RIP Johnny Blanchard

Great HR numbers in limited ABs in some simulation seasons I was part of years ago.

RIP...

 

Probably most famous (or infamous) as one of the Yankees who took "Ball Four" really personally, even though he was barely mentioned in it. When Jim Bouton was finally invited to Old Timers' Day in the late 1990s, Blanchard was one of the few who still snubbed him.

Here's an NYT article that was published around that time:

http://tinyurl.com/ckejmv

Say this for old ballplayers, they sure can hold a grudge ...

But yeah, Blanchard was awesome in "Micro League Baseball." Probably the second-best hitter on that 61 Yankees team (in the video game) after Mantle.

 

I believe Blanchard's disike for Bouton was when Bouton described Blanchard as "just another jocko," but because he drank with Mantle and Billy Martin, he thought he was one of the guys. Bouton also claimed that "once in awhile, just to enhance his image, Johnny Blanchard would smack some poor guy off a bar stool."

 

The truth always hurts.

 

I just finied one of the McFarland Press books on the Yankees of that era and Blanchard sounds like somewhat of a character. He really hated Bouton and loved being a Yankee. Great pinch hitter as well, but in his own words was a bad fielder. Drank heavily after being traded from the Yanks and never really recovered.

 

Was Blanchard Mr. Inside or Mr. Outside? I forget.

 

Assuming you're being serious, you're referring to Doc Blanchard, the Army running back of the 1940s, not Johnny Blanchard of the 1960s.

 

Elston Howard put up some massive numbers, too.

 

Aw hell, these decades all run together.

 

Couldn't run, though.

(per Casey)

 

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