Sunday, May 20, 2012

FOR THE LOVE OF DONKEYS -- PART 7


A TRIBUTE TO FRANK J. BARTHEN

Former Cincinnati teenage pitching sensation and longtime Reds radio broadcaster Joe Nuxhall got more than he bargained for from an ornery beast.

Barthen recalled that Nuxie, the “Old Left-hander,” had been given a gentle burro, but demanded a wilder animal so he could show off for the folks during a game in his hometown of Hamilton, Ohio.

“He never really stayed on the creature,” Barthen laughed.

Barthen also lays claim to having scouted, signed and displayed the most famous burro in all the land, Honey Pot.

In the stable, Honey Pot was one pathetic-looking long-eared galoot.
“He was sway-backed, pot-bellied, lop-eared and knock-kneed,” Barthen recalls.

Donkey ball players who picked Honey Pot for a gentle ride got anything but. Barthen said the creature was “300 pounds of pure dynamite.”

TRIBUTE CONTINUES TOMORROW -- MAY 21

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