Toe Nash facts for kids

Gregory Nash (born February 16, 1982), known by his nicknames "Toe" or "Big Toe", is an American retired professional baseball player. He played minor league baseball for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now called the Rays) in 2001. Toe Nash is very tall at 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) and weighed 220 pounds (100 kg). He got his nickname because he wore very large size 18 (US) shoes!

Toe's life story was so amazing that some baseball officials first thought it might not be real. But despite his incredible natural talent, which was even compared to baseball legends like Babe Ruth, Toe faced challenges that shortened his time in professional baseball.

The Amazing Story of Toe Nash

Toe Nash grew up in Sorrento, Louisiana. When he was 12 years old, his mother left, and his father, Charles "Tuttie" Payton, raised him and his younger sister, Joanna, in a trailer home. His father taught Toe how to hit a baseball using old socks and bottle caps instead of real balls. Toe had a tough time in school and left after eighth grade.

In 1994, when Toe was 12, he played in a Little League tournament called the Dixie Youth Tournament in Hammond, Louisiana. Even at that young age, he was 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 140 pounds (64 kg). In one game, he was an amazing pitcher, getting 17 strikeouts out of 21 batters he faced with a 70-mile-per-hour (110 km/h) fastball. He also hit two home runs!

A baseball scout for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Benny Latino, watched that game. He was very impressed and made a note to look for Toe when he was older, thinking he would be a high school star. But because Toe didn't go to high school, he became hard to find, and Scout Latino spent seven years searching for him.

From Sugar Cane Fields to Baseball

Instead of going to high school, Toe started working in his cousin's sugar cane fields at age 16, alongside his father. He also played baseball in games against local high schools and in a semi-professional league. He even tried out for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When Toe was 18, Scout Latino finally found him playing in this semi-pro league, known as the Sugar Cane League. In a game in Tangipahoa, Latino saw Toe hitting 400-foot (120 m) home runs from both sides of the plate! He also saw Toe pitching at 93 miles per hour (150 km/h).

The Devil Rays invited Toe to their minor league camp in Princeton, West Virginia, for a special workout. There, Toe pitched even faster, reaching 95 miles per hour (153 km/h). He also hit huge home runs, which made people compare his power to Yankee legend Babe Ruth.

After the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft, the Devil Rays signed Toe for a $30,000 signing bonus. He was sent to their fall training league, where he played in the outfield with future major league stars like Josh Hamilton and Carl Crawford.

Toe's agent, Larry Reynolds, introduced him to his brother, Harold Reynolds, who was an ESPN baseball analyst and former major league player. Harold invited Toe to a special baseball camp in Los Angeles in February 2001. There, Toe got to practice with famous MLB players like Tony Gwynn, Barry Bonds, Eddie Murray, and Alvin Davis. Harold Reynolds even talked about Toe on television! Some people from other baseball teams found Toe's story so incredible that they wondered if it was a trick.

Playing Professional Baseball

Toe Nash joined the Devil Rays for spring training in 2001. They sent him to extended spring training, and then to the Princeton Devil Rays in the Rookie-level Appalachian League that same year. He played alongside future major leaguer Jonny Gomes. In his first season, Toe hit .240 with eight home runs and 29 runs batted in in 47 games played. Because he hadn't had much formal training, the team saw him as a player who would need a lot of time to develop.

According to Scout Latino, Toe "couldn't read, couldn't write...Just wasn't ready to function in society...with an education and social skills of a kid about thirteen years old." The Devil Rays released Toe in September 2002, due to personal challenges he was facing.

After leaving the Rays, the Cincinnati Reds signed Toe in the 2002–03 offseason. However, the club canceled his contract for reasons that were not made public, believed to be related to more personal challenges.

More About Toe

Toe Nash's cousin is John "Hot Rod" Williams, a former NBA player. John Williams organized the Williams All Stars, which was the Sugar Cane League team Toe played on.

"The Story of Toe Nash" was shown on ESPN's SportsCenter on June 27, 2014. This special report showed Toe, who was 32 at the time, reuniting with Scout Benny Latino. It also showed Toe returning to play in the Sugar Cane League.