From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ron Blomberg
Ron Blomberg
Ron Blomberg the Parade All-America teams in football, basketball, and
baseball.[3]
First baseman / Designated hitter He received 125 basketball scholarship offers, and
Born: August 23, 1948 (1948-08-23) John Wooden, the basketball coach at the University of
Atlanta, Georgia California at Los Angeles (UCLA), paid him a recruiting
visit. Roger Couch, Blomberg’s basketball coach, said:
Batted: Left Threw: Right
"Blomberg is the finest basketball player I ever saw —
MLB debut high school or college."[4] He also received 100 football
September 10, 1969 for the New York Yankees scholarship offers.[5]
Blomberg was selected by the Yankees in the first
Last MLB appearance round (1st pick) of the 1967 amateur draft, and signed for
October 12, 1978 for the Chicago White Sox $75,000 ($493,000 today). He attended DeKalb Junior Col-
lege part-time, and later majored in psychology at Far-
Career statistics
leigh Dickinson University.[2]
Batting average .293
Home runs 52 Minor league career
Runs batted in 224 Blomberg played in the minor leagues from 1967–71. In
1971 he was hitting .326 with a .565 slugging percentage
Teams
for the Yankees AAA team when the Yankees called him
• New York Yankees (1969, 1971–1976) up to the major leagues.
• Chicago White Sox (1978)
Career highlights and awards Major league career
• First designated hitter in Major League Baseball history
New York Yankees (1969–76)
Ronald Mark Blomberg (born August 23, 1948, in Atlanta, He made his major league debut on September 10, 1969.
Boomer,
Georgia), nicknamed Boomer is a former Major League He never lived up to the Yankees’ great expectations for
Baseball designated hitter, first baseman, and right field- him, as he was notoriously injury-prone. After going
er. He played for the New York Yankees (1969, 1971–76) 3-for-6 in his first season, Blomberg was out in 1970.
and Chicago White Sox (1978), and he was the manager Things were not much better in the years to come. In
of the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox in the Israel Baseball League 1971, he hit .322 for the parent club in 199 at bats. In 1972,
(2007). He was the first designated hitter in Major League he hit a career-high 14 home runs and 22 doubles in 299
Baseball history. at bats.
He batted left-handed, and threw right-handed. Blomberg was the first major leaguer to play a game
In his 8-season career, Blomberg compiled a .293 bat- as a designated hitter. On April 6, 1973, at Fenway Park,
ting average (391-for-1,333) with 52 home runs, 224 RBIs, he was walked by Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant with the
184 runs, 67 doubles, and 8 triples in 461 games. He added bases loaded in his first plate appearance of the game.[6]
a .360 on base percentage and a .473 slugging average. The bat Blomberg used is in Cooperstown’s Hall of
For his career, he hit .304 against right-handers, and .304 Fame.[2] In 1973, Blomberg finished with a healthy .329
with 2 out and runners in scoring position, as well as .325 average, .395 OBP, and .498 SP in 301 at-bats. He hit .351
when the score was tied.[1] with runners in scoring position.
In 1974 he hit .311, and .338 with runners in scoring
High school position. After this, his career was cut short by shoulder
and knee injuries. A 1975 injury forced him to miss all
Blomberg attended Druid Hills High School, earning four
but one game of the 1976 season. In the spring of 1977,
letters each in baseball, basketball, and track, and grad-
Blomberg appeared ready to make the team again, but
uated in 1967.[2] He was an all-star in baseball, football,
another injury, from running into the outfield wall,
and basketball. He is the only athlete ever chosen for
forced him to miss another year. "I had four knee and two
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ron Blomberg
shoulder injuries," he said. Still, I gave 120 percent. I lived host of the syndicated radio show, BallTalk. The book dis-
in Riverdale, and when I was injured, people came up to cusses Blomberg’s life leading up to his major league ca-
me and waved to me and hugged me."[7][8] reer, his playing days as a Yankee, and his Jewish her-
In a March 1977 spring training game in which he was itage.
put into the outfield, he tore his knee while chasing a fly As of December 2006 it is in its fourth printing.[7]
ball.[6] Out in 1977, he was granted free agency at the end Another book, a cookbook, is also in the works.
of the season.
Chicago White Sox (1978) Summer camp
The White Sox signed him as a free agent for $300,000 in Blomberg has been running a summer baseball camp for
1978.[6] He played his final game for the White Sox on Oc- kids at the New Jersey Y Camps since 2006.
tober 1, 1978. He also ran a Baseball Day Camp in Paramus, NJ in the
70’s
Honors
Blomberg was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Philanthropy
Hall of Fame in 2004.[9] After his retirement from baseball in 1978, Blomberg
In 2007 Blomberg received the city of Atlanta’s presti- worked with numerous charitable organizations, most
gious Phoenix Award from Mayor Shirley Franklin for his recently the Israel Cancer Research Fund, where he
outstanding service and achievements, both as a profes- serves as honorary chairman and spokesperson.[10]
sional athlete and citizen through his charitable works in
Atlanta and throughout the country.[10]
Blomberg twice was voted the most popular person in Jewish heritage
New York, edging out Joe Namath, the pride of the Jets.[4] He was born to a Jewish family of Romanian descent.[14]
Blomberg doted on the attention he received in New
Managing career 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
Blomberg managed the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox in the 2007 every bar mitzvah in the city. It was like I was related to
inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League.[11] He everyone. They named a sandwich after me at the Stage
skippered his team to a league-leading 29–12 (.707) regu- Deli!"[15]
lar season won-lost record, as well as to the IBL Champi- Through 2010, he was seventh all-time in career bat-
onship. This was Blomberg’s first crack at managing, af- ting average (behind Hank Greenberg, Ryan Braun, Bud-
ter passing up the Yankee’s request that he manage in dy Myer, Lou Boudreau, Phil Weintraub, and Kevin Youk-
their minor system.[12] ilis) among Jewish major league baseball players. [16]
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 See also
players on each team, and Blomberg had two Orthodox • List of select Jewish baseball players
Israelis on his team. When they asked for time out to say
Minha, he was taken aback. Then he saw the crowd join-
ing them to daven behind the food concession. “It was References
the greatest rush of my life,” he said. “I was in the Holy [1] "Ron Blomberg Career Batting Splits – Baseball-
Land, near King Solomon’s tomb]. I knew I was protect- Reference PI". Baseball-reference.com.
ed.” But when the team still lost the game, he demanded: http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/
“You said your prayers — so what happened?”[5] bsplit.cgi?n1=blombro01. Retrieved January 31,
2011.
Scouting [2] ^ Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz. The Big Book of
Jewish Baseball: An .... http://books.google.com/
Blomberg is a Yankee scout in the Atlanta area. books?id=9ZzxydPInwgC&pg=PA248&dq=%22ron+blomberg%22&h
Retrieved October 4, 2011.
Writing [3] [1]
[4] ^ [2]
In April 2006, Blomberg’s biography, Designated Hebrew: [5] ^ "Former Yankee Blomberg remembers glory days
the Ron Blomberg Story[13] was released by Sports Publish- | New Jersey Jewish News". Njjewishnews.com.
ing. It was co-written by Dan Schlossberg, the author of November 6, 2008. http://www.njjewishnews.com/
over 30 baseball books, including The Baseball Catalog, and
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ron Blomberg
njjn.com/110608/sptFormerYankeeBlomberg.html. Persondata
Retrieved January 31, 2011.
Name Blomberg, Ron
[6] ^ Maury Allen. Yankees. http://books.google.com/
Alternative names
books?id=R3zxERYt7m4C&pg=PA44&dq=%22ron+blomberg%22&hl=en&ei=lTWLTreHLqP00gGB0_3EBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&
Retrieved October 4, 2011. Short description
[7] ^ "Ron Blomberg Recalls New York Days". Date of birth August 23, 1948
Antonnews.com. December 15, 2006.
Place of birth Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.antonnews.com/roslynnews/2006/
12/15/news/. Retrieved January 31, 2011. Date of death
[8] Jacobson, Mark. "Joltin’ Jew", New York (magazine), Place of death
April 17, 2006. Accessed May 3, 2008. "I lived in
Riverdale, in the same building with Willie Mays."
[9] http://www.jewishsports.org/jewishsports/
detail.asp?id=88
[10] ^ "ronblomberg.com". ronblomberg.com.
http://ronblomberg.com/RB_PhoenixRelease.doc.
Retrieved January 31, 2011.
[11] "Holtzman, Blomberg, Shamsky to manage in Israel
League – MLB – CBSSports.com Baseball".
Sportsline.com. February 12, 2007.
http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/9992924.
Retrieved January 31, 2011.
[12] Mittleman, Jerry. "Baseball / IBL / Baseball,
kosher-style – Haaretz – Israel News". Haaretz.com.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/
894474.html. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
[13] "Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story: Ron
Blomberg, Dan Schlossberg: Books". Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582619875.
Retrieved January 31, 2011.
[14] Ron Blomberg, Dan Schlossberg (March 2006).
Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story. Total
Sports Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 1582619875.
[15] "The Jewish Standard". Jstandard.com. January 24,
2011. http://www.jstandard.com/articles/4607/1/
Why-Jews-love-baseball. Retrieved January 31,
2011.
[16] "Career Batting Leaders through 2010". Career
Leaders. Jewish Major Leaguers.
http://www.jewishmajorleaguers.org/. Retrieved
February 10, 2011.
External links
• Official Ron Blomberg Website
• Career statistics and player information from
Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball
Cube
• Baseball Almanac stats
• Baseball Library profile
• BR Bullpen profile
• Jewish Sports bio
• Ron Blomberg Baseball Camp
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ron_Blomberg&oldid=473394653"
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ron Blomberg
Categories:
• 1948 births
• Living people
• Chicago White Sox players
• New York Yankees players
• American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
• American people of Romanian descent
• Major League Baseball designated hitters
• Major League Baseball first basemen
• Johnson City Yankees players
• Kinston Eagles players
• Manchester Yankees players
• Syracuse Chiefs players
• Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state)
• People from Atlanta, Georgia
• Jewish Major League Baseball players
• Jewish American sportspeople
• Israel Baseball League managers
• People from the Bronx
• Riverdale, Bronx
• Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni
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