Tony Blanco, a gregarious slugger who hit 181 home runs and won a batting title during his eight seasons in Japan, was buried on Thursday in the Dominican Republic following a memorial service as the nation continues to mourn more than 200 people who died when the roof of a popular nightclub collapsed early on Tuesday.
Family, friends and fans gathered to say their final goodbyes to the 44-year-old during the service, which took place in a city near the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo. At least one person carried a photo of Blanco from his time with the Yokohama BayStars.
“Tony was such a great guy and ballplayer,” Craig Brazell, whose career in Japan overlapped with Blanco’s, told The Japan Times. “He always had a great sense of humor on and off the field.”
Blanco’s final act was one of heroism. Esteban German, another former NPB player, told MLB reporter Hector Gomez that Blanco pushed him to safety when he saw part of the ceiling about to fall on him.
The collapse at the Jet Set club, a legendary nightspot in the Dominican capital, killed at least 221 people. Among the dead were former MLB player Octavio Dotel and iconic merengue singer Rubby Perez. Authorities called off the search for bodies on Thursday as funeral services began for many of the victims.
Blanco played for the Washington Nationals in MLB in 2005 before arriving in Japan four years later.
He spent most of his NPB career with the Chunichi Dragons, where he played from 2009 to 2012.
“He was a really nice person,” Dragons manager Kazuki Inoue, one of Blanco’s former teammates in Nagoya, told Sports Nippon. “I was surprised and very saddened.”
Blanco spent the next two years with the BayStars, where he enjoyed his best NPB season in 2013 when he hit .333 to win the Central League batting title and finished with 41 home runs and 136 RBIs. He played for the Orix Buffaloes in his final two seasons in Japan.
BayStars fans sang Blanco’s cheer song during Wednesday night’s game, and the team released a statement thanking him for his time in Yokohama.
Blanco made three Best Nine teams and was a four-time All-Star in NPB. He won a home run title in 2009 and led the CL in RBIs in 2009 and 2013.
Claudio Rodriguez, the founder of Beisbol Japones, a Spanish-language website dedicated to highlighting the achievements of Latin American players in NPB, followed Blanco’s career in Japan and reported his exploits to Spanish-speaking fans.
“I have really fond memories of Tony Blanco, not only as the successful player he was but also as a person,” Rodriguez told The Japan Times. “I had the pleasure of interviewing him a few times in Japan, and he was always very kind and generous to me. He always gave me enough time for each interview and was always happy to share his thoughts. The last time I spoke to him was in 2015. At the time, he was approaching the end of his career in NPB, and I asked him about his plans for the future.
“He told me he had two sons and that he wanted them to become professional baseball players, so he was planning on dedicating his time to that. He was also interested in becoming a businessman and creating his own family business.
“Then I asked him about Japan, and he had nothing but good things to say about his experience in the country. He loved the food, the culture and all the cities he played in. He said he hoped to keep coming back to Japan after his retirement as a businessman or just as a visitor.”
The tragedy stunned the Dominican Republic, with the government pledging to investigate the cause as the nation mourns its dead.
“The Jet Set tragedy has hit the Dominican Republic very hard and has been felt all over Latin America,” Rodriguez said.
“This is comparable to the March 11, 2011, earthquake in Japan, not in terms of destruction and loss of lives, but in terms of shock. Some of the best people in the country perished there. Famous athletes, celebrities, politicians, top business people of the top local companies, you name it," he said, noting that the governor of Montecristi province and the sister of long-time MLB star Nelson Cruz also died in the incident.
“It's going to take a while for people to recover from the shock."
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