Tony Blanco

Blanco began his career in the Boston Red Sox farm system as a third baseman. In 2002, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds as a player to be named later, completing an earlier trade that sent Todd Walker to Boston. As a top prospect in the Reds organization in 2003, Blanco made a name for himself^{[clarification needed]} while playing for the Potomac Cannons of the Carolina League. Blanco was picked up by the Nationals as a 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 2008, Blanco played for the Double-A Tulsa Drillers in the Colorado Rockies organization, batting .323 with 23 home runs and 88 RBIs. After the 2008 season, Blanco played in the Dominican Winter League for the Estrellas Orientales. He was then acquired by the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), who released their cleanup hitter, Tyrone Woods, shortly after that, due to his high salary.

Blanco finished his first season in NPB with 39 home runs and 110 RBIs, both leading in Central League, along with a .275 batting average. He also received a Central League Performance Award for inter-league games (11 home runs and 24 RBIs) and won the home run derby before the all-star game, in which he played as the Central League first baseman.

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  Blanco with the Chunichi Dragons at Hanshin Koshien Stadium
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  Blanco with the Orix Buffaloes at the Hanshin Naruohama Baseball Ground

Blanco's son, Tony Jr., plays in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system.^[1]

Blanco died at the age of 44 on April 8, 2025, from injuries sustained in the Jet Set nightclub roof collapse in Santo Domingo.^[2] Fellow Dominican baseball player Octavio Dotel was also killed in the incident.^[3] Blanco died saving his friend Esteban Germán.^[4]