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Jose Joaquin Azcue
Cleveland Indians
Catcher
Born: August 18, 1939, Cienfuegos, Cuba
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Redlegs as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams: Cincinnati Reds 1960; Kansas City Athletics 1962-1963; Cleveland Indians 1963-1969; Boston Red Sox 1969; California Angels 1970, 1972; Milwaukee Brewers 1972
Known for his strong throwing arm and the fantastic nickname, "The Immortal Azcue," Joe Azcue played in 11 big league seasons, most successfully with the Indians. After 4 1/2 seasons in the minors, Azcue debuted with the Reds in 1960, appearing in 14 games towards the end of that season. He wouldn't stay for a prolonged period of time in the majors until 1963 when he appeared in 94 games for the Indians, reaching career highs in both home runs (14) and RBIs (46). Azcue and John Romano (#17) shared catching duties in 1963 and 1964, with Azcue finally getting a chance to regularly play following Romano's trade to the White Sox before the 1965 season. Azcue would enjoy the strongest stretch of his career between 1966 and 1968 with the Indians, and he was named to the 1968 All-Star team, catching Denny McLain (#236) and teammate Sam McDowell (#76) over three innings of work.
He'd bounce around for a few years between 1969 and 1972, spending time with the Red Sox, Angels and Brewers and missing all of the 1971 season due to a contract dispute. He played one final year professionally in 1973 as a player-coach for the Indians' Double-A affiliate in San Antonio. For his career, Azcue batted .252 with 50 home runs and 304 RBIs. As one of the top defensive catchers of his era, his caught stealing percentage of 45.2% is currently 96th all-time and his overall fielding percentage of .992 is 56th all-time.
Building the Set
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
The Card / Indians Team Set
I'm assuming Azcue is holding his own bats here, as he wore #6 with the Indians between 1963 and 1969 and that number (upside down) is clearly visible on the knob of the bottom bat. He's swinging one of the bats on his 1966 Topps card, white jacket still underneath his sleeveless Indians' jersey. The back of the card refers to the Indians now relying on Azcue as their regular catcher after the trade of Romano and Azcue's surprising power numbers in 1963.
1965 Season
With Romano gone, Azcue was the team's opening day and regular catcher, with either Cam Carreon (#578) or Duke Sims most frequently backing him up. Azcue appeared in 111 games, batting .230 with a pair of home runs and 35 RBIs.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #417
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1962-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #36
49 - Azcue non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/26/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
December 4, 2021 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards, Babylon, NY) -
Card #462
You'll be seeing this particular passage on my 1965 Topps blog for quite some time as we added a whopping 97 cards to our set during the December Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show. If I'm ambitious and compose posts for five cards a week, I should be completely caught up by the end of May. If I'm not as ambitious, I might still be going through this stack by the time we hit July. Either way, I'll enjoy the process and I'm looking forward to taking my time. I've posted a complete summary of this fantastic show over at The Phillies Room.
After securing Doug's Jim Thome autograph, I returned to Uncle Dick's and their neon green shirts, pulled up a chair, and settled in. Over the course of 45 minutes or so, I found 79 cards needed for our set, including this Azcue card which was a little less than $4 after the dealer discount. I was surrounded by six or seven other seated collectors, all who looked similar to me, with a touch of gray, focused on their individual quests. I wiped out Uncle Dick's two 1965 Topps commons binders, paid for my haul and then retreated to a table with Doug to update our checklist.
The Card / Indians Team Set
I'm assuming Azcue is holding his own bats here, as he wore #6 with the Indians between 1963 and 1969 and that number (upside down) is clearly visible on the knob of the bottom bat. He's swinging one of the bats on his 1966 Topps card, white jacket still underneath his sleeveless Indians' jersey. The back of the card refers to the Indians now relying on Azcue as their regular catcher after the trade of Romano and Azcue's surprising power numbers in 1963.
1965 Season
With Romano gone, Azcue was the team's opening day and regular catcher, with either Cam Carreon (#578) or Duke Sims most frequently backing him up. Azcue appeared in 111 games, batting .230 with a pair of home runs and 35 RBIs.
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First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #417
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1962-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #36
49 - Azcue non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/26/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #513 New York Yankees Team Card
Previous Card: #513 New York Yankees Team Card
Next Card: #515 Vern Law - Pittsburgh Pirates
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