Rick Bladt

Who is Rick Bladt?

Richard Alan Bladt was a right-handed outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees.

Bladt was signed by the Cubs in 1966 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, pinch-running for Hall of Famer Billy Williams. 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 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 that completed a trade between the Cubs and Yankees in January 1970. The Cubs sent minor leaguer Terry Bongiovanni and cash, along with a player to be named later, in exchange for Jimmie Hall 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 1975. He made his Yankee debut on July 19 and remained with the team through the end of the season. Bladt hit his first major league home run on August 23, 1975 off Andy Hassler of the California Angels, and he spent September as the Yankees' everyday center fielder, replacing Elliott Maddox. After another year in the minors, however, the Yankees traded Bladt along with Maddox to the Baltimore Orioles for Paul Blair. Bladt never returned to the major leagues.