Tony Blanco was tragically killed in the roof collapse of the Dominican Republic-based Jet Set Club in April 2025. After news broke of the incident, Major League Baseball mourned the late 43-year-old baseball player’s death in a statement shared to its X account.
“We are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic death of former Major Leaguer Tony Blanco in Tuesday’s tragedy in the Dominican Republic’s capital city of Santo Domingo,” the MLB tweeted. “Blanco played in 56 games for the inaugural Washington Nationals team in 2005, including the first game in team history. He played 9 professional seasons in the U.S. and 8 more in Japan’s NPB. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, which includes Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League player Tony Blanco Jr.”
Below, we’re remembering Blanco’s life and career.
We are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic death of former Major Leaguer Tony Blanco in Tuesday’s tragedy in the Dominican Republic’s capital city of Santo Domingo.
Blanco played in 56 games for the inaugural Washington Nationals team in 2005, including the first game in… pic.twitter.com/14BWiXY7Os
— MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2025
Blanco was a Dominican Republic native, born in San Juan de la Maguana.
Throughout his minor and major career, Blanco played as a first and third baseman in addition to an outfielder.
Blanco started his baseball career in the minor leagues. Throughout the early 2000s, he played third base for the Boston Red Sox farm system. In 2005, he made his MLB debut with the Nationals. After that, he continued his baseball career with multiple teams, including the Double-A Tulsa Drillers in the Colorado Rockies organization. The last time he played was from 2015 through 2016 with the Orix Buffaloes.
