Richard Alan Bladt (born December 9, 1946) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

player and an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who appeared in 62 career

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

. Born in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, he batted left-handed, threw right-handed and was listed as tall and . He attended

Foothill College Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 79 Associate degree programs, 1 Bachelor's degree pro ...

. Bladt was signed by the Cubs in as an undrafted amateur free agent. He worked his way through the Cubs' minor league system and made his debut with the big league club on June 15, 1969 in the first game of a doubleheader against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, pinch-running for

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Billy Williams Billy Leo Williams (born June 15, 1938) is a former left fielder and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1959 to 1976, almost entirely for the Chicago Cubs. A six-time All-Star, Williams was named the 1961 National League (NL) ...

. He started the second game of the doubleheader, and after lining into a double play in his first at-bat, he singled in a run off

Gerry Arrigo Gerald William Arrigo (born June 12, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 194 games in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Chicago White Sox between and . Ar ...

for his first major league hit. Williams then replaced Bladt as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning. Bladt would appear in eight more games in June before being sent back to the minors. Bladt was the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

that completed a trade between the Cubs and Yankees in January . The Cubs sent a minor leaguer and cash, along with a player to be named later, in exchange for

Jimmie Hall Jimmie Randolph Hall (born March 7, 1938) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and left-handed batter who played eight seasons in the big leagues. A two-time All-Star, Hall made his debut with the Minnesota Twins (1963–66), followed ...

on September 11, 1969. The transfer of Bladt completed the deal. Bladt languished in the New York minor league system until resurfacing in the majors in . He made his Yankee debut on July 19 and remained with the team through the end of the season. Bladt hit his first (and only) major league home run on August 23, 1975 off

Andy Hassler Andrew Earl Hassler (October 18, 1951 – December 25, 2019) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for the California Angels (1971, 1973–1976 and 1980–1983), Kansas City Royals (1976–1978), Boston Red Sox (1978–1979), New York M ...

of the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

, and he spent September as the Yankees' everyday center fielder, replacing

Elliott Maddox Elliott Maddox (born December 21, 1947) is an American former Major League Baseball player. In , he was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the first round (20th pick) of the draft (secondary phase). He made his MLB debut in 1970. Early years Maddox ...

. After another year in the minors, however, the Yankees traded Bladt along with Maddox to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

for Paul Blair on January 20, 1977.Chass, Murray. "Yanks Get Blair for Maddox," ''The New York Times'', Friday, January 21, 1977.
Retrieved October 16, 2020 Bladt never returned to the major leagues. Bladt's 62

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

games played included 37 starts as an outfielder,

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score r ...

.215 with 12

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. His 28 career hits included three doubles and a

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a "treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * In ...

, in addition to his home run.

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bladt, Rick 1946 births Living people Águilas del Zulia players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Arizona Instructional League Cubs players Baseball players from California Chicago Cubs players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Foothill College alumni Leones del Caracas players Lodi Crushers players Major League Baseball outfielders New York Yankees players People from Santa Cruz, California Quincy Cubs players Rochester Red Wings players Syracuse Chiefs players Tacoma Cubs players Treasure Valley Cubs players Junior college baseball players in the United States