Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Washington Nationals are mourning the loss of Tony Blanco, Jr., who tragically died in the roof collapse at a Dominican Republic nightclub that killed 221 people.
Blanco played in 56 games for the Washington Nationals in the team’s inaugural season, including the first game in team history. People Magazine reported that after the Dominican Republic Ministry of Sports and Recreation confirmed Blanco’s death on Tuesday, April 8, the 47-year-old Blanco saved the life of his friend and former teammate Esteban Germán just before losing his own. MLB insider Héctor Gómez reported that Blanco bravely pushed Germán out of the way of the collapsing roof moments before being killed.
“Former MLB player Esteban Germán told me that at the time of the collapse in Jet Set, he was returning from the bathroom and, before sitting down at the table, Tony Blanco pushed him when he realized part of the ceiling was about to fall on him,” Gómez said in a post on X. MLB shared the following:
We are deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic death of former Major Leaguer Tony Blanco in Tuesday’s tragedy in the city of Santo Domingo.
Blanco played in 56 game 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.
