On June 10, 1944 – exactly 71 years ago today – 15-year-old Joe Nuxhall became the youngest player to ever appear in a major league game.

“I was pitching against seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-graders, kids thirteen and fourteen years old. All of a sudden I look up and there’s Stan Musial in the batter’s box. It was a scary situation.”

Bill McKechnie with Joe Nuxhall

The Reds were getting blown out 13-0 by the St. Louis Cardinals as the top of the ninth rolled around and manager Bill McKechnie decided to bring his rookie pitcher in for some mop-up duty and to get his first taste of the big leagues.

Nuxhall got shortstop George Fallon to ground out to short for the first out. But then he walked pitcher Mort Cooper.

Nuxhall got center-fielder Augie Bergamo to pop out to short for the second out and the inning was almost over.

But then the teenager ran into trouble.

With third-baseman Deb Garms at the plate, Nuxhall wild-pitched Cooper to second.

He walked Garms to make it first and second with two outs. And then Nuxhall’s “scary situation” materialized.

Stan Musial stepped to the plate. Stan the Man – who won the batting title the year before with a .357 average – was hitting .355 with only three home runs but 28 RBIs.

Musial singled to shallow right to load the bases. The situation unnerved the youngster so much that he suddenly couldn’t find the plate.

Nuxhall walked first-baseman Ray Sanders, catcher Walker Cooper, and left-fielder Danny Litwhiler to force in three runs and make it 16-0 Cardinals.

With the bases still loaded, Nuxhall gave up a two-run single to second-baseman Emil Verban and it was 18-0.

At that point, McKechnie finally showed some mercy and replaced Nuxhall. By then, Nuxhall had given up five runs on two hits and five walks in his major league debut.

Two weeks earlier, Nuxhall was a ninth-grader playing high-school basketball in nearby Hamilton, Ohio.

How did this come about?

From 1942 to 1945, the U.S. was engaged in World War II and many big-league players were serving in the armed forces. Ergo, there was a player shortage.

In 1943, scouts for the Reds started scouring the boondocks and heard about Orville Nuxhall, who was pitching lights out in a semi-pro league in Hamilton. The reason Orville wasn’t off fighting in WW II was because he was the father of five children. That was also the reason why Orville turned down an offer to play for the Reds ─ they weren’t offering him enough money to support his family.

The scouts then turned their attention to Orville’s son Joe, who was 14 at that time. The 6-2 youngster had a lively fastball, but was wild.

The scouts waited a full year.

As soon as Joe Nuxhall’s high-school basketball season was over in 1944, the Reds signed him to a big-league contract.

After that initial outing, Nuxhall went down to the minors and spent five years getting back to the majors.

He made it back in 1952 and pitched in the big leagues for 16 seasons. He turned into a better-than-average pitcher with a lifetime record of 135-117.

He was 15 years and 316 days old on that historic day 71 years ago and will most likely always be the youngest player to ever appear in a game in the majors.

(Excerpted from 1964 – The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant by Barry Bowe.)