John Louis Blatnik (March 10, 1921 – January 21, 2004) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 c ...

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) from through for the Philadelphia Phillies and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. Listed at , , Blatnik batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

. A native of

Bridgeport, Ohio Bridgeport is a village in eastern Belmont County, Ohio, United States. It lies across the Ohio River from Wheeling, West Virginia, at the mouth of Wheeling Creek and is connected by two bridges to Wheeling Island. The population was 1,582 at th ...

, Blatnik was known as a line-drive hitter and a strong-armed outfielder. He was the regular

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

for the 1948 Phillies. Blatnik appeared in a career-high 121 games while

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.260 with 41

extra-base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

s that season, while leading all

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) outfielders with nine assists. However, injuries cut short his career, and he appeared in just 28 games over the next two years. Blatnik began the 1950 campaign with the eventual NL champion Phillies "Whiz Kids," but was traded to the Cardinals for

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Ken Johnson on April 27 after only four games played with Philadelphia. Blatnik was sent to the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

by the Cardinals after only seven more games and 23 plate appearances. In a three-season Major League career, Blatnik was a .253 hitter, with 113 hits, six

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 46

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI) in 138 games, including 59 runs, 27

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

, eight triples, three stolen bases, and a .317 on-base percentage. On January 21, 2004, Blatnik died in

Lansing, Ohio Lansing is a census-designated place in northern Pease Township, Belmont County, Ohio, Pease Township, Belmont County, Ohio, Belmont County, Ohio, United States, along Wheeling Creek (Ohio), Wheeling Creek. As of the 2010 United States Census, 201 ...

, at the age of 82 and was buried nearby in Holly Memorial Gardens.

External links

Johnny Blatnik
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) * 1921 births 2004 deaths Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charleston Senators players Fargo-Moorhead Twins players Greensburg Senators players Harrisburg Senators players Houston Buffaloes players Major League Baseball left fielders Mansfield Braves players People from Bridgeport, Ohio Baseball players from Belmont County, Ohio Philadelphia Phillies players Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Cardinals players Syracuse Chiefs players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1920s-stub