FROMLEFT:MLBPHOTOSVIAGETTY IMAGES;GETTY IMAGES (2)
DESIGNATED HITTER
At the time, Oakland Athletics owner
CharlieFinley, amongothers, championed
thedesignatedhitteridea.Finleyhadalways
beenpartcarnivalbarker,pushingideaslike
thedesignated runner or theorangebase-
ball as stunts to livenupwhat somecritics
perceived tobe a slow, dull game. He and
other American League owners voted to
implementtheDH forthe1973season.And
nobodyreallyknewwhattodowith it.
“At the timewe just looked at it as a glo-
rifiedpinchhitter,” notesBlomberg, who
alsoplayed theoutfieldandfirstbase inan
eight-season careerwith theYankees and
theWhiteSox.Hewrote about his experi-
encesinthebook
DesignatedHebrew
,which
wasre-released lastyear.
In thefirst gameof the season, onApril
6, 1973, Blomberg— batting sixth in the
lineup— strolled to the plate at Fenway
with thebases loadedand themustachioed
LuisTiantonthemoundfortheRedSox.He
walked.Andthus,historywasmade.
“After thegame, probably200, 300writ-
erscameupandaskedmehowitfelttobethe
opentheseasonatFenwayParkagainstthe
RedSox, hepulledahamstring.Optingnot
togoon thedisabled list for fearof becom-
ing anotherWallyPipp (theYankees’ first
basemanwhocameoutofthe lineupin1925
longenough toallowLouGehrig to step in
for good), Blomberg took the team charter
toBoston.
“[Manager] RalphHouk and [coaches]
Elston Howard andWhitey Ford came
up tome and askedme toDH,”Blomberg
remembers.
“For a while, Jose Canseco was the
highest-paidplayer inthegame.”
Andyet,evenwithallofthefinancialben-
efitsoftheDHthatexisttodayforAmerican
Leaguers in terms of lucrative, long-term
contracts, Blomberg can’thelpbut refer to
hisroleinitsinceptionas“thedayIscrewed
upbaseball.”
In1973,Blombergsaidhewascomingo
a“very, verygoodspring training”with the
Yankeeswhen,aweekbeforetheclubwasset
tobreakcamp inFortLauderdale,Fla., and
BATTERUP!
TheYankees’ RonBlomberg, theoriginal DH (left); theRoyals’ HalMcRae (middle);
JoseCanseco, best known for his stintswith theA’s and theTexasRangers
36
APRIL 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
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JD ’08, LLM ’11, Associate,
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LLM
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