Audio of the Day: Johnny Blanchard
By Mike Silva ~ December 31st, 2009. Filed under: Audio of the Day, Yankees Alumni, Yankees Audio.
We are hours away from the end of 2009. This year New York baseball lost one of its own in Johnny Blanchard.
Being a catcher for the New York Yankees in the fifties was a death sentence for any young player since they already had Yogi Berra and Elston Howard. Starting your career behind a Hall of Famer and an All Star doesn’t make it easy to break the lineup. During those days there wasn’t any free agency so Blanchard had to simply produce when asked and wait his turn.
That is what Blanchard did as he put up huge numbers in the minor leagues and he would finally get a chance to earn some playing time in 1961 splitting time behind the plate and both corner outfield positions.
The 61′ Yankees are remembered for Maris and Mantle, but they had four other players with 20 or more homers – Blanchard being one of them. That year he had an OPS just under 1.000 in 243 at bats. Against Cincinnati in the World Series he hit .400 with two homers. Ironically it was just the year before that Blanchard was behind the plate calling the pitch that made Bill Mazeroski famous, and the Pirates World Champions. At one point in his career he hit four straight homers over three games which is a record.
He would never have the same success that he did in 1961. On March 25, 2009 Blanchard died of a heart attack at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, Minnesota.
I was lucky enough to speak to him in August of 2008. During the interview we chatted about the long road it took to make the majors, many memories of that 61′ Yankees team, and the differences with the modern player. This may be one of my favorite interviews of all time and I believe any baseball fan, but especially fans of Yankees history, will enjoy it.
