Sad news from Minnesota. Johnny Blanchard died, yesterday. It was a heart attack. He was 76. He was, without a doubt, the best 3rd string catcher I ever saw! That's not entirely fair because Elston Howard was the Yankees' starting catcher in the early 1960's. Yogi Berra caught a few games, but he spent most of his time in left field.
Blanchard probably could have been a starting catcher for any other team in the majors. Blanchard was signed by the Yankees in 1951 and made his major league debut four years later at 22. He is one of four players in Yankees history to homer in four consecutive at-bats, accomplishing the feat over three games from July 21-26, 1961. A key player off the bench when the Yankees won five AL pennants from 1960-64, Blanchard batted .345 (10-for-29) in the World Series overall and hit a pair of home runs as New York defeated Cincinnati in the 1961 Series. I think that, given the chance, Blanchard could have hit more home runs than Roger Maris during the 1961 season! Blanchard was often seen talking with the fans. This is somethig that he didn't have to do, and many of the Yankees chose not to.
The picture is the official New York Yankees 2002 Topps Super Teams 1961 Yankees Card autographed by Johnny Blanchard.
Blanchard probably could have been a starting catcher for any other team in the majors. Blanchard was signed by the Yankees in 1951 and made his major league debut four years later at 22. He is one of four players in Yankees history to homer in four consecutive at-bats, accomplishing the feat over three games from July 21-26, 1961. A key player off the bench when the Yankees won five AL pennants from 1960-64, Blanchard batted .345 (10-for-29) in the World Series overall and hit a pair of home runs as New York defeated Cincinnati in the 1961 Series. I think that, given the chance, Blanchard could have hit more home runs than Roger Maris during the 1961 season! Blanchard was often seen talking with the fans. This is somethig that he didn't have to do, and many of the Yankees chose not to.
The picture is the official New York Yankees 2002 Topps Super Teams 1961 Yankees Card autographed by Johnny Blanchard.
