View source for Joe Azcue

{{short description|Cuban baseball player (born 1939)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{family name hatnote|Azcue| López|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Joe Azcue
|position=[[Catcher]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1939|8|18}}
|birth_place=[[Cienfuegos]], [[Cuba]]
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=August 3
|debutyear=1960
|debutteam=Cincinnati Reds
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 29
|finalyear=1972
|finalteam=Milwaukee Brewers
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]  
|stat1value=.252
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=50
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=304
|teams=
*[[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1960}})
*[[Kansas City Athletics]] ({{mlby|1962}}–{{mlby|1963}})
*[[Cleveland Indians]] ({{mlby|1963}}–{{mlby|1969}})
*[[Boston Red Sox]] ({{mlby|1969}})
*[[California Angels]] ({{mlby|1969}}–{{mlby|1970}}, {{mlby|1972}})
*[[Milwaukee Brewers]] ({{mlby|1972}})
|highlights=
*[[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] ([[1968 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1968]])
}}

'''José Joaquín Azcue López''' (born August 18, 1939) is a [[Cuban people|Cuban]] former [[Professional baseball|professional]] [[baseball]] player and [[Manager (baseball)|manager]].<ref name=br>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/azcuejo01.shtml|title=Joe Azcue Statistics|publisher=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=2008-03-21}}</ref> He played in [[Major League Baseball]] as a [[catcher]], most prominently as a member of the [[Cleveland Indians]] where he played the bulk of his career and was named to the [[1968 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1968 American League All-Star team]].<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NLS/NLS196807090.shtml 1968 All-Star game at Baseball Reference]</ref> He also played for the [[Cincinnati Reds]], [[Kansas City Athletics]], [[Boston Red Sox]], [[California Angels]] and [[Milwaukee Brewers]].<ref name=br/> Nicknamed "The Immortal Azcue", he was known for his strong throwing arm.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCNvizFvLy0C&dq=joe+azcue&pg=PA5 ''Tales from the Tribe Dugout'', Russell Schneider, Sports Publishing LLC, 2002] {{ISBN|1-58261-303-6}} {{ISBN|978-1-58261-303-1}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jjIDAAAAMBAJ&dq=joe+azcue&pg=PA28 ''The 25 Greatest Plays of the 1967 Season'', by Herbert Simmons, Baseball Digest, December 1968, Vol. 26, No. 10], {{ISSN|0005-609X}}</ref>

==Playing career==
Azcue threw and batted [[right-handed]]; he was listed as {{convert|6|ft}} tall and {{convert|190|lb}}. He began his career when he was signed by the [[Cincinnati Redlegs]] as an amateur free agent in [[1956 Cincinnati Reds season|1956]].<ref name=br/> He spent the following few years rising up the [[Minor league baseball|minor league]] ranks. He was part of the [[Cienfuegos (Cuban League baseball club)|Cienfuegos Elephants]] of the [[Cuban League]], and was part of their championship team, winning both the Cuban League title and the [[1960 Caribbean Series|Caribbean Series]] during the 1959–1960 season.<ref>{{cite news|first=Leo J.|last=Eberenz|title=Cuba Caribbean Kings for Fifth Year in Row|publisher=[[The Sporting News]]|date=1960-02-24|page=24}}</ref>

He made his major league debut on August 3, [[1960 Cincinnati Reds season|1960]] at the age of 20.<ref name=br/> However, he finished the season with a batting average of only .097, and was sent back to the minor leagues at the end of the season.<ref name=br/> He played in the Cuban League for Cienfuegos again during the offseason, and on December 20, 1960, he was purchased by the [[Milwaukee Braves]].<ref name=br/>

After a season in the minors, Milwaukee traded Azcue to the Kansas City Athletics on December 15, 1961 along with [[Ed Charles]] and [[Manny Jiménez]] for [[Bob Shaw (baseball)|Bob Shaw]] and [[Lou Klimchock]].<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19620606&id=OGItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0IgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1834,803901&hl=en Braves, A's happy over deal]</ref> In [[1962 Kansas City Athletics season|1962]] he played in 72 games for the Athletics. After two games with the Athletics in [[1963 Cleveland Indians season|1963]], he was traded to the Cleveland Indians with [[Dick Howser]] for [[Doc Edwards]] and $100,000.<ref name="Joe Azcue Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac">[http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/trades.php?p=azcuejo01 Joe Azcue Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac]</ref> He spent parts of seven seasons in Cleveland, and had the best seasons of his career there, earning his only All-Star appearance in [[1968 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1968]].<ref name=br/>

Azcue hit into the first [[unassisted triple play]] since 1927 on July 29, [[1968 Cleveland Indians season|1968]], turned by [[Ron Hansen (baseball)|Ron Hansen]] of Washington.<ref>{{cite news|title=Senators' Hansen Makes Triple Play; Indians Win, 10-1|work=[[The New York Times]]|page=44|date=July 31, 1968}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vDQDAAAAMBAJ&dq=joe+azcue&pg=PA8 Baseball Digest, August 1979, Vol. 38, No. 8], {{ISSN|0005-609X}}</ref> After an early season trade in 1969, Azcue became a bit of a nomad. He was dealt along with [[Sonny Siebert]] and [[Vicente Romo]] from the Indians to the [[Boston Red Sox]] for [[Ken Harrelson]], [[Dick Ellsworth]] and [[Juan Pizarro (baseball)|Juan Pizarro]] on April 19, {{Baseball year|1969}}.<ref>Eldridge, Larry. "Ken Harrelson Retires Rather Than Leave Boston," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Monday, April 21, 1969. Retrieved June 9, 2020</ref> Only two months later, Azcue had a falling out with Red Sox [[Manager (baseball)|manager]] [[Dick Williams]] and was again traded, this time to the [[California Angels]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2UHG0hiDunkC&dq=joe+azcue&pg=PT20 ''More Tales from the Tribe Dugout'', Russell Schneider, Sports Publishing LLC, 2005] {{ISBN|1-58261-680-9}} {{ISBN|978-1-58261-680-3}}</ref>

Azcue played the rest of the [[1969 California Angels season|1969]] season and all of [[1970 California Angels season|1970]] for the Angels. Then, unhappy with the contract he was offered by California, Azcue sat out the entire [[1971 California Angels season|1971]] season.{{cn|date=January 2023}} Azcue came back to play for the Angels in [[1972 California Angels season|1972]] but was traded to the [[Milwaukee Brewers]] after playing in only three games. The Brewers sent Azcue to the minor leagues for most of the season. Azcue played in just 11 games for Milwaukee and after [[1972 Milwaukee Brewers season|1972]] would never play again in the Major Leagues, retiring at the age of 32.

==Career statistics==
In an eleven-year major league career, Azcue played in 909 [[Games played|games]], accumulating 712 [[Hit (baseball)|hits]] in 2,828 [[at bats]] for a .252 career batting average along with 50 home runs, 304 runs batted in and an [[on-base percentage]] of .304. A capable defensive catcher, Azcue led [[American League]] catchers in [[fielding percentage]] in [[1967 Cleveland Indians season|1967]] and [[1968 Cleveland Indians season|1968]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vzQDAAAAMBAJ&dq=joe+azcue&pg=PA92 Baseball Digest November 1987, Vol. 46, No. 11], {{ISSN|0005-609X}}</ref> His .992 career fielding percentage was second only to [[Elston Howard]] among major league catchers at the time of his retirement. Over his career, Azcue threw out 45.17% of the [[Baserunning|base runners]] who tried [[Stolen base|steal]] a base on him, ranking him 10th on the all-time list.<ref>[http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/100BestCSCar.pdf 100 Best Catcher CS% Totals at The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers]</ref> During the [[1966 Cleveland Indians season|1966]] season, he threw out 62% of the base runners who tried steal a base, the fifth highest season percentage in major league history.<ref>[http://members.tripod.com/bb_catchers/catchers/cs50guys.htm Catching Better Than 50% of Base Stealers at The Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers]</ref> He caught two [[no hitter]]s in his career, [[Sonny Siebert]] in [[1966 Cleveland Indians season|1966]]<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE196606100.shtml June 10, 1966 Senators-Indians box score at Baseball Reference]</ref> and [[Clyde Wright]] in [[1970 California Angels season|1970]].<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197007030.shtml July 3, 1970 Athletics-Angels box score at Baseball Reference]</ref>

==Minor league managing==
In 1974, he managed the [[Reno Silver Sox (minor league team)|Reno Silver Sox]] in the Class-A [[California League]].<ref>[https://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=azcue-001jos#standard_managing Joe Azcue Minor League Manager record at Baseball Reference]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Baseballstats|mlb=|espn=|br=a/azcuejo01|fangraphs=1000391|brm=azcue-001jos|retro=A/Pazcuj101}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azcue, Joe}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American League All-Stars]]
[[Category:Boston Red Sox players]]
[[Category:California Angels players]]
[[Category:Cienfuegos players]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds players]]
[[Category:Cleveland Indians players]]
[[Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada]]
[[Category:Douglas Reds players]]
[[Category:Havana Sugar Kings players]]
[[Category:Jersey City Jerseys players]]
[[Category:Kansas City Athletics players]]
[[Category:Leones del Caracas players]]
[[Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball catchers]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Cuba]]
[[Category:20th-century Cuban sportsmen]]
[[Category:Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Brewers players]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:Moultrie Reds players]]
[[Category:Palatka Redlegs players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Cienfuegos]]
[[Category:Portland Beavers players]]
[[Category:Salt Lake City Angels players]]
[[Category:San Antonio Brewers players]]
[[Category:Savannah Redlegs players]]
[[Category:Vancouver Mounties players]]
[[Category:Wenatchee Chiefs players]]
[[Category:Savannah Reds players]]