Ron Blomberg
Encyclopedia
Ronald Mark Blomberg nicknamed Boomer, is a former Major League Baseball
designated hitter
, first baseman
, and right fielder
. Along with being the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball
history, he played for the New York Yankees
(1969, 1971–76) and Chicago White Sox
(1978), and he was the manager of the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox
in the Israel Baseball League
(2007).
He batted left-handed, and threw right-handed.
In his 8-season career, Blomberg compiled a .293 batting average
(391-for-1,333) with 52 home run
s, 224 RBIs
, 184 runs, 67 doubles
, and 8 triples
in 461 games. He added a .360 on base percentage
and a .473 slugging average. For his career, he hit .304 against right-handers, and .304 with 2 out and runners in scoring position
, as well as .325 when the score was tied.
, earning four letters each in baseball, basketball, and track, and graduated in 1967. He was an all-star in baseball, football, and basketball. He is the only athlete ever chosen for the Parade All-America teams in football, basketball, and baseball.
He received 125 basketball scholarship offers, and John Wooden
, the basketball coach at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), paid him a recruiting visit. Roger Couch, Blomberg's basketball coach, said: "Blomberg is the finest basketball player I ever saw — high school or college." He also received 100 football scholarship offers.
Blomberg was selected by the Yankees in the first round (1st pick) of the amateur draft, and signed for $75,000 ($ today). He attended DeKalb Junior College
part-time, and later majored in psychology at Farleigh Dickinson University.
Blomberg was the first major league
r to play a game as a designated hitter
. On April 6, , at Fenway Park
, he was walked
by Red Sox
pitcher Luis Tiant
with the bases loaded in his first plate appearance
of the game. The bat Blomberg used is in Cooperstown's Hall of Fame. In 1973, Blomberg finished with a healthy .329 average, .395 OBP, and .498 SP in 301 at-bats. He hit .351 with runners in scoring position.
In 1974 he hit .311, and .338 with runners in scoring position. After this, his career was cut short by shoulder and knee injuries. A 1975 injury forced him to miss all but one game of the 1976 season. In the spring of 1977, Blomberg appeared ready to make the team again, but another injury, from running into the outfield wall, forced him to miss another year. "I had four knee and two shoulder injuries," he said. Still, I gave 120 percent. I lived in Riverdale
, and when I was injured, people came up to me and waved to me and hugged me."
In a March 1977 spring training game in which he was put into the outfield, he tore his knee while chasing a fly ball. Out in 1977, he was granted free agency at the end of the season.
In 2007 Blomberg received the city of Atlanta’s prestigious Phoenix Award
from Mayor Shirley Franklin
for his outstanding service and achievements, both as a professional athlete and citizen through his charitable works in Atlanta and throughout the country.
Blomberg twice was voted the most popular person in New York, edging out Joe Namath
, the pride of the Jets
.
in the 2007 inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League
. He skippered his team to a league-leading 29–12 (.707) regular season won-lost record, as well as to the IBL Championship. This was Blomberg's first crack at managing, after passing up the Yankee's request that he manage in their minor system.
Being in Israel, Blomberg said, “was the greatest thing — just one notch below playing for the Yankees.” In the league they were obliged to have at least two Jewish players on each team, and Blomberg had two Orthodox Israelis on his team. When they asked for time out to say Minha
, he was taken aback. Then he saw the crowd joining them to daven behind the food concession. “It was the greatest rush of my life,” he said. “I was in the Holy Land
, near King Solomon’s tomb]. I knew I was protected.” But when the team still lost the game, he demanded: “You said your prayers — so what happened?”
, Designated Hebrew: the Ron Blomberg Story was released by Sports Publishing. It was co-written by Dan Schlossberg, the author of over 30 baseball
books, including The Baseball Catalog, and host of the syndicated radio show, BallTalk. The book discusses Blomberg's life leading up to his major league career, his playing days as a Yankee, and his Jewish heritage.
As of December 2006 it is in its fourth printing.
Another book, a cookbook, is also in the works.
Y Camps since 2006.
He also ran a Baseball Day Camp in Paramus, NJ in the 70's
n descent.
Blomberg doted on the attention he received in New York because he was Jewish: "To be able to play in front of 8 million Jews! Can’t beat it. I lit everyone’s candles for every bar mitzvah in the city. It was like I was related to everyone. They named a sandwich after me at the Stage Deli
!"
Through 2010, he was seventh all-time in career batting average (behind Hank Greenberg
, Ryan Braun
, Buddy Myer
, Lou Boudreau
, Phil Weintraub
, and Kevin Youkilis
) among Jewish major league baseball players.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
, first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
, and right fielder
Right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
. Along with being the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
history, he played for the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
(1969, 1971–76) and Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
(1978), and he was the manager of the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox
Bet Shemesh Blue Sox
The Beit Shemesh Blue Sox are an Israeli baseball team from Bet Shemesh.It is one of the inaugural teams in the Israel Baseball League. They had the best regular season record , and won the inaugural championship August 19, 2007, in Petach Tikva, shutting out Art Shamsky’s Modi’in Miracle 3-0 in...
in the Israel Baseball League
Israel baseball league
The Israel Baseball League was a six-team professional baseball league in Israel. The first game was played on June 24, 2007...
(2007).
He batted left-handed, and threw right-handed.
In his 8-season career, Blomberg compiled a .293 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
(391-for-1,333) with 52 home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s, 224 RBIs
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...
, 184 runs, 67 doubles
Double (baseball)
In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
, and 8 triples
Triple (baseball)
In baseball, a triple is the act of a batter safely reaching third base after hitting the ball, with neither the benefit of a fielder's misplay nor another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
in 461 games. He added a .360 on base percentage
On base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage is a measure of how often a batter reaches base for any reason other than a fielding error, fielder's choice, dropped/uncaught third strike, fielder's obstruction, or catcher's interference In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) (sometimes...
and a .473 slugging average. For his career, he hit .304 against right-handers, and .304 with 2 out and runners in scoring position
Scoring position
In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on second or third...
, as well as .325 when the score was tied.
High school
Blomberg attended Druid Hills High SchoolDruid Hills High School
Druid Hills High School is a high school operated by the DeKalb County School System. It is located at 1798 Haygood Drive, in the Druid Hills CDP in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States...
, earning four letters each in baseball, basketball, and track, and graduated in 1967. He was an all-star in baseball, football, and basketball. He is the only athlete ever chosen for the Parade All-America teams in football, basketball, and baseball.
He received 125 basketball scholarship offers, and John Wooden
John Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
, the basketball coach at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), paid him a recruiting visit. Roger Couch, Blomberg's basketball coach, said: "Blomberg is the finest basketball player I ever saw — high school or college." He also received 100 football scholarship offers.
Blomberg was selected by the Yankees in the first round (1st pick) of the amateur draft, and signed for $75,000 ($ today). He attended DeKalb Junior College
Georgia Perimeter College
Georgia Perimeter College is a two-year associate degree-granting unit of the University System of Georgia. In May 2011, the state Board of Regents approved two bachelor's programs: a Bachelor of Arts in Sign Language Interpreting and a Bachelor of Science in Health Informatics...
part-time, and later majored in psychology at Farleigh Dickinson University.
Minor league career
Blomberg played in the minor leagues from 1967–71. In 1971 he was hitting .326 with a .565 slugging percentage for the Yankees AAA team when the Yankees called him up to the major leagues.New York Yankees (1969–76)
He made his major league debut on September 10, 1969. He never lived up to the Yankees' great expectations for him, as he was notoriously injury-prone. After going 3-for-6 in his first season, Blomberg was out in 1970. Things were not much better in the years to come. In 1971, he hit .322 for the parent club in 199 at bats. In 1972, he hit a career-high 14 home runs and 22 doubles in 299 at bats.Blomberg was the first major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
r to play a game as a designated hitter
Designated hitter
In baseball, the designated hitter rule is the common name for Major League Baseball Rule 6.10, an official position adopted by the American League in 1973 that allows teams to designate a player, known as the designated hitter , to bat in place of the pitcher each time he would otherwise come to...
. On April 6, , at Fenway Park
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...
, he was walked
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
by Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
pitcher Luis Tiant
Luis Tiant
Luis Clemente Tiant Vega , born November 23, 1940 in Marianao, Cuba, , is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians , Minnesota Twins , Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees , Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels...
with the bases loaded in his first plate appearance
Plate appearance
In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance each time he completes a turn batting. A player completes a turn batting when: He strikes out or is declared out before reaching first base; or He reaches first base safely or is awarded first base ; or He hits a fair ball which...
of the game. The bat Blomberg used is in Cooperstown's Hall of Fame. In 1973, Blomberg finished with a healthy .329 average, .395 OBP, and .498 SP in 301 at-bats. He hit .351 with runners in scoring position.
In 1974 he hit .311, and .338 with runners in scoring position. After this, his career was cut short by shoulder and knee injuries. A 1975 injury forced him to miss all but one game of the 1976 season. In the spring of 1977, Blomberg appeared ready to make the team again, but another injury, from running into the outfield wall, forced him to miss another year. "I had four knee and two shoulder injuries," he said. Still, I gave 120 percent. I lived in Riverdale
Riverdale, Bronx
Riverdale is an affluent residential neighborhood in the northwest portion of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale contains the northernmost point in New York City.-History:...
, and when I was injured, people came up to me and waved to me and hugged me."
In a March 1977 spring training game in which he was put into the outfield, he tore his knee while chasing a fly ball. Out in 1977, he was granted free agency at the end of the season.
Chicago White Sox (1978)
The White Sox signed him as a free agent for $300,000 in 1978. He played his final game for the White Sox on October 1, .Honors
Blomberg was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.In 2007 Blomberg received the city of Atlanta’s prestigious Phoenix Award
Phoenix Award
The Phoenix Award is awarded annually to a book originally published in English twenty years previously which did not receive a major award at the time of its publication....
from Mayor Shirley Franklin
Shirley Franklin
Shirley Clarke Franklin is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and served as mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 2002 to 2010...
for his outstanding service and achievements, both as a professional athlete and citizen through his charitable works in Atlanta and throughout the country.
Blomberg twice was voted the most popular person in New York, edging out Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
, the pride of the Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Managing career
Blomberg managed the Bet Shemesh Blue SoxBet Shemesh Blue Sox
The Beit Shemesh Blue Sox are an Israeli baseball team from Bet Shemesh.It is one of the inaugural teams in the Israel Baseball League. They had the best regular season record , and won the inaugural championship August 19, 2007, in Petach Tikva, shutting out Art Shamsky’s Modi’in Miracle 3-0 in...
in the 2007 inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League
Israel baseball league
The Israel Baseball League was a six-team professional baseball league in Israel. The first game was played on June 24, 2007...
. He skippered his team to a league-leading 29–12 (.707) regular season won-lost record, as well as to the IBL Championship. This was Blomberg's first crack at managing, after passing up the Yankee's request that he manage in their minor system.
Being in Israel, Blomberg said, “was the greatest thing — just one notch below playing for the Yankees.” In the league they were obliged to have at least two Jewish players on each team, and Blomberg had two Orthodox Israelis on his team. When they asked for time out to say Minha
Minha
Minha is the name of a settlement in Ras al-Khaimah....
, he was taken aback. Then he saw the crowd joining them to daven behind the food concession. “It was the greatest rush of my life,” he said. “I was in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, near King Solomon’s tomb]. I knew I was protected.” But when the team still lost the game, he demanded: “You said your prayers — so what happened?”
Writing
In April 2006, Blomberg's biographyBiography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
, Designated Hebrew: the Ron Blomberg Story was released by Sports Publishing. It was co-written by Dan Schlossberg, the author of over 30 baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
books, including The Baseball Catalog, and host of the syndicated radio show, BallTalk. The book discusses Blomberg's life leading up to his major league career, his playing days as a Yankee, and his Jewish heritage.
As of December 2006 it is in its fourth printing.
Another book, a cookbook, is also in the works.
Summer camp
Blomberg has been running a summer baseball camp for kids at the New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
Y Camps since 2006.
He also ran a Baseball Day Camp in Paramus, NJ in the 70's
Philanthropy
After his retirement from baseball in 1978, Blomberg worked with numerous charitable organizations, most recently the Israel Cancer Research Fund, where he serves as honorary chairman and spokesperson.Jewish heritage
He was born to a Jewish family of RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n descent.
Blomberg doted on the attention he received in New York because he was Jewish: "To be able to play in front of 8 million Jews! Can’t beat it. I lit everyone’s candles for every bar mitzvah in the city. It was like I was related to everyone. They named a sandwich after me at the Stage Deli
Stage Deli
The Stage Deli, located on Seventh Avenue just two blocks from Carnegie Hall, is a well-known New York City delicatessen, patronized by numerous celebrities. It was first opened in 1937 by Russian immigrant Max Asnas. The deli is known for Broadway-themed dishes including the "Mamma Mia!" sandwich...
!"
Through 2010, he was seventh all-time in career batting average (behind Hank Greenberg
Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...
, Ryan Braun
Ryan Braun
Ryan Joseph Braun is an American right-handed Major League Baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. A perennial standout, he was ranked No...
, Buddy Myer
Buddy Myer
Charles Solomon "Buddy" Myer was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1925 to 1941.An excellent hitter, he batted .300 or better in eight full seasons, and retired with a career average of .303. He walked more than twice as many times as he struck out...
, Lou Boudreau
Lou Boudreau
Louis "Lou" Boudreau was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970...
, Phil Weintraub
Phil Weintraub
Philip Weintraub, nicknamed Mickey was an American baseball player who had, as of February 2010, the second most runs batted in in a single game ....
, and Kevin Youkilis
Kevin Youkilis
Kevin Edmund Youkilis , also known as "Youk" , is an American professional baseball player with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball...
) among Jewish major league baseball players.
External links
- Official Ron Blomberg Website
- Baseball Almanac stats
- Baseball Library profile
- BR Bullpen profile
- Jewish Sports bio
- Ron Blomberg Baseball Camp