Of all the hats Herschel Bloom wore during his life, his favorite was a baseball cap with the Yankees insignia on it, his friends said.
It spoke of his loyalty to the East Cobb Yankees, a club team for older high school students, where he was an assistant coach for 32 years.
“He knew everything about baseball, he was just passionate about the game,” said Yankees head coach James Beavers. Though Herschel had Parkinson’s Disease, his caretaker “brought him to every practice, every game. He just loved it.”
The only son of Nathaniel and Bernice Bloom, Herschel M. Bloom died on Jan. 18, at age 82, of complications from Parkinson’s.
He was reared in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where his father and uncle owned a junkyard. Like many people growing up in the South before the Braves moved to Atlanta, Herschel became a lifelong Cardinals fan.
After finishing Clarksdale High School, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vanderbilt University. He continued his record of academic excellence at Harvard University Law School, where he finished cum laude.
While in Cambridge, he met Rita Krachmer, who was studying for a doctorate in chemistry at Brandeis University. They married in 1966 and moved to Oxford, Mississippi, where Herschel taught law.
In 1969, he joined the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding, where he made partner. He never left. He helmed the firm’s tax team for many years and was considered one of the finest tax lawyers in the country, according to his colleague Peter Genz.
Bloom “was a consummate lawyer, capable of doing anything,” Genz said. “He had an astonishingly logical and quick mind, and could sort out a giant mess very quickly and arrive at a practical solution a client could buy into. He had a presence and an affability. Everyone who worked with him loved him.”
In his law firm as well as on the baseball field, Bloom was “someone who was a confidence builder,” said Genz. “He held everyone to the high standard he set for himself.”
His son Robert Bloom remembers his father’s “crazy work schedule.” Herschel was a late riser who didn’t take early morning meetings. He also attended his sons’ games and ate dinner with his family. To do so, he would leave work early then be in his home study, working until 2 a.m. “He did this every day, even on the weekends,” said Genz.
He was a man who liked routine, his sons said. For years, he ran five miles a day in Buckhead, wearing a reflective vest. He was so regular in his jogging that people would honk their car horns and wave at him. Robert Bloom says his father and he were once at the Western Wall in Jerusalem when a stranger came up to Herschel and asked, “Aren’t you the guy who runs on West Paces Ferry?”
Herschel Bloom was “the guy my friends called when they wanted advice,” said son Lawton Bloom. “There were never any expectations for us. He didn’t live his life through us. He was always supportive, always there for us.”
Decades ago, James Beavers spotted Herschel Bloom in the stands at Chastain Park, where the Yankees played baseball. Bloom wore “a nice suit, a St. Louis baseball cap and a towel around his neck,” Beavers said. “He was chewing tobacco and had the towel to wipe off anything that might get on the suit.”
When Beavers realized how much Bloom knew about baseball, he asked Bloom to join the staff as an assistant. Bloom’s first question was “Do I get to wear a uniform?” He did. His uniform bore the number 6 to honor his favorite player, the Cardinals’ Stan Musial.
Beavers says he soon realized Bloom had a photographic memory. He knew how every player on the Yankees team had performed against every pitcher on opposing teams. The East Cobb Yankees have had great success in the world of youth baseball, sending more than 50 players to college and Major League Baseball teams.
Bloom also loved nicknames — he gave one to every player. James Tibbs, who went to Florida State and is now in Los Angeles Dodgers minor leagues, was nicknamed “Virgil.” Bloom called a player with the last name Carter, “Prez.”
Some of the nicknames referred to people famous in the 1960s and 70s — long before the players were born. Bloom himself was called “Big Hersch.”
Even Rita Bloom had a nickname. Herschel called her “Sweet Rit,” which indicates his adoration. Even when his health was failing, Herschel continued to reach for Rita’s hand.
In addition to his sons, Herschel Bloom is survived by his wife Rita Bloom; sisters Ronna Bloom and Andrea Bloom; five grandchildren and other extended family members.
Donations in Herschel’s memory may be made to The Parkinson’s Foundation, www.parkinson.org or the Atlanta Baseball Foundation (East Cobb Yankees), 10971 Crabapple Road, Suite 1200, Roswell, GA 30075.
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