Way Back

Like this, only smaller.

Joe and I go way back - all the way to Marion, Indiana, where I grew up hearing his voice from the stereo in our garage.

I'd be sweeping up saw dust or hammering boards together while my dad drank iced-tea and listened to the Reds games. He and Marty's voices were as recognizable to me as anyone's. Of course back then I was a little kid and didn't know who they were.

It wasn't until I moved to Ohio in 1999 that I heard Joe's voice again on the radio and tried to place it. That's when I discovered he was legendary in these parts and that he grew up where I was living at the time - good ol' Hamilton. Me and a colleague at the Journal-News used to take long lunches and go hit golf balls at Nuxhall's driving range in Joyce Park. It was like Joe was everywhere.

So needless to say I'm pretty excited for tonight's Joe Nuxhall figurine give-away. It'll look like the statue of him in front of the stadium, only smaller of course. (omgHelmetSundae will have regular figurine and snack updates.)

I've got more player bobbleheads than I care to count - still in the box, still encased in styrofoam. I never even open them. Couldn't care less about them. But I feel like I'll actually take ol' Joe out of the box, give him some breathing room, show him off a bit.

Yep. I've been knowing Joe for a long time.