View Single Post
Old 02-15-2021, 08:22 PM   #13
3fbrown
Major Leagues
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 414
Ron Blomberg, LA

Ron Blomberg is famous for being the first DH in MLB history. There is no DH in Replay League, so he could not repeat that accomplishment. So instead he became the most feared hitter of the 1970's instead.

Blomberg must have taken some talent improvements early on. Since I use a 1-5 scale, it's often hard to tell, which is kind of the point - handicapping myself a bit. But from Day One he was an offensive force. His rookie season he hit .336 and led the league in hits and doubles. He was rookie of the year in 1971 for the Dodgers, though he had "only" 5 WAR due to crummy defense in RF. He was just getting warmed up.

He followed up his ROY season by winning the next three NL MVPs. I will not bore you with all his incredible hitting stats - you can see them for yourself below. But 1974 was his career year, in a career full of years few others reach at all. That year he hit .353/.465/.600 with 212 hits, 38 HR, 129 walks, 126 runs scored, and an OPS+ of 216. All of those stats led the NL, as did his 97 RBI and 1.065 OPS. Add in excellent defense at 1B, and it adds up to 11.3 WAR, one of the greatest seasons in RL history, and the most WAR in a season since 1956.

Blomberg cooled off a bit after that season, as if there was any other choice. He had three years at merely an All-Star level, before winning two more MVPs in 1978 and 1979, again leading the league in WAR and OPS and other key hitting stats. After another solid 1980 and an injury-plagued 1981, Blomberg won his last MVP in 1982, a year in which he won his only Gold Glove, though he was an average fielder even at 1B by this point. Injuries were already eating into his playing time, but I guess having an OPS+ of 192 is worth a lot! That was also the only year that his Dodgers made it to the postseason. Sadly, Blomberg missed the NLCS with a virus, and LA was easily taken down by Montreal in 5 games. He would never get to play in a postseason game.

Though it would have been hard to tell, this was the beginning of the end of Blomberg's productive career. Over his career, he played about 60% at 1B and 40% at RF. He had generally been solid in RF and good in 1B, but after 1982 he was bad at both. His hitting and health also declined quickly. 1983 was a decent year, but it was all bat as his glove had faded. He never had another full season of playing, losing time to both injury and ineffectiveness. He was eventually traded to the Astros and then the Phillies, but neither he nor the players he was traded for ever did much.

Blomberg had one of the most potent bats the league has ever seen. His career 175 OPS+ is second (by 2 points) to the all-time leader (who had a much shorter career), though such stats are questionable before 1948. I'm very sure Babe Ruth had a higher OPS+, but even second since 1948 is not bad. And given how long he played, Blomberg may well be the most effective hitter in the second half of the 20th century. His 6 MVPs and 11 All-Star appearances are a testament to those abilities.
Attached Images
Image 
3fbrown is offline   Reply With Quote