Joseph Matthew Blanton (born December 11, 1980 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a starting pitcher for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball.
College Career
He graduated from Franklin-Simpson High School (Kentucky) in 1999. He attended the University of Kentucky and led the Southeastern Conference and finished eighth among all NCAA Division I pitchers with 133 strikeouts in 2002 and finished with a 4.59 ERA.
Minor League Career
Blanton was selected by the A's with the New York Yankees first round pick (24th overall) in the in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft as compensation for the loss of free agent Jason Giambi. In 2003, he ranked second in all of minor league baseball with a combined 174 strikeouts with the Athletics Single A and Double A teams behind John Maine of the Baltimore Orioles organziation.

The next season, Blanton helped the Triple A Sacramento River Cats win the Pacific Coast League with a 11-8 record and a 4.19 ERA. After that, he was called up to the Athletics big league roster on September 18, 2004. He would have a 5.63 ERA in 3 relief appearances and no decisions for the Athletics that year.
Major League Career
In 2005, Blanton joined a rotation that had lost pitchers Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson to trades. In his first full season as a big leaguer, he went 12-12 with a 3.53 ERA in 33 starts. His 33 starts set an Oakland rookie record for most games started which had broken the previous mark of 32 set by Matt Keough in 1978. He also tied the Oakland rookie record for most wins in a season with 12. His first career complete game came as a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on April 24, 2005.

In 2006, Blanton's ERA rose over 100 points and gave up the fifth highest hits in the American League (241, .309 batting average). However he had four more wins than the previous year and the same amount of losses.

After the departure of the last pitcher (Barry Zito) of the first 'Big Three' (other two were Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder), Blanton, Dan Haren, and Chad Gaudin have formed a new 'Big Three' in 2007. Another great arm in the Athletics rotation is Rich Harden but is inconsistent with his many injuries.

Joe is referred to by sportscasters and peers as "Ugly Kid Joe", the story behind the nickname is still unknown at this point.
Scouting
Blanton throws a low-90's fastball, along with a 12-6 curveball, a 10-4 slider, and a changeup. His curveball is by far his best second pitch, drawing comparisons to Barry Zito's famously baffling 12-6 curve. His slider and changeup are only league-average, but Blanton appears to have a solid future as a middle-of-the-rotation type pitcher