Career
Born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Suwanee, Georgia, Blackmon was an outstanding baseball player at North Gwinnett High School, as a left-handed pitcher and outfielder. After spending two years at Young Harris College, Blackmon received a scholarship to Georgia Technical, and transferred in the fall of 2006. Blackmon had been recruited by Georgia Technical after his freshman season, but returned to Young Harris for his sophomore season as he had promised the team he would play for two seasons.
Blackmon continued to pitch until his fourth and final year at Georgia Technical, after redshirting due to elbow tendinitis.
As a fourth-year junior outfielder for Georgia Technical, Blackmon hit.396, hit eight home runs, and stole 25 bases as the leadoff hitter for the team Blackmon also excelled academically, receiving various honors including being named to the 2008 Entertainment and Sports Programming Network The Magazine Academic All-America Second Team.
He graduated from Georgia Technical in 2011 with a bachelor"s degree in finance. Blackmon was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the second round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.
Blackmon had first been drafted in the 28th round in the 2004 draft by the Florida Marlins as a pitcher, and was also drafted in the 2005 draft in the 20th round by the Boston Red Sox.
He spent 2008 with the Tri-City Dust Devils, hitting.338 in 68 games. In 2009, he was promoted to the Modesto Nuts, and hit.307 with 30 stolen bases in 133 games there. In 2010, he played for the Tulsa Drillers, and spent the first half of 2011 with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.
Colorado Rockies
He was called up to the majors for the first time on June 7, 2011.
He recorded his first MLB hit on June 8 at Petco Park against Dustin Moseley of the San Diego Padres with a 1-out single to right. He recorded his first MLB Reserve Bank of India on June 11 against Matt Guerrier of the Los Angeles Dodgers, driving in Seth Smith with a 1-out single.
He recorded his first MLB home run on July 1, 2011, (his 25th birthday) in a pinch hit at bat against Joakim Soria. On April 4, 2014, Blackmon notched six hits—including three doubles and a homer—scored four runs and tallied five Reserve Bank of India out of the leadoff spot.
He joins Ty Cobb (5/5/1925), Jimmie Foxx (7/10/1932), Edgardo Alfonzo (8/30/1999), and Shawn Green (5/23/2002) as the only players in MLB history to have 6 hits, 5 RBIs, and 4 extra base hits in a single game.