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Blomberg grew up in Atlanta, where growing up as a Jew meant something different than it did in northern states.

"We had probably 50 to 75 families were Jewish. We had a lot of anti-Semitic people that lived down in Georgia," Blomberg said. One such example was on his baseball team at Druid Hills High School, where many of his teammates were members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Blomberg said in high school he was athletic and received many football and basketball scholarships from various colleges.

"I think my best sport in high school was football and basketball, but my long term goal was to play baseball," Blomberg said.

Blomberg was drafted at the young age of 17 to play for one of the New York Yankees' minor league franchises, a decision that changed his sports career.

"I told my parents I wanted to be a major league baseball player, and when I got drafted by the Yankees in 1967 it was the greatest thing in the whole wide world," he said. "I knew that in my life I had achieved my goal, because in 1967 I found a scholarship to UCLA to go play basketball with [Kareem Abdul] Jabbar. I didn't play, I signed with the Yankees. I had an opportunity to do what I wanted to do."

Blomberg said that putting on the Yankee pinstripes and stepping on that field where many legends before him played was one of the greatest feelings in the world.

"It was great because the Yankees stunk and they drafted me," Blomberg said. "I roomed with Thurman Munson for almost four years. When I first came up to New York when I was 17 years old, Mickey [Mantle] was just coming out. There was about 10,000-12,000 people, but when I got called up there were 40,000-50,000 people in the stadium and all of them wear yarmulkes. And they all came from the Bronx and I knew I had it made."

When Blomberg first arrived in New York City, he said that the amount of Jews there was unlike anything he ever saw.

"I remember coming down to New York City and staying at the New York Hilton, and I saw the Hassidic [Jews] and I have never seen those before," Blomberg said. "I didn't know what they were."

Blomberg said it was important that he was drafted first overall, but even more significant was the fact that he was a Jew in New York City on the New York Yankees.

"I was an idol and an icon to all of the Jews in New York City," he said. "I knew I had it made."

At times, Blomberg said, he faced anti-Semitism from his teammates and other players.

"I knew all of these people were looking at me, saying, 'look, a Jew'," Blomberg said. "They never knew what a Jew was. I remember playing baseball and I'm hearing people looking at me [like] I have horns. Some people were extremely jealous of me."

During his baseball career, Blomberg was plagued by injuries, but he credits the Jewish people "that kept me alive when I was injured" for helping him out during his difficult times.

After leaving the Yankees in 1975, Blomberg went to play for the Chicago White Sox, where he played until 1978. He was out of the game until the summer of 2007, when Blomberg, along with former Jewish players Ken Holtzman and Art Shamsky, managed the Bet Shemesh Blue Sox in Bet Shemesh, Israel.

"My team was in Bet Shemesh," Blomberg said. "Fortunately, my team did great. We won the championship. [However,] the league did not work out because of financial reasons."

Playing baseball in Israel was the second best thing in the world behind playing baseball for the Yankees, Blomberg said.

"We had a great time over there and became great friends with [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert," he said.

Blomberg said Olmert took him, Shansky, and Holtzman to an air force base where they went on an M15 simulator.

"Nobody's ever done that, it's underground," he said. "It was incredible we saw things that nobody's ever seen before."

Blomberg may have enjoyed his time in Israel, but the foreign cuisine was not exactly his favorite part of his stay.

"The worst part about Israel, I hate to tell you - this was the food," he said. "I wanted my steak and potatoes. When they started bringing that hummus, it was the worst."

Although the team he managed was in Israel, only two of Blomberg's players were actually Israelis. The rest were mostly Dominicans or Cubans.

"All of my guys on my team are Australians, Dominicans, and Cubans," Blomberg said. "You take off your hat for the national anthem (in America). You can't take off your hat there, because it's a yarmulke. Nobody knew that."

Blomberg said the two Jews on his team were stars in Israel. They were great guys who went to yeshiva. During one game, while he was coaching third base, the two of them said to Blomberg they had to leave because they had to daven mincha.

"I said, 'what's that?' I never knew what it was," he said. "So, they left and they went behind the concession stands. I see about 60, 70 people there. That was a rush, because I knew I was in the Holy Land and I knew I was protected."

Blomberg said that throughout his years in baseball, it was very tough being a Jew in sports.

"You had to hide because you were a Jew, because even nowadays if you are a Jewish ballplayer people are jealous of you," he said. "It's really great to be a Jew. It really is. I feel like we all have to stick together because nobody likes us."

Blomberg, now a scout with the Yankees, spent the rest of his discussion talking about his view of baseball today and various related issues, including steroids.

Donna Massa of Garwood grew up watching Blomberg play and said he was her favorite player.

"He was very personable, he was very good for the kids," Jeff Itzkowitz of Scotch Plains said. "It's fun to talk baseball with a guy that knows baseball. Like a scout, he has a good insight, he stayed in the game."