Win–loss record 68–71 Role Baseball player Name Cy Blanton | Strikeouts 611 Earned run average 3.55 | |
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Died September 13, 1945, Norman, Oklahoma, United States | ||
Darrell Elijah (Cy) Blanton (July 6, 1908 – September 13, 1945) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. Blanton batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Blanton was a screwball pitcher.
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Pitching career
Blanton was a pitcher for the Independence Producers in 1931. The Independence Producers were a Class C minor league team located in Independence, Kansas. Blanton had twelve wins and eight losses for the season.
Blanton was one of the mainstays of the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation in the mid 1930s. He pitched for the Albany Senators in 1934, being promoted to Pittsburgh to pitch one game. Earlier he pitched in the Piedmont League and the Western Association.
In his 1935 rookie season he recorded 18 wins with 142 strikeouts and led the National League in earned run average (2.58) and shutouts (4). He averaged 12.67 wins for the next three years, leading again the league in shutouts in 1936 (4) and starts in 1937 (34). A free agent before the 1940 season, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. Although he made the National League All-Star team in 1937 and 1941, he never showed again the brilliance of his first season. He last pitched for the Phillies in 1942.
In a nine-season career, Blanton posted a 68–71 record with a 3.55 ERA and 611 strikeouts.
Death
He was suspended by the Hollywood Stars for failure to get in shape in March 1945. He returned to Oklahoma from California where he had been living just before he died. Blanton died in Norman, Oklahoma at the age of 37. His body was taken to Shawnee, Oklahoma for burial.