Gregor Miguel Blanco Pedraza (born December 24, 1983) is a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, and the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

. His nickname was "White Shark", as blanco is white in Spanish, and he played for Los Tiburones de La Guaira, The Sharks of La Guaira.

Professional career

Blanco was the center fielder and leadoff hitter for

Tiburones de La Guaira The Tiburones de La Guaira ( en, La Guaira Sharks) are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, they play their home games in Estadio Fórum La Guaira and have won seven national champions ...

in the

Venezuelan Winter League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

, hitting .315 (178 AB) in the 2006–07 season, .345 (229 AB) in the 2007–08 season (finishing second in MVP voting) and .349 (172 AB) in the 2008–09 season.

Atlanta Braves

Blanco signed with the Atlanta Braves on July 4, 2008, as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He beat out Josh Anderson in spring training to become the Braves backup outfielder in 2008. He began to see regular playing time after Mark Kotsay injured his back on May 26. In 2008, he had the lowest home run per plate appearance percentage in the majors (among regular home run hitters) (0.2%

Kansas City Royals

On July 31, 2010, Blanco was traded to the Kansas City Royals along with

Jesse Chavez Jesse David Chavez (born August 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Atlanta Braves organization. He played college baseball at Riverside Community College, and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 42nd round of the 2 ...

and Tim Collins for

Kyle Farnsworth Kyle Lynn Farnsworth (born April 14, 1976) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He has played for the Chicago Cubs (1999–2004), Detroit Tigers (2005, 2008), Atlanta Braves (2005, 2010), New York Yankees (2006–2008), Kansas City Royals (2 ...

and

Rick Ankiel Richard Alexander Ankiel (; born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Ho ...

Washington Nationals

On May 8, 2011, Blanco was traded to the

in exchange for a player to be named later. During the offseason of 2011, Gregor played in the Venezuelan Winter league and was named the MVP for the 2011 season.

San Francisco Giants

Blanco signed a minor league contract with the

on November 16, 2011, and was selected to be part of the Giants' 2012

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster as an outfielder. On June 13, 2012, Blanco made a fully extended diving catch in deep right-center field, catching the ball in the end of his mitt, to rob

Jordan Schafer Jordan James Schafer (born September 4, 1986) is a former American professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins as a center fielder. Baseball career Atl ...

of a hit in the top of the 7th inning of

Matt Cain's perfect game On Wednesday, June 13, 2012, Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants pitched the 22nd perfect game in Major League Baseball (MLB) history and the first in Giants' franchise history. Pitching against the Houston Astros at AT&T Park in San Francisco ...

. The Mercury News wrote "In a town very familiar with the words "The Catch", Blanco made one for the ages: he took off on a dead sprint at the crack of the bat and made a diving catch on the warning track in center field, 400 feet from home plate." On July 13, 2013, in a 9-0 win over the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Petco Park Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby. The ballpark is located between Se ...

, Blanco caught the final out of

Tim Lincecum Timothy Leroy Lincecum ( ; born June 15, 1984), nicknamed "The Freak", "The Franchise", "The Freaky Franchise" and "Big Time Timmy Jim", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San ...

's first career no-hitter in the ninth inning. It was the first no-hitter in the history of the ballpark. On September 5, 2014, Blanco made an error that ended his 306-game errorless streak. He dropped the ball on a Bryan Holaday line drive. On July 8, 2016, Blanco hit his first career pinch-hit home run, and his first of the season. In 2016 with the Giants he batted .224/.309/.311.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On January 17, 2017, Blanco signed a minor league contract with the

that included an invitation to spring training. He was released on March 27, and re-signed to a new minor league contract the next day.

San Francisco Giants (second stint)

On January 29, 2018, Blanco signed a minor league contract to return to the Giants. His contract was purchased by the Giants on March 28, 2018, and he was assigned to the Opening Day roster. He was designated for assignment on June 2, 2018. In his second stint, he hit .217/.262/.317 with 2 home runs.

New York Mets

On December 21, 2018, Blanco signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

that included an invitation to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. He became a free agent following the 2019 season.

Retirement

On February 6, 2020, Blanco retired to take on a new post in the baseball operations department for MLB.

Personal life

Blanco has three children and a wife named Mirna Blanco. He has a twin brother named Gregory and a younger brother named Gregsman.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco, Gregor 1983 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Atlanta Braves players Gwinnett Braves players Kansas City Royals players Macon Braves players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Mississippi Braves players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Omaha Storm Chasers players Reno Aces players Richmond Braves players Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players Baseball players from Caracas Syracuse Chiefs players Syracuse Mets players Tiburones de La Guaira players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Visalia Rawhide players World Baseball Classic players of Venezuela 2009 World Baseball Classic players