Ex-MLB player, Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Famer dies at 80

Former MLB player Ossie Blanco, who spent time with the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians during his professional baseball career, has died. He was 80.

The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League announced Blanco’s death in a post on Instagram.

“We join in a single feeling to support the loved ones of Oswaldo Blanco, a glory of our baseball and member of the Hall of Fame of Venezuelan baseball, in this painful and irreparable loss,” the league said in a translated statement. “May his performances, achievements, and legacy always remain in the memory of national baseball fans. Rest in peace.”

Blanco spent two seasons in the majors, playing for the Chicago White Sox in 1970 and the Cleveland Indians in 1974.

Blanco appeared in 34 games for the White Sox in 1970, hitting .197 with eight RBIs and three walks.

He returned to Major League Baseball in 1974, appearing in 18 games for Cleveland. He hit .194 with two RBIs and seven walks that year.

For his career, Blanco appeared in 52 games, hitting .196 with 10 RBIs.

Blanco also was the first Venezuelan player to bat cleanup in an MLB game, doing so with the White Sox in 1970.

Blanco did not have a lengthy MLB career, but he excelled in the Venezuelan league. The first baseman was inducted to the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Stories by Matt Connolly

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