McCrabb: Nuxhall 'liked everybody and everybody liked him'

Rick McCrabb, Journal-News, Hamilton, OhioMon, Jul 6, 2026·4 min read

Eighty-two years after Hamilton native Joe Nuxhall made his Major League Baseball debut, and 19 years after his death, he’s still fondly remembered for his lasting impact on and off the baseball diamond.

Greg Phegley, 57, a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan from Terre Haute, Indiana, recently made a presentation about Nuxhall during the 37th Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

His presentation was titled: “The Ol’ Left-Hander, a Cincinnati Icon.”

Phegley remembers listening to Marty Brennaman and Nuxhall on WLW radio while driving to Reds games with his father.

Marty and Joe, as they were affectionately called in Reds Country, were “a big deal,” Phegley said.

He never met Nuxhall, though he understands and appreciates Nuxhall’s connection with fans across Reds country.

“He’s so special to the people in Cincinnati,” Phegley said. “He stands out in Cincinnati (as)more than just a baseball player.”

As part of his 20-minute lecture in Cooperstown, New York, Phegley showed a short video of an interview with Ken and Marilyn Lanning, of Brookville, Indiana, that was shot at the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League Fields in Fairfield.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

Nuxhall and Lanning, both starting pitchers in the Reds minor league system, met in 1947 while playing for the Muncie (Indiana) Reds.

Their career paths went in different directions: Nuxhall played 16 seasons in the Major Leagues, then spent 40 years in the Reds broadcast booth. An arm injury prematurely ended Lanning’s professional baseball career before it really started.

Despite the miles between them they remained friends for 60 years.

“Joe was the best,” said Lanning, 97, who received a pacemaker last week after fainting in his home. “He liked everybody and everybody liked him.”

The two families stayed in touch as Nuxhall continued his baseball career and Lanning worked at Monsanto Chemical Co. in Cincinnati.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

The two played golf and basketball together and often visited in Plant City, Florida, then the Reds Spring Training facility.

Whenever Lanning needed a guest speaker for a fundraising banquet in Indiana, Nuxhall was his first and only call.

“He never turned me down or charged me,” Lanning said.

One time, when Joe and Donzetta Nuxhall were visiting the Lannings in Indiana, word spread that Nuxhall was at the Little League game watching one of the Lanning’s grandsons.

Soon the department store across the street from the field sold out of baseballs because everyone wanted to get Nuxhall’s autograph, Lanning recalled with a laugh.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

Nuxhall died on Nov. 15, 2007. He was 79.

Nuxhall and Lanning were scouted by the Reds in high school. During World War II, when many professional baseball players were called to active duty, Nuxhall, then a 15-year-old Hamilton High School student, pitched ⅔ of an inning for the Reds on June 10, 1944, making him the youngest Major League Baseball player ever. He returned to pitch in the Major Leagues in 1952 and pitched for 16 seasons, mostly with the Reds.

Lanning grew up on a farm in Brookville and didn’t own a baseball or a bat. So he improvised by throwing gravel against the barn and using a wooden stick as a bat.

“He wanted to play ball so bad,” said Marilyn, his wife of 77 years.

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

Since his dad didn’t want to drive from Brookville to Cincinnati, one morning Lanning asked the milk man if he could hitch a ride with him the rest of his route to Cincinnati for a tryout with the Reds at Crosley Field.

The Reds called him back after the first day of tryouts and offered him a minor-league contract. He graduated from Brookville High School in 1947 and signed with the Reds the next day.

Lanning will return to the mound later this month. Kim Nuxhall, the younger of the Nuxhalls’ two sons, has asked Lanning to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday, July 11, when the Joe Nuxhall Miracle League hosts a World Series weekend where teams from other cities, including Sean Casey’s Miracle League in Pittsburgh, travel to Fairfield.

Nearly 80 years after Nuxhall and Lanning met, the sport they loved will connect them once again like stitches on a baseball.

Story byJournal-News, Hamilton, Ohio