Carlos Blanco

Carlos E. Blanco

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut 1941
• Final Game 1941
• Born April 25, 1914 in Bayamo, Oriente Cuba
• Died 1997 in Cuba

BR page

Biographical Information

Carlos Blanco played in Cuba from 1935-1951 and also saw time in both the US and Mexico. He is the brother of Heberto Blanco.

Carlos debuted in 1935-1936, hitting .227 and slugging .375 while appearing for two different clubs. In 1936-1937, he started at first base for Santa Clara and batted .294/?/.426. He played in the Dominican League in 1937. He hit .262/?/.302 for Almendares in 1937-1938 and .247/?/.327 in 1938-1939. In 1939-1940, he batted .276/?/.362 for Habana. Having bounced from team to team, he finally found a home with the Habana club. He hit .303 and slugged .389 for them in 1940-1941, tying Silvio Garcia for the league lead with five triples and placing fourth in average.

Blanco hit .203 as the first baseman for the New York Cubans in 1941, playing alongside his brother, the team's second baseman. They would be teammates back in Cuba from 1941-1949. In 1941-1942, Blanco hit just .223 and slugged .249 for Habana and was outperformed by his kid brother. In 1942-1943, Carlos rebounded to .327/?/.413 and was third in the Cuban Winter League in batting average. He came to the Mexican League in 1943 and hit .339/.447/.445 for the Torreon Cotton Dealers, drawing 55 walks in 79 games. He was 4th in the LMB in average and tied Martin Dihigo for 10th with 50 RBI. He scored 63 times.

Blanco moved from first base to third base for Habana in 1943-1944 with Gil Torres taking his spot at first. He made his only CWL All-Star team, hitting .307/?/.374 with 37 runs, second in the circuit behind major leaguer Roberto Ortiz. In the summer of 1944, Carlos hit .305/.395/.481 for the Nuevo Laredo Owls, with 11 triples and 81 RBI while only striking out in 12 of 341 AB. He ranked 5th in the Mexican League in RBI. In 1944-1945, he hit .228/?/.272 back at first base with Habana.

Carlos hit .319/.420/.468 with 75 runs, 74 RBI and 31 doubles for Nuevo Laredo in 1945, again with just 12 strikeouts. He tied Claro Duany for the league lead in doubles. Blanco again switched from first to third for Habana in 1945-1946, being dislodged by Dick Sisler, and hit .261 while slugging .313. In 1946, he hit .327/.422/.442 for Nuevo Laredo to hold his own with the major leaguers who came to the Mexican League for higher pay that year. His 72 RBI were 5th in the league, between Nap Reyes and Angel Castro.

In 1946-1947, the 33-year-old was a backup for Habana, with Lennie Pearson at first and Lou Klein at third. He went 22 for 98 with six doubles in the unfamiliar role. In 1947, he moved to the Monterrey Industrials and still looked productive at .321/.419/.402 with 76 walks to 14 strikeouts in 123 games. He had 10 triples, three shy of the league lead. In 1947-1948, he hit .297 and slugged .352 for the Leones of the Cuban Players League, his last season as a starter back in his homeland.

Blanco split the summer of 1948 between the Puebla Parrots and Veracruz Eagle and hit a combined .345/.415/.431. He was back on Habana's bench for 1948-1949 and went 16 for 57 with four doubles, then did not appear in Mexico for the first time since 1942. He hit .240/?/.281 for Marianao in 1949-1950. As a teammate of his brother's with Nuevo Laredo in 1950, he slumped to .256/.354/.314, the first time his average fell under .300 and his slugging under .400 in Mexico. He ended his Cuban career in 1950-1951, going 11 for 57 with a double and a triple for Marianao; it was the final time Carlos and Heberto Blanco were teammates, though they both remained active in Mexico for several more years.

In 1951, Carlos hit .327/.425/.405 for the Tuneros de San Luis Potosi, followed by a .280/.370/.358 line between the Mexico City Red Devils and Veracruz in '52. He spent all of 1953 with Veracruz and batted only .224/.343/.278 in 71 games at age 39. He concluded his career in 1954, going 20 for 78 with 3 doubles, a triple and five walks. Overall, he played 11 seasons in Mexico and batted .307/.403/.407 with 504 walks to 115 strikeouts in 843 games.

Sources

• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway
• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• The Mexican League: Comprehensive Player Statistics by Pedro Treto Cisneros