I have sixteen cards of Oscar Azocar. This one is from 1990 Score Rookie Traded.
Playing career: Oscar Azocar came up with the Yankees in
1990 and hit .248 with 5 HR and 19 RBI. He was famous for being extremely
aggressive at the plate, going over 100 plate appearances before his first
walk. He holds the major league record for most career stolen bases without
being caught (10). He also played two seasons with San Diego. A full account of
his career can be found at The Greatest 21 Days.
After baseball: Azocar died of a heart problem at La Viña
Hospital in Venezuela in 2010. In May of this year, the cardiologist on call was
arrested and charged with manslaughter for not giving Azocar prompt medical
attention when he was brought into the hospital.
My memories: I remember reading about him in Yankees
Magazine as an up-and-coming minor leaguer, and thought his name was pronounced
AZocar. When he was called up to the Yankees I was surprised it was pronounced
aZOcar. I also remember reading that he was the only major leaguer with two cars
in his name.
Google Autocomplete results: The first two results when you
type Oscar Az are Oscar Azocar and Oscar Azocar Cause of Death, ahead of Oscar
Haza, a journalist. Another prominent Oscar Azocar is the chief of the trauma
department at Hospital Dipreca in Chile.
Coming up next: The next profile will be Bryan Baar.
Did you ever hear anything about the result of the trial? There hasn't been any news that I've been able to find for at least a year.
ReplyDeleteOscar was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Despite the language barrier, he and I became pretty friendly during his time in AA ball in upstate NY. He seemed to be chronically happy. He loved the action of baseball, which is probably why he would swing at anything. Walks are boring until it came time to steal.