Boardwalk Empire - 2048.8 - Blanco Hired as Manager

[Joshua Biddle]

Gamblers Hire Fernando Blanco as Manager

After an exhaustive search, the Atlantic City Gamblers have hired Fernando Blanco as the team's manager. The hire comes after interviewing several internal and external candidates, with bench coach Ernesto Zamora emerging as another finalist for the job. Zamora will be retained as the team's bench coach.

Blanco, 58, began his coaching career as hitting coach of the Class-AAA Dodge City Gunslingers (Rockville) for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, prior to his first managerial gig with the Rookie Class Plano Wildcats (Omaha) in 2029, leading the team to a 86-34 (.717) record with a playoff appearance. Blanco was then promoted to manager of the Class-AA Rancho Cordova Lancers / Sioux City Xplorers (Omaha), spending eight seasons (2030-2037) with the organization, leading the team to a 513-578 (.470) record with three playoff appearances. Blanco departed the Omaha organization following the 2037 season, joining the Vancouver organization as manager of the Class-AAA Victoria Canucks, where he spent the past ten seasons (2038-2047). With Class-AAA Victoria, Blanco lead the team to a 755-668 (.531) record with four playoff appearances, and a Manager of the Year Award in 2046.

"We're very happy to announce that we have hired Fernando Blanco to the be the manager of the Atlantic City Gamblers," general manager Joshua Biddle stated at the introductory press conference, "we love the experience he brings. He has paid his dues, we feel his resume stands out, we think he has the necessary skills to excel at this level, and we feel that his beliefs and style aligns with exactly what we were looking for when we initiated the search for our next manager."

When asked by the press how he will handle the harsh Gamblers fan base, Blanco quipped "I had an ERA over eight the final two years of my minor league career, I'm used to boos."

Blanco seemed to get off to a good start with the Atlantic City sports media and fan base as evidenced by their reaction on sports talk radio. But ultimately, it will be the results on the field that determine how ingratiated he is with the fanbase, and perhaps, with the Gamblers' players.