NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1970 RON BLOMBERG

Today's blog post is a fun one for me to add, a "not so missing" 1970 card for Ron Blomberg, who eventually became the very first batter to ever hit as a "designated hitter" a few years later while with the New York Yankees:

 

Blomberg made his Major League debut in 1969 with four games, hitting .500 going 3-for-6 at the plate with a walk thrown in.

After a full season of Minor League ball in 1970, he was back in the Big Leagues for good in 1971, appearing in 64 games for the Yankees, hitting an impressive .322 with 64 hits in 199 at-bats, with 30 runs scored and 31 RBIs.

In doing some quick research for this post, though I was familiar with the man, the #1 overall pick in the 1967 draft by the Yankees, I never realized what kind of athletic stud he was coming out of High School!
Playing out of Druid Hills High School, Blomberg went on to become the only athlete ever chosen for the Parade All-American teams in football, baseball and basketball.
He also reportedly received about 125 scholarships for basketball, and over 100 football scholarships, instead signing with the Yankees for what amounts to $500,000 in today’s money ($75,000 in 1967).
Sadly repeated injuries curtailed his Big League career, going through four knee and two shoulder injuries over time, resulting him to never play a full-season and retiring by the age of 30 after only one season with the Chicago White Sox after signing as a Free Agent.
Nevertheless, the did retire with a very nice .293 career average, serving mainly as a DH with some time at first base as well as in the corner outfield positions.
All told, he spent parts of eight years in the Majors, playing 100 or more games only twice with 107 and 100 games in 1972 and 1973 respectively.

1974 SPECIAL- RON BLOMBERG AND THE DEBUT OF THE "DESIGNTAED HITTER"

Love it or hate it, the designated hitter has now been a part of Big League baseball for almost 50 years now, going back to Opening Day 1973 when Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees strolled up to the plate against the Boston Red Sox.
I figured it was about time some sort of “special” card was created to mark the occasion, so here goes:

In that “DH” debut on April 6th of 1973, Blomberg walked with the bases loaded against Luis Tiant, and from there went on to have a very nice season that saw him hit .329 over 100 games and 301 at-bats.
I’ve always flip-flopped about whether I like the designated hitter or hate it over the years, as I understand it gave players like Orlando Cepeda, Don Baylor et. Al extension on their MLB playing days, which I’ll never complain about.
However, it does create a difference of type-of-play between the American League and National league: power-ball versus small-ball to an extent.
As is usually the case with my feelings with the way Major League baseball handles things, they totally screwed the whole thing up by NOT making it a league-wide decision: either make it ALL of MLB using the DH, of disregard the idea from the start.
Anyway, and so it goes right?
On another note, in doing some quick research for this post, though I was familiar with Ron Blomberg, the #1 overall pick in the 1967 draft by the Yankees, I never realized what kind of athletic stud the man was coming out of High School!
Playing out of Druid Hills High School, Blomberg went on to become the only athlete ever chosen for the Parade All-American teams in football, baseball and basketball.
He also reportedly received about 125 scholarships for basketball, and over 100 football scholarships, instead signing with the Yankees for what amounts to $500,000 in today’s money ($75,000 in 1967).
Sadly repeated injuries curtailed his Big League career, going through four knee and two shoulder injuries over time, resulting him to never play a full-season and retiring by the age of 30 after only one season with the Chicago White Sox after signing as a Free Agent.
Nevertheless, the did retire with a very nice .293 career average, serving mainly as a DH with some time at first base as well as in the corner outfield positions.
All told, he spent parts of eight years in the Majors, playing 100 or more games only twice with 107 and 100 games in 1972 and 1973 respectively.