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José Joaquín Azcue López (born August 18, 1939) is a Cuban former professional baseball player.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Joe Azcue Statistics )〕 He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.〔 Nicknamed "The Immortal Azcue", he was known for his strong throwing arm.〔(''Tales from the Tribe Dugout'', Russell Schneider, Sports Publishing LLC, 2002, ISBN 1-58261-303-6, ISBN 978-1-58261-303-1 )〕〔(''The 25 Greatest Plays of the 1967 Season'', by Herbert Simmons, Baseball Digest, December 1968, Vol. 26, No. 10, ISSN 0005-609X )〕 In 1968, he was selected to the American League All-Star team.〔(1968 All-Star game at Baseball Reference )〕 ==Playing career== Azcue began his career when he was signed by the Cincinnati Redlegs as an amateur free agent in 1956.〔 He spent the following few years rising up the minor league ranks. He was part of the Cienfuegos Elephants of the Cuban League, and was part of their championship team, winning both the Cuban League title and the Caribbean Series during the 1959–1960 season. He later made his major league debut during the 1960 Cincinnati Reds season. He made his debut on August 3 against the Chicago Cubs, getting a hit in three at-bats.〔 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.〔 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 and Lou Klimchock.〔(Braves, A's happy over deal )〕In 1962 he played in 72 games for the Athletics. After two games with the Athletics in 1963, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians with Dick Howser for Doc Edwards and $100,000.〔 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.〔 Azcue hit into the first unassisted triple play since 1927 on July 29, 1968, turned by Ron Hansen of Washington.〔(Baseball Digest, August 1979, Vol. 38, No. 8, ISSN 0005-609X )〕 After an early season trade in 1969, Azcue became a bit of a nomad. First Cleveland traded him to the Boston Red Sox as part of the deal that brought Ken Harrelson to the Indians.〔(Joe Azcue Trades and Transactions at Baseball Almanac )〕 Only two months later, Azcue had a falling out with Red Sox manager Dick Williams and was again traded, this time to the California Angels.〔(''More Tales from the Tribe Dugout'', Russell Schneider, Sports Publishing LLC, 2005, ISBN 1-58261-680-9, ISBN 978-1-58261-680-3 )〕 Azcue played the rest of the 1969 season and all of 1970 for the Angels. Then, unhappy with the contract he was offered by California, Azcue sat out the entire 1971 season.〔(Joe Azcue at BR Bullpen )〕 Azcue came back to play for the Angels in 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 would never play again in the Major Leagues. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Joe Azcue」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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