Tony Blanco

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Tony Blanco
Blanco with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars
First baseman
Born: (1980-11-10) November 10, 1980 (age 43)
San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Professional debut
MLB: April 4, 2005, for the Washington Nationals
NPB: April 3, 2009, for the Chunichi Dragons
Last appearance
MLB: September 24, 2005, for the Washington Nationals
NPB: July 12, 2016, for the Orix Buffaloes
MLB statistics
Batting average.177
Home runs1
Runs batted in7
NPB statistics
Batting average.272
Home runs181
Runs batted in542
Teams
Career highlights and awards
NPB
  • NPB All-Star
    (2009–2010, 2013–2014)
  • Best Nine Award (2009, 2012–2013)
  • Central League batting champion (2013)
  • 2× Central League RBI leader (2009, 2013)
  • Central League home run leader (2009)
Blanco with the Chunichi Dragons, at Hanshin Koshien Stadium.

Tony Enrique Blanco Cabrera (born November 10, 1980) is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He was mainly a first baseman, third baseman and outfielder. Blanco last played for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He also played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Nationals as well as the Chunichi Dragons and the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of NPB.

Career

Blanco with the Orix Buffaloes, at Akita Prefectural Baseball Stadium

Blanco began his career in the

Rule 5 Draft choice in 2005 and started the year playing for the Potomac Nationals. Blanco was invited to spring training for the big league club and quickly made it to the roster early in 2005, playing in 56 games. During 2005, his rookie season, he hit .177 with one home run and seven RBI
.

In

Dominican Winter League for the Estrellas Orientales. He was then acquired by the Chunichi Dragons, who released their cleanup hitter Tyrone Woods
due to his high wage, shortly after that.

His first year in NPB was very successful,[

Nagoya Dome(first in dome history), hitting the light unit above the advertisement board in Tokyo Dome
, as well as hitting the top-level stand in the Nagoya and Osaka Domes. He finished his first season with an impressive 39 HR and 110 RBI, both leading in Central League, along with a .275 batting average. Other than the HR and RBI award, he was also rewarded as Central League Performance Award in Interleague game (11 HR and 24 RBI) and won the Home Run Derby before the All-star game (which he was also playing as Central League first baseman).

References

External links