June 10, 1944 – The youngest player in MLB history makes his debut. Relief pitcher Joe Nuxhall at 15 years, 316 days, took the mound for the Cincinnati Reds. The current rules for Major League Baseball require athletes to be at least 18 years of age, but back then there was no such rule.
Nuxhall stood 6 foot-2 inches tall when in the ninth grade in Hamilton, Ohio. On the hill, he was a left-hander with a hard fastball but didn’t have the best placement of pitches. His father Orville Nuxhall was playing minor league ball and in 1943, the father-son tandem was playing together.
The Reds organization was trying to sign Orville to a contract but he declined on the account of having five kids at home. The scouts then became interested in Joe, who was only 14 at the time. Joe Nuxall would become an All-Star and later a radio broadcaster of MLB games.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
More From Sports History Network
December 27, 1947: $2 For Your Evening Meal
As we continue our tribute to the 1947 Chicago Cardinals NFL championship, we head
December 24, 1947: NFL Cinderella Finalists
They called them “Cinderellas”—a couple of previously woebegone National Football League teams that had
Have a Bobby Heenan Christmas!
I was shaving my face a few weeks ago, listening to old Jean Shepherd
Greatest Comebacks In NBA Playoff History
The NBA playoffs are where the real action begins. Forget about the regular season
December 21, 1947: Just One Beer?
It was a long week—and a long wait—for the Chicago Cardinals as the club
50 Years of ‘Coexistence’ Between the Islanders and Rangers
Sports rivalries have existed ever since organized sports began to be played. The numbers
My Top 15 NFL Quarterbacks of the 1970s
My top 15 quarterbacks of the 1970s are based partly on statistics and my
The Harlem Globetrotters Very First Game
Figuring out how the Harlem Globetrotters started is a complicated story because there are