Joe Azcue facts for kids

José Joaquín Azcue López, born on August 18, 1939, is a former Cuban professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher. He is best known for his time with the Cleveland Indians, where he played for most of his career. In 1968, he was chosen to be an All-Star player. People sometimes called him "The Immortal Azcue" because he had a very strong throwing arm. He also played for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Athletics, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, and Milwaukee Brewers.

Becoming a Professional Baseball Player

Joe Azcue threw and batted with his right hand. He was about 6 feet tall and weighed around 190 pounds. He started his baseball journey in 1956. The Cincinnati Redlegs signed him as a young player. For the next few years, he played in the minor leagues, working his way up.

Playing in Cuba

Azcue also played in the Cuban League for the Cienfuegos Elephants. His team won the Cuban League title in the 1959–1960 season. They also won the Caribbean Series that year, which is a big championship for teams from different Caribbean countries.

Making His Major League Debut

Joe Azcue made his first appearance in Major League Baseball on August 3, 1960. He was only 20 years old. However, he didn't play very well that season and was sent back to the minor leagues. After playing another season in the Cuban League, he was traded to the Milwaukee Braves in December 1960.

Playing for Different Teams

After spending a season in the minor leagues, Azcue was traded again. In December 1961, he went to the Kansas City Athletics. He played in 72 games for them in 1962.

Time with the Cleveland Indians

In 1963, after playing just two games with the Athletics, Azcue was traded to the Cleveland Indians. This was a very important move for his career. He spent about seven seasons with the Indians. These were the best years of his career. In 1968, his strong play earned him a spot on the American League All-Star team.

Moving Around Teams

After a trade in 1969, Azcue started moving between different teams. He was traded from the Indians to the Boston Red Sox. Just two months later, he had a disagreement with the Red Sox manager, Dick Williams. This led to another trade, and he joined the California Angels.

Azcue played for the Angels for the rest of 1969 and all of 1970. He then decided to sit out the entire 1971 season. This happened because he was not happy with the contract offer from the Angels. He returned to play for the Angels in 1972. However, after only three games, he was traded one last time to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers sent him to the minor leagues for most of that season. Joe Azcue played only 11 games for Milwaukee in 1972. After that season, he never played in the Major Leagues again, retiring at the age of 32.

Baseball Achievements and Statistics

In his eleven-year Major League career, Joe Azcue played in 909 games. He had 712 hits in 2,828 at bats. His career batting average was .252. He also hit 50 Home runs and had 304 runs batted in. His on-base percentage was .304.

A Strong Defensive Catcher

Azcue was known as a very good defensive catcher. A catcher's job is to stop runners from stealing bases. Azcue was excellent at this. He led all American League catchers in fielding percentage in both 1967 and 1968. His career fielding percentage of .992 was one of the best for catchers when he retired.

He was especially good at throwing out base runners who tried to steal a base. Over his career, he threw out 45.17% of runners, which ranks him among the top catchers of all time. In the 1966 season, he threw out an amazing 62% of base runners. This is one of the highest percentages in Major League history for a single season.

Joe Azcue also caught two no hitters during his career. A no-hitter is when a pitcher completes a game without allowing any hits. He caught one for Sonny Siebert in 1966 and another for Clyde Wright in 1970.

Managing in the Minor Leagues

After his playing career, Joe Azcue became a manager. In 1974, he managed the Reno Silver Sox. This team played in the Class-A California League, which is a minor league.