José Joaquín Azcue López (born August 18, 1939) is a Cuban former

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

player and

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. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

, most prominently as a member of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

where he played the bulk of his career and was named to the 1968 American League All-Star team. He also played for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 seas ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

. Nicknamed "The Immortal Azcue", he was known for his strong throwing arm.

Playing career

Azcue threw and batted

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

; he was listed as tall and . He began his career when he was signed by the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

as an amateur free agent in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

. He spent the following few years rising up the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in N ...

ranks. He was part of the Cienfuegos Elephants of the

Cuban League The Cuban League was one of the earliest and longest lasting professional baseball leagues outside the United States, operating in Cuba from 1878 to 1961. The schedule usually operated during the winter months, so the league was sometimes known a ...

, and was part of their championship team, winning both the Cuban League title and the

Caribbean Series The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...

during the 1959–1960 season. He made his major league debut on August 3, 1960 at the age of 20. 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. He played in the Cuban League for Cienfuegos again during the offseason, and on December 20, 1960, he was purchased by the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

. 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 Robert Shaw (31 December 1931 – 11 February 1996) was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story " Light of Other Day ...

and Lou Klimchock. In

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

he played in 72 games for the Athletics. After two games with the Athletics in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians with Dick Howser for Doc Edwards and $100,000.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 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

. Azcue hit into the first

unassisted triple play In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without his teammates making any assists. Neal Ball was the first to achieve this in Major League Baseball (MLB) und ...

since 1927 on July 29,

, turned by Ron Hansen of Washington. After an early season trade in 1969, Azcue became a bit of a nomad. He was dealt along with

Sonny Siebert Wilfred Charles "Sonny" Siebert (born January 14, 1937) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher from 1964 to 1975. He finished with a record of 140-114 and a 3.21 ERA. He threw a no-hitter on June 10, 1966, against the Washingt ...

and Vicente Romo from the Indians to the

for Ken Harrelson,

Dick Ellsworth Richard Clark Ellsworth (March 22, 1940 – October 10, 2022) was an American professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs (1958, 1960–1966), Philadelphia Phillies (1967), Boston Red ...

and Juan Pizarro on April 19, . Only two months later, Azcue had a falling out with Red Sox

Dick Williams and was again traded, this time to the

. Azcue played the rest of the 1969 season and all of

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

for the Angels. Then, unhappy with the contract he was offered by California, Azcue sat out the entire

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

season. Azcue came back to play for the Angels in 1972 but was traded to the

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 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 A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

, accumulating 712 hits in 2,828

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

for a .252 career batting average along with 50 home runs, 304 runs batted in and an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .304. A capable defensive catcher, Azcue led

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

catchers in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...

and

. His .992 career fielding percentage was second only to

Elston Howard Elston Gene Howard (February 23, 1929 – December 14, 1980) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and a left fielder. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball from 1948 t ...

among major league catchers at the time of his retirement. Over his career, Azcue threw out 45.17% of the base runners who tried steal a base on him, ranking him 10th on the all-time list. During the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is ...

season, he threw out 62% of the base runners who tried steal a base, the fifth highest season percentage in major league history. He caught two no hitters in his career,

and Clyde Wright in

Minor league managing

In 1974, he managed the Reno Silver Sox in the Class-A California League.Joe Azcue Minor League Manager record at Baseball Reference
/ref>

References

External links

Joe Azcue
at Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Professional Baseball League) {{DEFAULTSORT:Azcue, Joe 1939 births Living people American League All-Stars Boston Red Sox players California Angels players Cienfuegos players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada Douglas Reds players Havana Sugar Kings players Jersey City Jerseys players Kansas City Athletics players Leones del Caracas players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Milwaukee Brewers players Minor league baseball managers Moultrie Reds players Palatka Redlegs players People from Cienfuegos Portland Beavers players Salt Lake City Angels players San Antonio Brewers players Savannah Redlegs players Vancouver Mounties players Wenatchee Chiefs players 21st-century African-American people