Over 22,000 players have played Major League Baseball. A small fraction of those players are remembered for their on-field accomplishments. An even smaller subset are remembered for their personalities and the joy they brought to the game. Oscar Azócar was one of those special people.
Oscar Azócar
Born: February 21, 1965 (Soro, Venezuela)
Died: June 14, 2010 (Valencia, Venezuela)
Yankees Tenure: 1990
Azócar was scouted by the Yankees out of Venezuela as a pitcher. He fared reasonably well in this role, posting a 3.31 ERA in 171.1 innings, but these were mostly spent in the lower levels of the minors, where the southpaw never showcased the stuff to turn himself into a viable prospect. But, in 1987, during his first season as manager of the Low-A Fort Lauderdale Yankees, a 30-year-old Buck Showalter saw enough out of the young hurler as he took batting practice that the future Yankees skipper engineered a positional switch, moving Azócar to the outfield. He hit .359 in 195 plate appearances that year, rewarding Showalter’s confidence in his ability to swing the bat.
Azócar then began a precipitous climb to the bigs. He was added to Yankees’ 40-man roster on November 8, 1988, alongside more recognizable names including Kevin Maas, Hensley Meulens, and a fellow young outfielder named Bernie Williams. Azócar got his first taste of Yankees glitz the following season when he was a teammate of Deion Sanders at Double-A Albany-Colonie while the two-sport athlete was working his way up to the Yankees. “He brought me a hat,”’ Azócar said while showcasing a Falcons cap before adding, presciently, of the future Pro Football Hall of Famer, “I think he wants to play football, though.”
After hitting .292 in 504 at-bats at Triple-A in ‘89 and ‘90, Azócar got called up in July 1990 to replace Mel Hall, who’d landed on the shelf after pulling a muscle in his thigh. He joined a Yankees team that was floundering, sitting at 31-54 in the standings. On the day the team elevated Azócar, manager Stump Merrill candidly told the press of his team’s woes: “It can’t get any worse.”
It was into this subdued environment that Azócar arrived and, in the context of a near-hopeless team, briefly looked like a savior. The 25-year-old recorded a hit off Royals pitcher Steve Farr in his first at-bat, homered twice in his first week, and, at the end of July, was hitting .386 with a 1.053 OPS in 15 games.
Alongside Maas and Jim Leyritz, Azócar gave hope that a youth movement was taking hold in the Bronx. “They’re going out and playing, and it’s contagious,“ Merrill said. “They don’t quit.” Future captain Mattingly said the trio, along with Sanders, boasted “some serious talent.” Merrill was particularly effusive in his praise of Azócar. “The reason Oscar hits for average is that he doesn’t walk and doesn’t strike out,” the Yankee manager said. “The reason he hits for average is that he uses the whole field, from line to line.” For his part, the rookie was blasé about his first brush with MLB competition. “There’s no difference,” Azócar said. “In the minor leagues, there’s tough pitching, too, just like here. There’s absolutely no difference. The only difference is the people in the stands.”
In his debut, Azócar quickly demonstrated an aggressiveness and verve that both won him praise and limited his ceiling. With “going all the way,” as his mantra, the outfielder played the game at a breakneck pace, both running hard on every play and swinging at nearly every pitch. When asked by his teammates why he ran in from left field at full speed to back up third on routine plays, Azócar offered a simple and earnest reply: “because that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Despite earning a starting role and, amidst a thin Yankees roster, a shot to stick, Azócar trailed off, hitting below the Mendoza line after his dynamic July and eventually finding his way to the bench. The free-swinger would end the year with an unviable .257 on-base percentage, signaling his limits as a legitimate prospect.
Still, after his extended action the year prior, Topps made a 1991 Yankees card for the Azócar. It would prove an enduring showcase for his childlike love for the game of baseball, showcasing the outfielder balancing a baseball between two bats with a wry smile on his face.
Despite making it onto a 1991 Yankees baseball card, Azócar wouldn’t stick in the pinstripes that year. He was designated for assignment during the offseason when New York signed Farr, the pitcher against whom Azócar had gotten his first hit, as a free agent. On December 3, 1990, he was traded to the Padres for a player to be named later who became Mike Humphreys, an outfielder who saw limited action during three seasons in the Bronx.
Azócar spent two years in San Diego. He appeared mostly as a pinch-hitter, batting .204 with a .479 OPS. It would be his final MLB action. On the way out, though, he made time to pose for one more iconic Topps baseball card. In this one, he holds his bat tight to his head with an eyes-closed, playful smile upon his face.
After his time in the US, Azócar took his enthusiastic brand of baseball to the Mexican League, where he’d spend eight seasons. As late as 2000, at the age of 35 and eight years removed from his last season with the Padres, he hit .377 with the Guerreros de Oaxaca, finishing third in the batting title race behind fellow MLB castoffs Ivan Cruz and Warren Newson.
Azócar died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 2010 at just 45 years old. He would be 61 today. Despite his brief tenure in the majors, he is remembered for the joy and enthusiasm he brought to the game he loved so dearly.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
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