Gil Blanco, a towering left-handed pitcher who made his mark with the Athletics during their final years in Kansas City, has died. He was 80.
Blanco passed away July 9, according to an obituary that appeared later in the Arizona Republic. The news of his death reached the public only at the end of July, more than three weeks after he died.
A native of Phoenix, Blanco stood 6-foot-5 and first turned heads as a high school standout at North High School. He continued his pitching career for two seasons at Phoenix College before signing with the New York Yankees organization in 1964.
His minor league start was impressive. As an 18-year-old with the Class A Fort Lauderdale Yankees, Blanco posted a 12-7 record and a 2.31 ERA over 23 starts. That performance earned him a spot on the Yankees’ major league roster the next spring under the old bonus baby rules.
Blanco made his big league debut on April 24, 1965, tossing a scoreless inning of relief for the Yankees against the California Angels at Yankee Stadium. He appeared in 18 games that rookie season, mostly in relief, as New York finished with a 77-85 record.
In June 1966, while pitching at the Double-A level for the Yankees, Blanco was traded to the Kansas City Athletics. The deal sent him, along with outfielder Roger Repoz and pitcher Bill Stafford, to the A’s in exchange for pitcher Fred Talbot and catcher Billy Bryan.
Once in a Kansas City uniform, Blanco quickly saw action. He appeared in 11 games for the Athletics that season, including eight starts. He finished with a 2-4 record and a 4.70 ERA, showing the kind of poise the club hoped would develop into a longer big league career.
Although Blanco remained in the Athletics organization through the 1967 and 1968 seasons — following the franchise when it relocated from Kansas City to Oakland — he never returned to a regular-season major league mound after 1966. He continued pitching in the minors before hanging up his spikes after the 1971 season.
After leaving professional baseball, Blanco returned to his hometown of Phoenix. He later worked for Southwest Airlines, according to details shared in his obituary.
In 2017, Blanco received recognition closer to home when he was inducted into the Phoenix Union High School District Sports Hall of Fame as part of its third class of honorees. The honor celebrated the local roots that first launched his path toward the majors.
Those who followed the Athletics in the mid-1960s remember Blanco as part of a transitional period for the franchise. The team was still finding its footing in Kansas City before the move west, and young arms like his represented hope for the future even if that future never fully materialized for him at the highest level.
Blanco’s brief time with the Athletics came during an era when the club was building toward the success that would later define the early Oakland years. Though his major league totals were modest — two wins in 11 appearances with the A’s — his presence on the roster reflected the organization’s efforts to stock the pitching staff with left-handed talent.
Friends and former teammates have noted that Blanco carried himself with the quiet determination common among players who reached the big leagues after years of grinding through the minors. His size and left-handed delivery made him a natural candidate for the rotation, even if injuries or inconsistency limited his opportunities.
The Athletics organization has not issued a formal statement, but the news of Blanco’s passing has circulated among fans who follow the team’s history from the Kansas City days. For many, he remains a footnote in the franchise’s long and sometimes turbulent story, yet one that underscores the human side of the game.
Blanco is remembered in Phoenix as both a local product who made it to the majors and a man who returned home after baseball to build a second career.
His death closes another chapter from the 1960s Athletics teams that paved the way for the dynasty that followed in Oakland.
