Ronald Mark Blomberg (born August 23, 1948), nicknamed "Boomer", is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a designated hitter, first baseman, and right fielder. He played for the New York Yankees (1969, 1971–1976) and Chicago White Sox (1978), and was the manager of the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox in the Israel Baseball League (2007). He was the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball history. He batted left-handed, and threw right-handed.
Over eight seasons, Blomberg compiled a .293 batting average (391-for-1,333) with 52 home runs, 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 two out and runners in scoring position, as well as .325 when the score was tied.
Early and personal life
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Blomberg is Jewish with roots in Romania.
Blomberg enjoyed 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!"
He is sixth all-time in career batting average (behind Hank Greenberg, Ryan Braun, Buddy Myer, Lou Boudreau, and Phil Weintraub) among Jewish major league baseball players.
High school
Blomberg attended Druid Hills High School, earning four letters each in baseball, basketball, football, and track, and graduated in 1967.
He received 125 basketball scholarship offers, and John Wooden of the University of California at Los Angeles came out to meet him in person. He also received 100 football scholarship offers.
Blomberg was selected by the Yankees with the first overall pick of the 1967 amateur draft, and signed for $75,000 ($ today). He attended DeKalb Junior College part-time, and later majored in psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University. and the bat he used is in Cooperstown's Hall of Fame. He became a free agent at the end of the 1977 season.
In 2007 Blomberg received the city of Atlanta’s 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. He skippered his team to a league-leading 29–12 (.707) regular season won-lost record, as well as to the IBL Championship. Blomberg had previously declined an offer from the Yankees to manage a team 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. When they asked for time out to say Mincha, 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?” was released by Sports Publishing. It was co-written by baseball writer Dan Schlossberg. The book discusses Blomberg's life leading up to his major league career, his playing days as a Yankee, and his Jewish heritage.
In 2021, Triumph Books published The Captain & Me, Blomberg's second book. It is subtitled On and Off The Field with Thurman Munson. Baseball writer Dan Epstein assisted Blomberg, and Munson's widow wrote an introduction. Blomberg is using the book to advocate for Munson's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Summer camp
Blomberg has been running a summer baseball camp for kids at the New Jersey Y Camps since 2006. He also ran a baseball day camp in Paramus, New Jersey in the 1970s.
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.