the last ones I heard. If I was awake at the end of a Reds win, Joe would say, "And this one belongs to the Reds." After his post-game interviews, he would end the telecast by saying, "This is the old left-hander rounding third and heading for home. Good night everybody." I heard that phrase a thousand times or more.

Today, the voice that ended many games will not be heard again. Joe died at the age of 79 after a recurring bout with lymphoma. Joe was one of the nicest men you would ever meet. He was a true gentleman who would spend time talking to a stranger as if he knew them for a long time.