On June 10, 1944, Joe Nuxhall became the youngest person to play in a modern Major League Baseball game. He was just a skinny, 15-year-old ninth grader. On his first day, the young left-handed pitcher threw two thirds of an inning for the Cincinnati Reds.

After that game, Nuxhall played in the minor leagues and finished high school. Finally, in 1952, he returned to the Cincinnati Reds and spent most of his major league career with them.

Nuxhall retired from baseball in 1966. He later became a famous sports announcer who ended each show by saying, “This is the ol’ left-hander, rounding third and heading for home.” He quit three years before his death in 2007.

Organized stock-car racing began in 1939, but it wasn’t until 1947 that NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) was formed. NASCAR soon turned car racing into a serious business and a national passion.

The first NASCAR race was in 1948. The cars were “stock,” or ordinary cars that drove on regular streets. Back then, the first NASCAR champion’s car averaged a speed of 97 to 100 miles per hour (mph). Now, cars race around the track at speeds over 175 mph!

In 2007, experts believe there are more than 75 million NASCAR fans. That makes car racing America’s second most popular sport to watch.