Yankees’ Fall Leads To Rare No. 1 Pick In 1967 Draft

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The fall was sudden and dramatic. The New York Yankees, the most successful and most celebrated team in American sports history, inexplicably found themselves on the bottom looking up just two years after winning nine American League titles in 10 years.

Their consolation prize: the No. 1 pick in the 1967 draft—one of only two times in the draft’s 50-year history they held that distinction.

The Yankees had little doubt what kind of player they were looking for to restore their tattered image. Trying to elicit memories of Mickey Mantle, who was a year away from retiring but epitomized their glory days of the 1950s and early ’60s, the Yankees went after Ron Blomberg, a power hitter with the potential to play center fielder. It was no coincidence that Blomberg was also Jewish, and the Yankees were quietly hoping that he would appeal to a large Jewish population in New York.

The feelings were definitely mutual, and the thought of playing in front of New York crowds and dealing with the New York media thrilled Blomberg. At 18, he appeared to have everything neatly planned out for him.

“The Yankees have always been my favorite team, and Mantle my favorite player,” he said. “I had always dreamed of being a major league ballplayer. I had three goals. I wanted to be a Yankee, to win a batting title, and to have a monument built in honor of me like those in honor of (Babe) Ruth and (Lou) Gehrig.

“I remember becoming a Yankees fan watching Mantle on TV. They were so exciting in those years. They were down, yes, when I was drafted, but that only meant a better opportunity for me.”

Blomberg, primarily a pitcher/first baseman at Druid Hills High in Atlanta, hit .472 with five home runs and 45 RBIs as a prep senior. Though he had offers from all over the country to play basketball in college, Blomberg knew at an early age what he wanted to do with his career and quickly agreed with the Yankees on a bonus of $65,000.

“I feel Ronnie is the best pro prospect to come along in several years,” said Yankees general manager Lee MacPhail, in announcing Blomberg’s signing. “We had six of our scouts watch Ronnie and they unanimously agreed that he was the one we should sign. I figure it will take him about three years to reach the majors.”

Blomberg reached New York right on schedule, but he became little more than a platoon player with the Yankees. He became best known as baseball’s first designated hitter in 1973—a role that seemed to symbolize the shortcomings that became apparent in his game.

Though the Yankees settled on Blomberg, the team had numerous holes to fill. They had been plagued by problems at shortstop, in particular, since the retirement of Tony Kubek after the 1965 season, and some speculated that they might opt for Terry Hughes, a slick-fielding prep shortstop from South Carolina, to solve their woes at the position. Hughes went one pick later to the Chicago Cubs.

Idaho high school righthander Mike Garman was hailed as the other prospect in a clearly defined pre-draft top three in the June regular phase, and right on cue, he went to the Boston Red Sox.

The best overall talent in the 1967 draft, according to most scouts, however, was University of Southern California righthander Mike Adamson, who was relegated to the lower-profile secondary phase because he had previously been drafted—in 1965, in the first round by Philadelphia. Adamson was claimed by the Baltimore Orioles with the top pick in that phase, and not only signed for the largest bonus ($75,000) in 1967, but earned the distinction of becoming the first drafted player to begin his career in the big leagues.

For all the attention paid to Blomberg and Adamson, and other top prospects in both phases of the June draft, none came close to matching the accomplishments of the lone Hall of Famer to emerge from the Class of 1967: Carlton Fisk, known at the University of New Hampshire primarily for his acumen on the basketball court. Fisk was selected with the fourth pick in the regular phase of the January draft, and signed with the Red Sox for the meager sum of $10,000.

EARNED ACCLAIM AS FIRST DH

As the No. 1 pick in the draft, Blomberg saw his selection as a one-way track to the Hall of Fame. Others thought so, too.

But Blomberg’s career never materialized the way he hoped it would, and the closest he got to the Hall of Fame was the bat that went on display in Cooperstown after he used it to become baseball’s first DH in 1973. It was a dubious honor, a way of telling Blomberg, then in his fourth season with the Yankees, that his days as a major leaguer were numbered.

“He had good tools, and he was ideal for Yankee Stadium because he really pulled the ball, line drives to right field,” MacPhail remembered later. “He should have been a great major league player.”

Blomberg hit .293 during his eight-year career. Injuries forced him out of the outfield and eventually right out of the lineup when the Yankees also decided he couldn’t hit lefthanded pitching.

“Yeah, I’m the answer to a trivia question,” he acknowledged. “It’s a thrill and an honor to have any spot in the Hall of Fame, but I’d rather have accomplished something like Mickey, Reggie or Hank Aaron. Being the first designated hitter is all right, but I’d trade it in a minute for 20 good major league seasons.

“Unfortunately, I did not fulfill my potential, because of injuries. You can’t look back and think about what would have happened had I only stayed healthy. Even with the injuries, I played in the majors for eight years. I had a good career, but not a great career.”