R.I.P Johnny Blanchard

[roblyo33]

The Yankee family lost one of it's members today. Catcher Johnny Blanchard died of a heart attack in Minnesota. He was only a sub but, provided many thrills for us "older" NYY fans..........RIP

[TinoFan84]

Very sad. Thanks for letting us know. RIP Johnny.

[dino26]

RIP Johnny Blanchard

[BBombers85]

RIP Johnny Blanchard

[Norge]

R.I.P. Johnny Blanchard

[tpan413]

R.I.P Johnny

[stephsamps]

RIP Johnny.

[xenadanielle]

No! I know him mainly from OTD. R I P

[Nome]

Johnny was only 76 (I'll be there soon enough). He was a great sub playing his entire career with thhe Yankees (6 years). He was part of the team that set a record of having 6 players hit over 20 HR's in a season (Howard, Blanchard, Berra (who was in LF that year),Skowron, Mantle and of course Roger, 61*, Maris).

He gave plenty of enjoyment and excitement to many of us old timers. He will be missed.

Andy

[Mantle'sMutt]

The very mention of his name brings back incredible memories. RIP, Johnny.

[Retire21]

For those of you who remember the old Micro League Baseball computer game (floppy disk) in the late 80s, Johnny Blanchard was my DH when I was the 1961 Yankees against whomever. Of course, the DH didn't exist in 1961, but he was a great stick for me in that game 20 years ago. Makes you wonder how much more potent that team might have been had there been a DH.

RIP Johnny.

[Gehrig39]

That's a shame. I was lucky enough to meet Johnny at a signing a couple years ago; there really wasn't anyone going up to him so my dad and I were able to talk to him for a while. When we were about to leave my dad pulled out his wallet to pay for the autographs we got and Johnny waved us away so that we wouldn't have to pay . Nice guy, R.I.P.

[Yankee Cowboy]

Elston Howard Johnny Blanchard Yogi


Johnny Blanchard played for the Yankees for eight seasons. During that time he was in five World Series, winning two rings. On that great 1961 team he combined with Elston Howard and Yogi Berra to have three backstops with a combined 64 homers. He also was behind the plate when Bill Mazerowski hit the historic home to win the 1960 World Series.

[roblyo33]

IIRC........Johnny once attempted a sac bunt and it went down the left field line for a double and driving in a run. I'm sure you can imagine how Scooter described it!!!!

[Doubleday]

RIP

I was fortunate to meet Mr. Blanchard at an autograph signing just over a month ago -what an incredibly nice guy. At this show, you had to buy tickets to get player's autographs, but the tickets for Mr. Blanchard were free (included in admission). I thought I would be able to walk into the signing room and walk right up to Mr. Blanchard for an autograph but as it turns out - I had to wait in line the longest to meet him.
I found out why when I got to the front - he was the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet. Seemed really interested in the fans.

[wexy]

I met him at the fan fest in 92. He autographed a page in a media guide with Mike Torrez, Hector Lopez and Phil Linz.(lot of Zs)

Rest In Peace.

[Mantle'sMutt]

Note that in Johnny's day, there were only 8 or 10 teams in the league, and even a "sub" on a quality team like the Yankees may well have translated in him starting on many clubs today. He was a decent player, plenty of power but a pretty low average, though he did not fan a lot that I recall. Might have been interesting to see how he would have done as an everyday player somewhere, but I'm guessing he'd have never traded his days with those Yanks for anything.

[Yankee Steve]

I met Johnny at the 2000 Fantasy camp in Tampa. Great storyteller and a terrific guy. I remember watching him play in the early 60's. He is the second former Yankee player to have passed from that camp, the first being Jim Spencer. RIP Johnny.

[Murcer1]

Poor Johnny. May he R.I.P.

[mystic7]

Johnny Blanchard is a name I always associate with "My Yankees", the roster of players when I first discovered and fell in love with the Yanks.

[li76]

I met Johnny at the 2000 Fantasy camp in Tampa. Great storyteller and a terrific guy. I remember watching him play in the early 60's. He is the second former Yankee player to have passed from that camp, the first being Jim Spencer. RIP Johnny.

I met him this January at camp and agree. It was real nice spending time with someone who played with that generation of players and hearing the stories.

[thecaptain]

RIP Johnny....

[BRNXBMRS]

Are the Yanks now going to wear a black arm band this year?

[Sixty one]

I had the pleasure of meeting him at an old timers dinner about eight years ago and found him to be friendly and willing to talk baseball and sign autographs. He loved being an ex-yankee, and I think looked forward to attending these special events. He probably would have been an excellent DH for those Yankee teams of the early 60's if they had had one in those days. RIP, John.

[BRNXBMRS]

I had the pleasure of meeting him at an old timers dinner about eight years ago and found him to be friendly and willing to talk baseball and sign autographs. He loved being an ex-yankee, and I think looked forward to attending these special events. He probably would have been an excellent DH for those Yankee teams of the early 60's if they had had one in those days. RIP, John.

Its still amazing that the 61 Yanks hit 240 HR's without a DH.