Joe Azcue---1967
He was an All-Star?
For reasons not entirely clear to
us, Joe Azcue was an All-Star in
1968.
The native Cuban went by the
nickname "The Immortal Azcue"
and that too, is not entirely clear
to us.
As the back of his 1967 card
notes, "The backstop was dealt to
the Tribe on May 25, 1963 and
the following day Cleveland's
regular catcher (Johnny Romano)
broke his arm, giving Joe an
opportunity to play regularly."
Why this is a career highlight, is
not entirely clear to us.
After hitting a robust .242 for the
California Angels in 1970 as their
regular catcher, he sat out the
entire 1971 season as a holdout;
which is not entirely clear to us.
What we do understand though,
is that Azcue was a nice defensive
catcher, who would play 11
seasons in the bigs hitting
anywhere between .223 and .290
with power that oscillated between
two home runs in a season (1962,
'65, '69 & '70) to a high of 14 long
balls in 1963. (We theorize that
their were strong winds blowing
out of Municipal Stadium in 1963,
but have not been able to find the
wind charts for that year in
Cleveland.)
Oh yes, and he went 0-for-1,
striking out versus New York's
Tom Seaver while handling three
innings of catching duties in the
1968 Mid-Summer Classic.
Azcue celebrated his All-Star
Game appearance by hitting into
an unassisted triple play on July
29, 1968, turned by Washington
shortstop Ron Hanson.
And yes, Joe Azcue was an
All-Star, but we are not exactly
sure why.
(7/16/08)
For reasons not entirely clear to
us, Joe Azcue was an All-Star in
1968.
The native Cuban went by the
nickname "The Immortal Azcue"
and that too, is not entirely clear
to us.
As the back of his 1967 card
notes, "The backstop was dealt to
the Tribe on May 25, 1963 and
the following day Cleveland's
regular catcher (Johnny Romano)
broke his arm, giving Joe an
opportunity to play regularly."
Why this is a career highlight, is
not entirely clear to us.
After hitting a robust .242 for the
California Angels in 1970 as their
regular catcher, he sat out the
entire 1971 season as a holdout;
which is not entirely clear to us.
What we do understand though,
is that Azcue was a nice defensive
catcher, who would play 11
seasons in the bigs hitting
anywhere between .223 and .290
with power that oscillated between
two home runs in a season (1962,
'65, '69 & '70) to a high of 14 long
balls in 1963. (We theorize that
their were strong winds blowing
out of Municipal Stadium in 1963,
but have not been able to find the
wind charts for that year in
Cleveland.)
Oh yes, and he went 0-for-1,
striking out versus New York's
Tom Seaver while handling three
innings of catching duties in the
1968 Mid-Summer Classic.
Azcue celebrated his All-Star
Game appearance by hitting into
an unassisted triple play on July
29, 1968, turned by Washington
shortstop Ron Hanson.
And yes, Joe Azcue was an
All-Star, but we are not exactly
sure why.
(7/16/08)
